1995 Legislative Session: 4th Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING


The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.


HONOURABLE ELIZABETH CULL
MINISTER OF FINANCE AND
CORPORATE RELATIONS

BILL 46 -- 1995

COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION AMENDMENT ACT, 1995

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 72 of the Cooperative Association Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 66, is repealed and the following substituted:

Special provisions on dissolution or winding up

72 (1) This section applies only to a housing cooperative that

(a) provides in its memorandum that this section applies to the housing cooperative,

(b) on June 30, 1988, had in its memorandum or rules, or both, a provision to the effect that on a dissolution or winding up the property of the housing cooperative, after satisfaction of its liabilities, costs, charges and expenses, shall not be disposed of or distributed among the members, or

(c) on June 30, 1988, had in its memorandum or rules, or both, a provision to the effect that on a dissolution or winding up the property of the housing cooperative, after satisfaction of its liabilities, costs, charges and expenses, shall not be disposed of or distributed among the members and, by that provision or another provision in its memorandum or rules, or both, established another manner for the disposition or distribution.

(2) If a housing cooperative to which this section applies is dissolved or wound up, its property, after satisfaction of its liabilities and costs, charges and expenses properly incurred in the dissolution or winding up, shall be dealt with as follows:

(a) if it is a housing cooperative described in subsection (1) (a) or (b), the property shall be transferred to or distributed among one or more other organizations that are either housing cooperatives to which this section applies or charitable organizations registered under the Income Tax Act (Canada);

(b) if it is a housing cooperative described in subsection (1) (c), the property shall be disposed of in accordance with the applicable provision in its memorandum or rules, or both, referred to in that paragraph.

(3) Except as provided in this section, no part of the property of a housing cooperative to which this section applies shall be paid or distributed to the members during its existence or on its dissolution or winding up.

(4) A housing cooperative to which this section applies shall not alter its memorandum or rules, or both, to amend or repeal a provision referred to in subsection (1) (a), (b) or (c).

(5) Nothing in this section prohibits a housing cooperative to which this section applies

(a) from doing anything permitted under section 15 or 16,

(b) subject to its rules, from repaying to a member an amount not exceeding the value of contributions or improvements by the member, in addition to amounts paid by him for shares, to the property of the housing cooperative, or

(c) from paying money it owes to a member.

(6) As an exception to subsection (1), this section does not apply to a housing cooperative that was dissolved, or for which winding up was commenced as referred to in section 293 or 297 of the Company Act, before the date on which the Cooperative Association Amendment Act, 1995 received First Reading in the Legislative Assembly.

2 Section 72 is amended by adding the following subsections:

(7) If, between June 30, 1988 and the date on which this subsection comes into force, a housing cooperative to which this section applies altered its memorandum or rules, or both, to amend or repeal a provision referred to in subsection (1) (a), (b) or (c), the amendment or repeal is void and of no effect, and the memorandum or rules, or both, as applicable, are conclusively deemed to be as they were before the amendment or repeal.

(8) The registrar shall note in the filed memorandum or rules, or both, of a housing cooperative any changes that are effected by subsection (7).

Liability of government

3 (1) The government, and any minister, employee or other person acting on behalf of the government, is not liable in respect of any loss or damage caused or resulting, directly or indirectly, by or from the enactment of this Act.

(2) A person must not commence or maintain proceedings to claim damages or any other compensation precluded by subsection (1) or to obtain a declaration that damages or any other compensation is payable by the government or a person referred to in subsection (1).

Commencement

4 Section 1 is deemed to have come into force on June 30, 1988 and is retroactive to the extent necessary to give it effect on and after that date.

 
Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Cooperative Association Act, reenacts section 72] makes this provision applicable to housing cooperatives that included the provisions referred to in section 72 (1) (b) and (c) of the Act in their rules, or in both their rules and memorandum, unless the housing cooperatives were dissolved or in the process of dissolving before this Bill was given First Reading.

SECTION 2: [Cooperative Association Act, amends section 72] invalidates amendments to the memorandum and rules of housing cooperatives that had the effect of removing the prohibition against distributing assets to their members.

SECTION 3: [Cooperative Association Act, liability of government] provides immunity from litigation in relation to the changes proposed for section 72 of the Cooperative Association Act.


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