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

1 The Coastal Ferry Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 14, is amended by adding the following section:

Review performance term

45.3  (1) In this section:

"review performance term" means the period beginning April 1, 2012 and ending March 31, 2016;

"weighted average" means the weighted average determined in a manner approved by the commissioner.

(2) Despite any other provision of this Division, the price cap applicable to a route group is, for the period beginning April 1, 2012 and ending March 31, 2013, the amount that is 4.15% above the weighted average of the tariffs that are payable as at March 31, 2012 on the designated ferry routes that are included in that route group.

(3) A price cap must be established under this Division for the portion of the review performance term that follows the period referred to in subsection (2) and, for that purpose, the following provisions of sections 38, 40 and 41, as they apply to the establishment of that price cap, are to be read as follows:

(a) the reference in section 38 (2) (c) to "in advance of each performance term under the Coastal Ferry Services Contract, other than the first performance term," is deemed to read "for the period from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2016,";

(b) the reference in section 40 (3) to "At least 9 months before the beginning of the performance term for which the price cap is to be set," is deemed to read "On or before June 30, 2012,";

(c) the reference in section 40 (3) to "that upcoming performance term" is deemed to read "the review performance term";

(d) the reference in section 40 (4) to "at least 6 months before the beginning of the performance term for which the price cap is to be set," is deemed to read "on or before September 30, 2012,";

(e) section 40 (4) (b) is deemed to read as follows:

"(b) issue the commissioner's final decision on the application to the ferry operator and the government, which decision must set price caps for the period from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2016 for all route groups serviced by the ferry operator so that those price caps, when combined with the price caps established for those route groups under section 45.3 (2) for the period from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013, provide in the review performance term the return that the ferry operator is entitled under section 41 to receive in that performance term.";

(f) the reference in section 41 (6) to "The commissioner may, in the price cap set for a route group under this section, provide for that price cap to change annually during the applicable performance term" is deemed to read "The commissioner may set a price cap for a route group under this section for the period from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2016 and may, in the price cap, provide for that price cap to change annually during that period.

(4) Sections 42 and 44 (2) to (11) do not apply until October 1, 2012, and, before that date,

(a) the reference in section 44 (1) to "the authorization of the commissioner" is deemed to read "the approval of the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure", and

(b) section 45 is deemed to read as follows:

"If, under section 43, the commissioner authorizes a reduction in service on a designated ferry route, or, under section 44, the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure approves a discontinuance of all or part of a designated ferry route, the price cap set for the applicable route group

(a) must be reviewed by the commissioner, and

(b) may be adjusted in the manner and to the extent the commissioner considers reasonable."

2 The following section is added to Division 4 of Part 4:

Commissioner to make recommendations

53.1  In addition to any other reports the commissioner may or must provide under this Act, the commissioner must, on or before January 24, 2012, review this Act and recommend to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure such amendments to this Act as the commissioner considers will better enable the commissioner, when exercising his or her powers and performing his or her duties under this Act, to balance the interests of ferry users with the financial sustainability needs of the ferry operators.

3 The following section is added:

Costs of commissioner's review and recommendations

63.1  (1) In this section, "review expenses" means expenses that are

(a) additional to the expenses referred to in section 57, and

(b) directly and solely attributable to the review to be undertaken and the recommendations to be made under section 53.1.

(2) The commissioner must

(a) provide to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure a budget that provides the commissioner's reasonable estimate of the review expenses, and

(b) submit the budget to that minister for approval.

(3) If, because of reasonable but unforeseen circumstances, the commissioner must, in order to complete the required review and recommendations, incur review expenses additional to those set out in the budget submitted under subsection (2), the commissioner must submit to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure for approval an amendment to the budget that will provide an estimate of those additional review expenses.

(4) After the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure has approved a budget under subsection (2) or an amendment to the budget under subsection (3), that minister may pay to the commissioner from the consolidated revenue fund the review expenses contemplated by that approved budget.

(5) Section 57 does not apply to the review expenses.

4 Section 45.3 (4) is repealed.

5 Sections 45.3 (1) to (3), 53.1 and 63.1 are repealed.

Commencement

6  The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:

 
Explanatory Notes

SECTIONS 1 TO 3: [Coastal Ferry Act, sections 45.3, 53.1 and 63.1]

• establish a price cap for each route group for the period from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013;
• provide for the commissioner to undertake the usual price cap review proceedings for the balance of the review performance term, being the period from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2016;
• prevent ferry operators from obtaining extraordinary price cap increases, and require ministerial approval for the discontinuance of ferry services, until October 1, 2012;
• require the commissioner to undertake a review of the Coastal Ferry Act and provide recommendations to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure as to how the Coastal Ferry Act could be amended to allow the commissioner to better balance the interests of ferry users and the financial sustainability needs of ferry operators, and provides that the costs of that review and recommendation process are to be pre-approved by that minister and borne by that minister.

SECTIONS 4 AND 5: [Coastal Ferry Act, sections 45.3, 53.1 and 63.1] repeals spent provisions.