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1998/99 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 36th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

HONOURABLE UJJAL DOSANJH

ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR

MULTICULTURALISM, HUMAN RIGHTS AND IMMIGRATION

BILL 24 – 1998

MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT (No. 2), 1998

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Court Rules Act

Section 5 of the Court Rules Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 80, is repealed.

Crown Proceeding Act

Section 3 (2) (

a) of the Crown Proceeding Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 89, is repealed and the

following substituted:

(

a) authorizes proceedings against the government for anything done or

omitted to be done by a person acting in good faith while discharging or

purporting to discharge responsibilities

(

i) of a judicial nature vested in the person, or

(ii) that the person has in connection with the execution of judicial

process; .

Employment Standards Act

3 Sections 25 (2) (c), 28 (2) (c), 29 (3), 37 (5) and 48 (3) of the Employment Standards Act,

R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 113, are amended by striking out "7 years" and substituting "5 years" .

Evidence Act

4 Sections 18 and 19 of the Evidence Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 124, are repealed and the

following substituted:

Power to make regulations for recording of court proceedings

(1) In this

section and

section 19:

"court proceeding" means a prescribed proceeding in the Provincial Court, the

Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal;

"original recording" means a sound recording, or a sound and video recording,

made of a court proceeding or a part of a court proceeding by a clerk of the court

in which the court proceeding takes place or by a person authorized by that court

to do so.

(2) On the recommendation of the Attorney General, the Lieutenant Governor in

Council may make regulations

(

a) prescribing proceedings for the purposes of regulations under this

section

and

section 19,

(

b) respecting what constitutes the official record of a court proceeding and

respecting evidence recorded in, amendment of and supplements to the

official record, and

(

c) respecting an original recording of a court proceeding and the making,

copying, keeping, maintenance and use of and access to the original

recording or a copy of it.

(3) For the purposes of regulations under subsection (2), the Lieutenant Governor in

Council may make different regulations to be applicable in court proceedings

brought in different courts or under different enactments of British Columbia or

of Canada.

(4) The Attorney General must consult with the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court

and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court before recommending a regulation

under subsection (2).

Power to make regulations for court reporting and transcription services

(1) On the recommendation of the Attorney General, the Lieutenant Governor in

Council may make regulations respecting court reporting, transcription of court

proceedings and other services provided in relation to court proceedings,

including, without limitation, regulations as follows:

(

a) requiring that only persons who are registered under a prescribed registration

scheme may

(

i) attend a court proceeding or an examination for discovery for the

purpose of recording or transcribing the court proceeding or examination,

(ii) make or produce a transcript of a court proceeding, or a part of it,

from a copy of the original recording of the court proceeding;

(

b) restricting the types of court proceedings that a person may attend for the

purpose of recording or transcribing the court proceedings;

(

c) establishing a registration scheme for the purposes of paragraph (a);

(

d) respecting categories of registration that may be permitted under the registration

scheme, the nature and extent of the services that may be provided

by each category of registration, the functions and duties of persons

applicable to that registration;

(

e) establishing, for each category of registration permitted under the registration

scheme, the qualifications that must be held or met by an applicant

for that category of registration, including, without limitation, requisite

training, testing, skills, experience, membership in an organization,

disclosure, criminal record checks and employment record checks;

(

f) respecting the imposition of terms, restrictions and conditions on and the

suspension, cancellation and reinstatement of a registration under the

scheme and respecting appeals from suspension and cancellation of registration;

(

g) respecting the form, content, copying, delivery, filing and amendment of a

transcript of a court proceeding or an examination for discovery, or of any

part of such court proceeding or examination;

(

h) respecting inspections of transcripts and other services that may be

provided by registrants under the scheme and respecting inspections and

investigations into the business and conduct of registrants, to ensure

compliance with the regulations;

(

i) incorporating by reference and adopting codes and standards as they are

amended from time to time before or after the making of the regulations;

(

j) establishing or authorizing one or more organizations, on specified terms

and conditions, to exercise any powers and perform any duties respecting

(

i) the matters set out under paragraph (h), and

(ii) the granting, renewal, suspension, cancellation or reinstatement of

registration under the regulations;

(

k) respecting fees and charges payable by persons, the Crown or the Legal

Services Society, for transcripts and copies of transcripts of court

proceedings and examinations for discovery and for other services that may

be provided by registrants.

(2) For the purposes of regulations under subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in

Council may do one or more of the following:

(

a) make different regulations for different categories of registration or

different classes of registrants within those categories;

(

b) make different regulations to be applicable in court proceedings brought in

different courts or under different enactments of British Columbia or of

Canada;

(

c) make regulations considered necessary or advisable to more effectively

bring a regulation under this

section into operation and to facilitate any

transition from the operation of B.C. Reg. 249/78 and B.C. Reg. 222/84 to

the operation of a regulation under this section.

(3) The Attorney General must consult with the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court

and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court before recommending a regulation

under subsection (1) (b), (d), (

e) and (g).

Section 19 is amended by adding the following paragraph:

(a.1) make regulations respecting what constitutes the official record of a court

proceeding and respecting evidence recorded in, amendment of and

supplements to the official record, .

Section 51 (1) is amended

(

a) in the definition of "health care professional" by striking out "or" at the end of

paragraph (e), by adding ", or" at the end of paragraph (

f) and by adding the

following paragraph:

(

g) a member of another organization that is designated by regulation of the

Lieutenant Governor in Council; , and

(

b) by repealing the definition of "organization of health care professionals" and

substituting the following:

"organization of health care professionals" means an organization of health care

professionals that is designated by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in

Council for the purposes of this section; .

Health Professions Act

Section 17 (3) of the Health Professions Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 183, is amended by striking

out "Following the appointment of persons to the first board under subsection (2), the board

for a college" and substituting "Following the first election referred to in subsection

(2) respecting a college, the board for the college" .

Hospital Act

Section 26 (1) of the Hospital Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 200, is repealed and the following

substituted:

(1) The Hospitals Foundation of British Columbia is continued as a corporation

with a board consisting of 11 members appointed by the Lieutenant

Governor in Council.

Tobacco Tax Act

Section 2 of the Tobacco Tax Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 452, is amended by repealing subsections

(7) to (10.1) and substituting the following:

(7) A retail dealer

(

a) is deemed to be an agent for the minister,

(

b) must, at the time of sale, levy and collect the tax imposed by this Act on the

consumer,

(

c) subject to

section 12 (3), must, in respect of tobacco purchased by the retail

dealer from a collector, remit the tax to the collector on demand, and

(

d) must, in respect of tobacco purchased by the retail dealer from someone

other than a collector, remit the tax to the minister at the prescribed time and

in the prescribed manner.

(8) A collector who sells tobacco to a retail dealer

(

a) is deemed to be an agent for the minister,

(

b) subject to

section 12 (2), must collect the tax from the retail dealer, and

(

c) subject to

section 11 (4), must remit the tax to the minister at the prescribed

time and in the prescribed manner.

(9) A person other than a collector who sells tobacco to a retail dealer and receives

money in respect of the tax payable on the tobacco must immediately remit that

money to the minister.

(10) Despite subsections (9) and (11),

(

a) a person is not authorized as agent for the minister to collect from a retail

dealer money paid as or on account of tax unless that person is a collector,

and

(

b) a retail dealer who has, in respect of a retail sale, paid money to a person

who is not a collector as or on account of the tax payable on the retail sale

must, despite that payment, collect and remit to the minister in accordance

with subsection (7) (

d) the tax imposed by this Act in respect of that retail

sale.

Section 22 is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) by striking out "If," and substituting "Subject to subsections

(2.2) and (5.2), if," ,

(

b) by adding the following subsections:

(2.2) If, as a result of an inspection, audit or examination or on the basis of other information,

it appears that a wholesale dealer who does not hold a dealer's permit to

sell tobacco at wholesale has sold tobacco to another dealer, the director may

impose a penalty against the wholesale dealer equal to the amount of tax that

would be collectable if that tobacco were sold to a consumer in British Columbia.

(2.3) If a dealer is assessed a penalty under subsection (2.2), that dealer must not be

assessed under subsection (1) in respect of the same tobacco that gave rise to the

assessment under subsection (2.2).

(7.1) Proof that a dealer has acquired tobacco is proof in the absence of evidence to the

contrary that the dealer has sold that tobacco in British Columbia, and has

collected an amount at least equal to the tax payable by the consumer in respect

of that tobacco. ,

(

c) in subsection (5) by striking out "If," and substituting "Subject to subsection (5.2),

if," , and

(

d) by adding the following subsections:

(5.1) If, as a result of an inspection, audit or examination or on the basis of other

information under

section 21, it appears that an amount of security should have

been but was not paid, the director must impose a penalty against the dealer who

failed to pay the security in an amount equal to the total amount of security that

should have been paid plus interest at a rate prescribed by the Lieutenant

Governor in Council.

(5.2) If a dealer is assessed a penalty under subsection (5.1), that dealer must not be

assessed under subsection (1) or (5) in respect of the same tobacco that gave rise

to the assessment under subsection (5.1).

Transitional

11 No appointment to a first board under

section 17 (2) of the Health Professions Act was

invalid, the first board was not improperly constituted and no action by the first board

was invalid solely because the amendment to

section 17 (3) of the Health Professions

Act made by this Act was not in force when it occurred.

Commencement

(1) Sections 1, 4 and 8 come into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in

Council.

(2) Section 5 is deemed to have come into force on July 1, 1997 and is retroactive to

the extent necessary to give it effect on and after that date.

(3) Section 7 is deemed to have come into force on March 14, 1991 and is retroactive

to the extent necessary to give it effect on and after that date.

(4) Sections 9 and 10 (

b) are deemed to have come into force on March 31, 1992 and

are retroactive to the extent necessary to give them effect on and after that date.

(5) Section 10 (a), (

c) and (

d) is deemed to have come into force on June 30, 1995

and is retroactive to the extent necessary to give it effect on and after that date.

Explanatory Notes

Court Rules Act

(Attorney General and Minister Responsible for

Multiculturalism, Human Rights and Immigration)

SECTION 1: [Court Rules Act, repeals

section 5] repeals a provision of the Court Rules Act

that is redundant because of the re-enactment by this Bill of sections 18 and 19

of the Evidence Act.

Crown Proceeding Act

(Attorney General and Minister Responsible for

Multiculturalism, Human Rights and Immigration)

SECTION 2: [Crown Proceeding Act, repeals and replaces

section 3 (2) (a)] clarifies the

application of this provision in response to a recent court case.

Employment Standards Act

(Ministry of Labour)

SECTION 3: [Employment Standards Act, amends sections 25 (2) (c), 28 (2) (c), 29 (3), 37

(5) and 48 (3)] reduces the requirement for employers to keep records from 7

years to 5 years.

Evidence Act

(Attorney General and Minister Responsible for

Multiculturalism, Human Rights and Immigration)

SECTION 4: [Evidence Act, re-enacts sections 18 and 19]

authorizes the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations

respecting the official record of a court proceeding and amendments of that

official record and respecting an original recording of a court proceeding,

as provided, and

authorizes the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations

respecting court reporting, transcription of court proceedings and other

services provided in relation to court proceedings, as provided.

SECTION 5: [Evidence Act, adds

section 19 (a.1)] authorizes regulations respecting the

official record of a court proceeding and amendments of that official record.

SECTION 6: [Evidence Act, amends

section 51 (1)] revises the

definitions of "health care

professionals" and "organization of health care professionals" to allow the list

of these organizations to be revised from time to time by regulation as new

organizations are formed or current ones are renamed.

Health Professions Act

(Ministry of Health and Minister Responsible for Seniors)

SECTION 7: [Health Professions Act, amends

section 17 (3)] clarifies the intent of

section 17 of the Health Professions Act that a first board can be enlarged,

vacancies on it filled and similar changes in its composition made as necessary

pending the holding of a first election to the board. The effect of this clarification

is given retroactive effect.

Hospital Act

(Ministry of Health and Minister Responsible for Seniors)

SECTION 8: [Hospital Act, repeals and replaces

section 26 (1)] removes the reference to

the British Columbia Health Association as that association was dissolved in

September, 1997.

Tobacco Tax Act

(Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations)

SECTION 9: [Tobacco Tax Act, amends

section 2] requires dealers who are wholesalers to

collect from retail dealers the tax imposed on consumers and remit the tax to

the government.

SECTION 10: [Tobacco Tax Act, amends

section 22] allows the director to assess penalties

against wholesale dealers who do not hold a dealer's permit and dealers who

fail to pay security in accordance with the Act.

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