FIRST R EPORT OF THE STANDI NG CO MMITTEE ON LAW AM ENDM ENTS Third Ses sion Fifty -eighth Legislative Assembly of the Provi nce of New Brunsw ick December 14, 2016 MEM BERS OF THE CO MMITTEE Hon. Mr. Rousselle, Q.C., Chair Mr. Albert, Vice-Chair Mr. Bourque Mr. Bernard LeBlanc Mr. LePage Mr. Chiasson Ms. LeBlanc Mr. Flemming, Q.C. Mr. Keirstead Mr. Northrup Mr. Wetmore December 14, 2016 To The Honourable The Legislative Assembly of The Province of New Brunswick Mr. Speaker: I have the p leasure to prese nt here with the First Report of the Standing Committee on L aw Amendments for the session. The report is the result of your Committee’s deliberations on Bill 16,

An Act to Amend the Crown Construction Contracts Act , the subject matter of which w as re ferred to y our Committ ee f or consideration. On behalf of the Committee, I wish to thank those individuals and org anizations who appea red before the Committee. In addition, I would like to express my appreciation to the members of the Committee for their contribution in carrying out our mandate. Your Committee begs leave to make a further report. I move, seconded by the Member for Caraquet, that the report be concurred in by the House. Respectfully submitted, Hon. Serge Rousselle, Q.C., M.L.A.

Chair December 14, 2016 To The Honourable The Legislative Assembly of The Province of New Brunswick Mr. Speaker: Your Standing Committee on L aw Amendments begs leave to submit their F irst Report of the session. On November 16, 2016, Bill 16,

An Act to Ame nd the Crown Cons truction Contracts Act, was introduced in the Legislative Assembly.

The proposed legislation has four major focuses: to exempt certain non-routine capital projects of the New Brunswick Power Corporation from the application of the Crown Construction Contracts Act; to move standard form contracts in the machine rental rates from re gulation and into gove rnment administrative poli cy; to permit the Minister of Transportation and I nfrastructure to cre ate a set of standa rd terms for performance bonds a nd payment bonds furnished to the Crown in relation to a contract administered on behalf of the Crown by the Minister, and to permit Crown entities to negotiate with the low or sole bidder on a contract.

On November 17, 2016, by resolution of the House, consideration of the subject matter of Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Law Amendments. On November 23, 2016, your Committee met and determined that certain organizations should be invited to provide input to the Committee with respect to the issues raised by Bill 16.

On December and 13, 2016, y our Committ ee me t with repre sentatives fr om the New B runswick Power Corporation, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, the Construction Association of New Brunswick, the Electrical Contractors Association of New Brunswick, and the New Brunswick Road Builders and He avy Construction Association. I n addition, the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies-New Brunswick submitted written comments. RECOMMENDATION Based on the input received from the organizations who appeared and submitted comments, your Committee does not recommend Bill in its current form.

Your Committee does recommend that further consultation is required between the New Brunswick Power Corporation and the relevant stakeholders.