Third

Session, 48th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2018

BILL 38

AN ACT

RESPECTING THE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF PUBLIC BODIES

Received and Read the First Time .................................................................................................

Second Reading .................................................................................................................................

Committee ..........................................................................................................................................

Third Reading .....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent ......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE

TOM OSBORNE

Minister Responsible for Human Resources Secretariat

Ordered

to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would enact the Public Bodies Reporting Act . The Bill

would give the Minister the authority to require a public body to provide

information and documents relating to the public body.

A BILL

AN ACT RESPECTING THE REPORTING

REQUIREMENTS OF PUBLIC BODIES

Analysis

Short title

Definitions

Act prevails

Crown bound

Ministerial directives

Prohibitions

Audit

Confidentiality and disclosure

Public notice

No cause of action

No deemed employment relationship or

agency

Regulations

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

Short title

1. This

Act may be cited as the Public Bodies Reporting

Act .

Definitions

2. In

this Act

(a) "compensation"

means any consideration or remuneration, regardless of its nature or form,

including base salary, retainers, benefits, bonuses, allowances, travelling and

living expenses, honorariums and severance paid, payable or provided, directly

or indirectly, to or for the benefit of a person who performs duties and

functions that entitle the person to be paid;

(b) "directive"

means a directive issued under the authority of

section 5;

(c) "employee" includes a person

retained under a contract to perform services for the public body;

(d) "minister"

means the minister appointed under the Executive

Council Act to administer this Act;

(e) "organizational structure" means a reporting

structure in a public body, the employees in that reporting structure and the

duties assigned to those employees;

(f) "personal information" means

personal information as defined in the Access

to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 ; and

(g) "public

body" includes

(

i) a corporation, the ownership of which or a

majority of the shares of which is vested in the Crown and its subsidiaries,

(ii) a corporation, board, commission or other body

(

A) the majority of the members of which, or a

majority of the members of the board of directors of which, are appointed by an

Act, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council or a minister, or

(

B) established by or continued under

an Act of

the Province

but does not include a court established

under

an Act of the province.

Act prevails

3. In the event of a

conflict between a provision of this Act or the regulations and a provision of

any other Act or regulations, other than the Access to Information and

Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 and the Personal

Health Information Act , this Act and the regulations prevail, u nless

otherwise stated in this Act .

Crown bound

4. This Act binds the Crown.

Ministerial directives

(1) The

minister may issue a directive to a public body requiring the public body to do

one or more of the following:

(

a) provide

information and documents to the minister regarding

(

i) employment and related agreements between the public body and one or

more of its employees,

(ii) compensation

policies, plans, guidelines, programs and reports relating to the public body,

(iii) the current and projected organizational

structure and human resource requirements of the public body,

(iv) the current and projected retirement

eligibility of employees, and

(

v) any other information and documents the

minister determines necessary for the purpose of this Act and the regulations;

(

b) conduct an analysis of the information and

documents provided under paragraph (

a) and any related information and

documents; or

(

c) submit reports to the minister regarding

compliance with this Act and the regulations.

(2) A

public body shall comply with a directive in the form, manner and time period

set out in the directive.

Prohibitions

6. A person or public body shall not take any

action to evade the requirements set out in this Act or the regulations.

Audit

(1) The minister may audit

or appoint an auditor to audit the record s of the public body to determine whether the public body is complying

with this Act and the regulations.

(2) A

public body shall

(

a) co-operate

with the minister or auditor; and

(

b) disclose

to the minister or auditor information and documents, including personal

information, required for the purpose of determining whether the public body is

complying with this Act and the regulations.

(3) The auditor shall submit the results of the audit

to the minister within the time period specified by the minister.

Confidentiality

and disclosure

(1) W here a public

body provides or is provided information or documents under this Act, the person

in receipt of the information and documents shall maintain confidentiality respecting

the information and documents.

(2) Notwithstanding

subsection (1) or any other Act or regulations, including

section 5.4 of the Energy Corporation Act, the minister,

the Lieutenant-Governor in Council or the public body may use and disclose

information and documents for the purposes of this Act, including personal

information provided under this Act, in accordance with the Access to Information and Protection of

Privacy Act, 2015 .

(3) Notwithstanding the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act,

2015 or any other Act or regulations, including

section 5.4 of the Energy Corporation Act, where the

minister requests information and documents from a public body the information

and documents shall be provided to the

minister.

Public notice

9. The

minister may make public the failure of a public body to comply with this Act or

the regulations.

No cause of action

(1) An action or proceeding, either in law or

in equity, does not lie or shall not be commenced against the Crown or any of

its ministers, agents, appointees or employees or against a public body or any

of its directors, board members, officers or employees

(

a) as

a direct or indirect result of the enactment, amendment or repeal of any

provision of this Act or the regulations; or

(

b) as

a direct or indirect result of anything done or omitted to be done in good

faith to comply with this Act and the regulations.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to an action or proceeding in contract, restitution,

tort, trust, fiduciary obligation or otherwise claiming any remedy or relief,

including

(

a) specific

performance, injunction or declaratory relief; and

(

b) any

form of damages or a claim to be compensated for any direct or indirect losses,

including loss of earnings, loss of revenue or loss of profit.

No deemed employment relationship or agency

11. Nothing in this Act makes

(

a) a public body a Crown agent where it is not

otherwise a Crown agent; or

(

b) an

employee an employee of the Crown who is not otherwise an employee of the Crown.

Regulations

12. The Lieutenant-Governor

in Council may make regulations

(

a) respecting

the collection and use of information and documents, including personal

information;

(

b) defining a word or phrase used but not

defined in this Act; and

(

c) generally, to give effect to this Act.

Queen's Printer