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1997 Legislative Session: 2nd Session, 36th Parliament

THIRD READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

Certified correct as passed Third Reading on the 29th day of July, 1997

Ian D. Izard, Law Clerk

HONOURABLE UJJAL DOSANJH

ATTORNEY GENERAL AND

MINISTER RESPONSIBLE

FOR MULTICULTURALISM,

HUMAN RIGHTS

AND IMMIGRATION

BILL 48 – 1997

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATIONS ACT

Contents

Section

Definitions

Designation of emergency communications corporation

Purposes of emergency communications corporation

Members and members' agreements

Special corporate rules

Corporation must hold transferred radio licences

Members must pay assessed rates

Borrowing by corporation

Access to information

Immunity from legal action

Labour relations successorship

Orders in the public interest

Conflicts with this Act or a regulation or order under this Act

Regulation making authority

15-17

Consequential Amendments

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

of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1 In this Act:

"emergency communications corporation" means a corporation incorporated

under the Company Act that is designated as an emergency communications

corporation under

section 2;

"emergency services agency" means

(

a) the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,

(

b) an organization operating a police force or police department providing

police services to the public, including a municipal police board under the

Police Act ,

(

c) an organization operating a fire department providing fire protection

services to the public,

(

d) the Emergency Health Services Commission responsible

for operating the British Columbia Ambulance Service under the Health Emergency

Act , and

(

e) any other organization designated by regulation;

"government agency" means an agent of, or a corporation that is wholly owned by,

the Provincial government, the federal government, a municipality or a regional

district;

"members' agreement" means an agreement in relation to an emergency communications corporation, or a corporation that proposes to become an emergency

communications corporation, between parties who are or intend to become

members of the corporation or between the corporation and one or more of those

parties;

"municipality" includes the City of Vancouver.

Designation of emergency communications corporation

2 The minister may, by order, designate a corporation as an emergency communications

corporation if

(

a) the purposes of the corporation are those required or permitted under

section 3, and

(

b) the minister has reviewed and approved the members' agreement for the

corporation.

Purposes of emergency communications corporation

(1) An emergency communications corporation must have as its primary purpose the

provision of emergency communications and related services to its members.

(2) An emergency communications corporation may have as additional purposes

(

a) the provision of communications and related services, for public safety and

public service, to municipalities, regional districts, the Provincial

government, the federal government, government agencies and emergency

services agencies, whether or not they are members, and

(

b) any other purposes prescribed by regulation under

section 14 (2) (

b) for the

corporation.

Members and members' agreements

(1) Without limiting who may be a member of an emergency communications corporation, municipalities, regional districts, emergency services agencies and the

Provincial government may enter into agreements for membership in an

emergency communications corporation.

(2) As limits on the authority of a municipality or regional district under

subsection (1),

(

a) the council or board must enter into a members' agreement by bylaw, and

(

b) in the case of a regional district, it must have the authority under establishing bylaw or letters patent to provide the service to which its

membership relates.

(3) Despite sections 216 (2) and 796 (1) (

d) of the

Municipal Act , a municipality or regional district may become a member of

an emergency communications corporation without the prior approval of the Inspector

of Municipalities.

(4) The members' agreement of an emergency communications corporation may

only be amended with the approval of the minister and in accordance with that

agreement.

Special corporate rules

(1) Sections 41, 45 and 237 of the Company Act do not apply to an emergency

communications corporation.

(2) Despite

section 117 (1) of the Company Act , the directors of an emergency

communications corporation are responsible for supervising the general

management of the business and affairs of the emergency communications corporation.

(3) Despite

section 133 (1) of the Company Act ,

an emergency communications corporation may have a general manager in place

of a president.

(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by regulation, provide that additional

provisions of the Company Act do not apply to a specified emergency communications corporation, subject to any alternative requirements, restrictions or

conditions established by the regulation.

(5) The memorandum and articles of an emergency communications

corporation may only be amended with the approval of the minister and in accordance

with the Company Act .

(6) Within 60 days after the annual general meeting of an emergency communications corporation, the corporation must provide to the minister a copy of its

annual financial statement under

section 145 of the Company Act and the

auditor's report on that financial statement.

Corporation must hold transferred radio licences

(1) Subject to the applicable federal legislation, a member of an emergency communications corporation must assign or transfer to the emergency communications

corporation all licences and authorities for radio spectra held by the member that

are related to the services that the corporation provides to the member.

(2) Subject to the applicable federal legislation, an emergency communications

corporation

(

a) must acquire and hold the licences or authorities for radio spectra assigned

or transferred under subsection (1), and

(

b) must manage and allocate the use of those spectra.

Members must pay assessed rates

7 Members of an emergency communications corporation must pay to the corporation

all rates for operating expenses and capital expenditures that are assessed by the

corporation.

Borrowing by corporation

(1) An emergency communications corporation may only borrow money required

(

a) for capital purposes related to the purposes of the corporation required or

permitted under

section 3, or

(

b) to meet its current operating expenses before its revenue, from all sources,

to pay for those expenses has been received.

(2) The Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia may provide financing to

an emergency communications corporation for borrowing authorized under

subsection (1).

(3) For the purposes of financing under subsection (2),

the Municipal Finance Authority Act , except

section 24, applies to an

emergency communications corporation as if it were a regional district, except

that no loan authorization bylaw or security issuing bylaw of the corporation

is required for the borrowing.

Access to information

(1) For the purposes of the Freedom of Information

and Protection of Privacy Act , the records of an emergency communications

corporation relating to any services provided to a member of the corporation

are deemed to be the records of that member.

(2) An emergency communications corporation must provide a member with copies

of records of the member under subsection (1), in order to allow the member to

comply with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act .

(3) If subsection (2) applies in relation to a record, a person does not have a right of

access under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to the

record as being in the custody or under the control of the emergency communications corporation and, despite that Act, the person has that right only through

written request to the member to whom the copy is to be provided under

subsection (2).

(4) Despite the Freedom of Information and Protection

of Privacy Act , a person does not have a right of access under that Act

to a record of, or in the custody or under the control of, an emergency communications

corporation that relates to services provided by the corporation to the Royal

Canadian Mounted Police.

(5) A members' agreement for an emergency communications corporation is void to

the extent of any conflict between the agreement and the Freedom of Information

and Protection of Privacy Act as it applies under this section.

Immunity from legal action

(1) In this section, "protected person" means the following:

(

a) an emergency communications corporation;

(

b) a current or former member of an emergency communications corporation;

(

c) a current or former director, employee or agent of an emergency communications corporation.

(2) No action lies and no proceedings may be brought against a protected person, and

a protected person is not liable for any loss or damages suffered by any person,

in relation to anything done or omitted to be done by the protected person in

relation to the provision of or failure to provide emergency communications

services by an emergency communications corporation.

(3) As an exception, the immunity from legal action otherwise provided to a person

by subsection (2) does not apply if the person has been guilty of malice or wilful

misconduct in relation to the subject matter of the action.

Labour relations successorship

(1) The establishment of an emergency communications corporation is to be

considered a successorship for the purposes of

section 35 of the Labour Relations

Code and the Labour Relations Board has the authority provided by that

section

to determine any matters related to the successorship including, without limiting

this, the authority to determine the question of trade union representation.

(2) A representation vote under the Labour Relations Code respecting a matter

referred to in subsection (1) must be conducted in a manner that the Labour

Relations Board considers fair and reasonable.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the Labour Relations Board

(

a) may allow all employees that the Board considers will likely be affected

within a reasonable time period by the successorship to participate in the

vote, whether or not those employees have transferred to the emergency

communications corporation by the date of the vote, and

(

b) in order to provide alternative bargaining agent choices to the employees

entitled to vote, may permit trade unions affected by the successorship to

establish a new trade union in order to be placed on the ballot.

Orders in the public interest

(1) If the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers this necessary in the public

interest, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make any order in relation to

an emergency communications corporation that the Lieutenant Governor in

Council considers appropriate.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), an order under that subsection may provide that

a resolution or other decision of an emergency communications corporation is

void to the extent provided in the order, and may make other provisions in place

of those declared void.

Conflicts with this Act or a regulation or order under this Act

(1) If there is a conflict between this Act

or a regulation under this Act and a provision of the Company Act , this

Act or the regulation under this Act prevails.

(2) If there is a conflict between

(

a) this Act or a regulation or order under this Act, and

(

b) a provision of the memorandum or articles of an emergency communications corporation or a provision of a members' agreement for an emergency

communications corporation,

the provision of the memorandum, articles or agreement is deemed to be

amended to the extent necessary to comply with this Act or the regulation or

order.

Regulation making authority

(1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in

section 41 of the

Interpretation Act.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make

regulations as follows:

(

a) designating an organization as an emergency services agency for the

purposes of

section 1;

(

b) authorizing an additional purpose for an emergency communications

corporation as referred to in

section 3 (2) (b);

(

c) providing for the transition or transfer of pension rights for persons

becoming employees of an emergency communications corporation.

Consequential Amendments

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

Schedule 2 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.B.C. 1996,

c. 165, is amended by adding the following:

Public Body:

Emergency Communications Corporation under the Emergency Communications Corporations Act

Head:

General Manager or President (as applicable) .

Pension (Municipal) Act

Section 2 of the Pension (Municipal) Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 355, is amended

(

a) in subsection (2) by adding the following paragraph:

(

q) an emergency communications corporation under the Emergency Communications Corporations Act to which this Act is declared to be applicable by

order of the board, on receipt of a resolution passed by an affirmative vote

of not less than 2/3 of the directors of the corporation, and those of the

employees of the corporation employed on a permanent basis. , and

(

b) by adding the following subsection:

(2.2) Subsection (2) (

q) does not apply to employees to whom the Pension (Public

Service) Act applies.

Pension (Public Service) Act

Section 2 of the Pension (Public Service) Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 356, is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) by adding the following paragraph:

(

q) an emergency communications corporation under the Emergency Communications Corporations Act , in respect only of those employees to whom

this Act continues to apply under subsection (5). , and

(

b) by repealing subsection (5) and substituting the following:

(5) If an employee to whom this Act applies is transferred to the employment of

(

a) a regional health board, community health council or community health

services society, or

(

b) an emergency communications corporation under the Emergency Communications Corporations Act ,

this Act continues to apply to the employee despite the transfer unless the

employee elects to have the Pension (Municipal) Act apply, in which case that Act

applies to the employee.

Copyright © 1997: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada