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1997 Legislative Session: 2nd Session, 36th Parliament

FIRST 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 5th day of June, 1997

Ian D. Izard, Law Clerk

HONOURABLE JAN PULLINGER

MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS,

TOURISM AND CULTURE

BILL 9 – 1997

TOURISM BRITISH COLUMBIA ACT

Contents

Section

Definitions

Corporation established

Purpose

Mandate

Powers and duties of the board

Capacity and powers of the corporation

Board remuneration

Officers and employees

Financial administration

Audit

Business plan

Annual report

Corporation revenue

Investment

Transfer of property

Director to disclose interest

Director liable to account

Validity

Disclosure of conflict of office or property

20-24

Consequential Amendments

Commencement

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:

"board" means the board of directors of the corporation;

"corporation" means Tourism British Columbia established under

section 2;

"minister" means the minister responsible for the administration of this Act.

Corporation established

(1) A corporation, to be known as Tourism British Columbia, is established,

consisting of a board of not more than 15 directors, all to be appointed by the

Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(2) At least 10 directors appointed under subsection (1) are to be individuals

nominated and recommended by the board to the Lieutenant Governor in Council

as representatives of the tourism industry, one of whom may be a representative

of the Council of Tourism Associations.

(3) A vacancy in the membership of the board does not impair the power of the

remaining directors to act.

(4) Despite subsection (2), the first directors appointed under subsection (1) may be

individuals recommended to the Lieutenant Governor in Council by the Tourism

British Columbia Special Operating Agency advisory board.

(5) In appointing the directors the Lieutenant Governor in Council should take into

account

(

a) the public interest and the diversity of the population of British Columbia,

(

b) rural, urban and regional interests,

(

c) Provincial and regional organizations with an interest in tourism,

(

d) the diverse interests within the tourism industry, for example, the accommodation, attractions, restaurant and transportation sectors and labour, and

(

e) nominations and recommendations of the board and of the industry.

(6) On the recommendation of the board, the Lieutenant Governor in Council must

appoint one of the directors as chair of the board.

(7) The corporation is an agent of the Crown.

Purpose

3 The purpose of the corporation is to promote development and growth in the tourism

industry to increase revenue and employment in that industry throughout British

Columbia and to increase the economic benefits generated by the industry.

Mandate

(1) The corporation is responsible for

(

a) marketing British Columbia as a tourism destination,

(

b) providing information services for tourists,

(

c) encouraging enhancement of standards of tourist accommodation, facilities,

services and amenities,

(

d) enhancing professionalism in the tourism industry,

(

e) encouraging and facilitating the creation of jobs in the tourism industry,

(

f) collecting, evaluating and disseminating information on tourism markets,

trends, employment, programs and activities and on availability and

suitability of infrastructure and of services that support tourism activities,

and

(

g) generating additional funding for tourism programs.

(2) In carrying out its mandate under this Act, the corporation should have regard for

the following principles:

(

a) the need to conduct business in a consultative, responsible and accessible

manner;

(

b) the importance of promoting all regions of British Columbia and all sectors

of the tourism industry to help them to reach their full potential;

(

c) the importance of observing and encouraging effective and efficient

business practices;

(

d) the value of working cooperatively with the public and private sectors.

Powers and duties of the board

(1) The board must manage the affairs of the corporation or supervise the

management of those affairs and may

(

a) exercise the powers conferred on the board under this Act,

(

b) exercise the powers of the corporation, and

(

c) delegate the exercise or performance of any power or duty conferred or

imposed on the board to the chief executive officer.

(2) The board may pass resolutions it considers necessary or advisable to manage

and conduct the affairs of the corporation and to exercise the board's powers and

to perform its duties.

Capacity and powers of the corporation

6 For the purposes of this Act, the corporation may

(

a) acquire, hold and dispose of property,

(

b) borrow and invest money,

(

c) negotiate and enter into agreements with any person, including but not

province, First Nations or local governments or with an official or agency

of any of them,

(

d) establish advisory committees,

(

e) incorporate subsidiary corporations, with the prior approval of the

Lieutenant Governor in Council, and

(

f) do other things that the Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize.

Board remuneration

7 The corporation may pay to a director or advisory committee member

(

a) an allowance for reasonable travelling and incidental expenses necessarily

incurred in carrying out the business of the corporation, and

(

b) if the director or advisory committee member is not a member of the

Legislative Assembly or a public servant, remuneration at rates set by the

Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Officers and employees

(1) On the recommendation of the board, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may

appoint a person as the chief executive officer of the corporation.

(2) The chief executive officer must carry out the functions and duties that the board

specifies.

(3) The chief executive officer, to the extent authorized by the board, may appoint

officers and employees of the corporation necessary to carry on the business and

operations of the corporation and may define their duties and, in accordance with

government policy, may determine the remuneration of the officers, other than

the chief executive officer, and the remuneration of the employees.

(4) On considering the recommendations of the board, the Lieutenant Governor in

Council, in accordance with government policy, may determine the remuneration

of the chief executive officer of the corporation.

(5) The Public Service Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act do not apply

to the corporation or to a director, officer or employee of the corporation.

(6) The Pension (Public Service) Act applies to the corporation and its employees

and

(

a) the corporation and its employees is deemed to be an employer and its

employees within the meaning of that Act,

(

b) the corporation must make deductions from the salaries of the employees as

required under that Act and pay the money to the commissioner under that

Act, and

(

c) the corporation, in addition, must pay to the commissioner employer's

contributions in the amounts equivalent to the amounts required under that

Act.

(7) The Public Service Benefit Plan Act applies to the officers and employees of the

corporation.

Financial administration

(1) The board must establish and maintain an accounting system satisfactory to the

Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations.

(2) Whenever required by the minister, the board must render detailed accounts of its

revenues and expenditures for the period or to the date the minister designates.

(3) All books or records of account, documents and other financial records are at all

times open for inspection by the minister or a person designated by the minister.

(4) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations may direct the Comptroller

General to examine and report to Treasury Board on any or all of the financial

and accounting operations of the corporation.

(5) The fiscal year of the corporation is a period of 12 months beginning on April 1

in each year and ending on March 31 in the next year.

(6) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations is the fiscal agent of the corporation.

Audit

10 At least once for each fiscal year, the accounts of the corporation must be audited and

reported on to the minister and to the corporation by an auditor appointed by the

Lieutenant Governor in Council, and the costs of the audit must be paid by the corporation.

Business plan

11 Before each fiscal year the board must prepare a business plan that is mutually satisfactory to the minister and the board, encompassing the businesses, activities and

other affairs of the corporation and its subsidiaries, if any, during that fiscal year, that

includes

(

a) revenue and expenditure proposals,

(

b) a statement of assets and liabilities, and

(

c) other information that the Lieutenant Governor in Council may specify.

Annual report

12 The board must prepare and deliver to the minister, within 3 months after the end of

the fiscal year of the corporation or a later date that the minister may designate,

(

a) a report of the corporation on its operations for the preceding fiscal year,

and

(

b) a financial statement in the form required by the Minister of Finance and

Corporate Relations showing the revenues, expenditures, assets and

liabilities of the corporation at the end of the preceding fiscal year.

Corporation revenue

(1) If a regulation has been made under

section

25 (1), the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations must pay out of the

consolidated revenue fund to the corporation, without an appropriation other

than this section, amounts equivalent to the net revenue collected under

section

3.1 of the Hotel Room Tax Act .

(2) Money received by the corporation from any source may be retained by it to be

used and dealt with for its purposes.

(3) Tourism British Columbia must pay to the Minister of Finance and Corporate

Relations, in the 1997-1998 fiscal year of the government, as a recovery to the

Ministry Operations Vote of the Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and

Culture, the costs reported by the minister as having been incurred by that

ministry during that fiscal year in carrying out functions consistent with the

purposes of this Act and with the mandate of Tourism British Columbia.

(4) Notwithstanding

section 27 (1) (

a) of the Financial

Administration Act , the powers of Treasury Board under that provision

to control or limit expenditure under any appropriation do not apply in respect

of an appropriation under this section.

Investment

(1) The corporation may place with the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations

investment money it receives but does not immediately require for carrying out

the purposes of this Act.

(2) Money placed with the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations under this

section is to be treated for all purposes as money placed with that minister under

section 40 (5) of the Financial Administration Act .

Transfer of property

(1) For the purposes of this Act, the minister may designate property of the

government, now in use by the Tourism Division of the ministry, that is to be

disposed of to the corporation.

(2) The government may dispose of to the corporation any property that, under

subsection (1), the minister designates for disposal.

Director to disclose interest

(1) Every director of the corporation who, in any way, directly or indirectly, is

interested in a proposed contract or transaction with the corporation must disclose

the nature and extent of his or her interest at a meeting of the directors.

(2) The disclosure required by subsection (1) must be made

(

a) at the meeting at which a proposed contract or transaction is first

considered,

(

b) if the director was not, at the time of the meeting referred to in

paragraph (a), interested in a proposed contract or transaction, at the first

meeting after he or she becomes interested, or

(

c) at the first meeting after the relevant facts come to his or her knowledge.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a general notice in writing given by a director of

the corporation to the other directors of the corporation to the effect that he or she

is a member, director or officer of a specified corporation, or that he or she is a

partner in, or owner of, a specified firm, and that he or she has an interest in a

specified corporation or firm, is a sufficient disclosure of interest to comply with

this section.

(4) A director of the corporation is not deemed to be interested or to have been

interested at any time in a proposed contract or transaction by reason only,

(

a) if the proposed contract or transaction relates to a loan to the corporation,

that he or she or a specified corporation or specified firm in which he or she

has an interest has guaranteed or joined in guaranteeing the repayment of

the loan or any part of the loan,

(

b) if the proposed contract or transaction has been or will be made with or for

the benefit of an affiliated corporation, that he or she is a director or officer

of that corporation,

(

c) that the proposed contract or transaction relates

to an indemnity of the type described in

section 128 of the Company Act

or to insurance of the type described in

section 128 of the Company Act ,

(

d) that the proposed contract or transaction relates to the remuneration of a

director in his or her capacity as a director.

Director liable to account

(1) Every director referred to in

section 16 (1) must account to the corporation for

any profit made as a consequence of the corporation entering into or performing

the proposed contract or transaction

(

a) unless

(

i) he or she discloses his or her interest as required by

section 16,

(ii) after his or her disclosure the proposed contract or transaction is

approved by the directors, and

(iii) he or she abstains from voting on the approval of the proposed

contract or transaction, or

(

b) unless

(

i) the contract or transaction was reasonable and fair to the corporation

at the time it was entered into, and

(ii) after full disclosure of the nature and extent of his or her interest the

contract or transaction is approved by special resolution of the corporation.

(2) A director referred to in

section 16 (1) must not be counted in the quorum at a

meeting of the directors at which the proposed contract or transaction is

approved.

Validity

18 The circumstance that a director is, in any way, directly or indirectly, interested in a

proposed contract or transaction, or a contract or transaction, with the corporation

does not make the contract or transaction invalid, but, if the matters referred to in

section 17 (1) (

a) or (

b) have not occurred, the Supreme Court, on the application of

the government, of the corporation or of any interested person, may enjoin the

corporation from entering into the proposed contract or transaction, or set aside the

contract or transaction, if in existence, or make any other order that the Supreme Court

considers appropriate.

Disclosure of conflict of office or property

(1) Every director of the corporation who holds any office, or possesses any

property, whereby, whether directly or indirectly, a duty or interest might be

created in conflict with his or her duty or interest as a director of the corporation,

must declare at a meeting of the directors of the corporation the fact, and the

nature and extent of the conflict.

(2) The declaration must be made by a director referred to in subsection (1) at the

first meeting of the directors held

(

a) after he or she becomes a director, or

(

b) if he or she is already a director, after he or she commences to hold the

office or possess the property.

Consequential Amendments

Financial Information Act

Schedule 2 of the Financial Information Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 140, is amended by

adding "Tourism British Columbia" .

Financial Information Act

Schedule 2 ofFreedom 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:

Tourism British Columbia

Head:

Chair .

Hotel Room Tax Act

Section 2 (1) of the Hotel Room Tax Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 207, is amended by striking

out "a tax of 8% of the purchase price" and substituting "a tax of 6.35% of the purchase

price" .

Section 3 is amended

(

a) in subsection (1) by striking out "tax payable under

section 2," and substituting "tax

payable under sections 2 and 3.1," , and

(

b) in subsection (6) by striking out "under this

section and

section 2" and substituting

"under this

section and sections 2 and 3.1" .

24 The following

section is added:

Tax earmarked for Tourism British Columbia

3.1 In addition to the tax payable under

section 2, a person who is a purchaser of accommodation must pay to the government, at the time of purchase, for the raising of

revenue for the purposes of Tourism British Columbia a tax of 1.65% of the purchase

price of the accommodation.

Commencement

(1) On request by resolution of the corporation, the Lieutenant Governor in Council

may, by regulation, for the purposes of this Act, bring into force sections 22 to 24.

(2) When brought into force by regulation under subsection (1), sections 22 to 24 are

deemed to have come into force on April 1, 1997 and are retroactive to the extent

necessary to give them effect on and after that date.

(3) This Act, except sections 22 to 24, is deemed to have come into force on April 1,

1997 and is retroactive to the extent necessary to give it effect on and after that

date.

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