First Session, 46th

General Assembly

57 Elizabeth II,

BILL 68

AN ACT TO AMEND THE HOUSE OF

ASSEMBLY ACCOUNTABILITY, INTEGRITY AND ADMINISTRATION ACT NO. 2

Received

and Read the First Time ....................................... December 4, 2008

Second

Reading ............................................................... December 11, 2008

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

Clause 19 Defeated - December 11,

Third

Reading ................................................................... December 17, 2008

Royal

Assent .................................................................... December 18, 2008

HONOURABLE

JOAN BURKE

Government House

Leader

Ordered to be printed by

the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity

and Administration Act .

Clause 1 of the Bill would amend the

definitions of "commissioner", "financial audit" and "statutory

office" found in

section 2 of the Act.

Clause 2 of the Bill would correct a

grammatical error contained in paragraph 3(

g) of the Act.

Clause 3 of the Bill would correct an

incorrect reference to a time in office of the speaker contained in

section 6

of the Act.

Clause 4 of the Bill would correct a

grammatical error in paragraph 11(4)(

b) of the Act.

Clause 5 of the Bill would amend

paragraph 12(1)(

g) of the Act to remove the reference to "recognized"

in relation to a political party. Clause

5 would also correct a typographical error found in paragraph 12(1)(

k) of the

Act.

Clause 6 of the Bill would add a provision

to the Act respecting permitted absence from the House of Assembly because of

pregnancy, adoption or parental leave requirements.

The clause would add a provision to

allow the speaker the discretion to permit members to be absent from the House

of Assembly when the House of Assembly is in session provided that they are attending

to constituency duties in their district.

Clause 7 of the Bill would amend

subsection 14(1) of the Act to correct a reference to the time when a member

qualified for payment of expenses, severance and pension. This clause would also amend subsection 14(2)

to disallow claiming expenses during the period of an election call.

Subclause 8(1) of the Bill would

amend subsection 18(2) of the Act to require the speaker to cast a vote in the

event of a tie at a meeting of the House of Assembly Management Commission as

was recommended by Chief Justice Derek Green.

Subclause 8(2) of the Bill would correct a grammatical error contained

in subsection 18(4). Subclause 8(3) of

the Bill would amend the requirement for a "quorum" in subsection

18(8) as agreed upon by the House of Assembly Management Commission. Subclause 8(4) of the Bill would add a new

subsection 18(11) to the Act to allow the House of Assembly Management

Commission members to continue in office after an election is called until a

new commission is appointed.

Subclause 9(1) of the Bill is amended

to clarify that in the absence of a financial or management policy being established

by the House of Assembly Management Commission for the House of Assembly and

statutory offices, the financial and management policies of the government

shall apply.

Subclause 9(2) of the Bill would

change the time period within which an annual financial or compliance audit of

the House of Assembly is to be completed.

Clause 10 of the Bill would amend

paragraph 23(7)(

d) of the Act to add a requirement for the audit committee to

recommend that the House of Assembly Management Commission, where appropriate,

approve and sign the financial statements.

Subclause 11(1) of the Bill would

correct a typographical error in subsection 24(1) of the Act. Subclause 11(2) would amend

section 24 of the

Act to add a provision allowing the House of Assembly Management Commission, on

appeal, to vary a decision respecting expenses allowed under the rules where

the decision is considered to be unjust.

Clause 12 of the Bill would correct a

typographical error in paragraph 32(2)(

a) and would amend an incorrect citation

found in paragraph 32(2)(

d) of the Act.

Clause 13 of the Bill would correct a

typographical error contained in subsection 35(1) of the Act.

Clause 14 of the Bill would provide that

the Commissioner for Legislative Standards, when investigating a matter under

section 36 of the Act, would have the powers of a commissioner under the Public Inquiries Act, 2006 .

Clause 15 of the Bill would add a

reference to "statutory offices" to subsection 45(7) of the Act so

that

section 15 of the Auditor General

Act respecting possible criminality which currently does not apply to the

House of Assembly service and members would also not apply to statutory offices.

Section 45 of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act

which has the same intent would apply instead.

Clause 16 of the Bill would amend

section 48 of the Act to add a reference to the making of rules by the House of

Assembly Management Commission with respect to tendering and conflict of

interest matters.

Clause 17 of the Bill would correct a

typographical error in paragraph 51(

e) of the Act.

Subclause 18(1) of the Bill would

correct 2 spelling errors to the word "citizen's" in paragraph

54(1)(

c) and subclause 18(2) would correct an incorrect citation in subsection

54(2).

Clause 19 of the Bill would give the

Citizens' Representative the power to be a party to an appeal to the Labour

Relations Board with respect to a reprisal complaint by an employee under

subsection 59(2) of the Act. Under the

Act the Citizens' Representative is the investigator of those disclosure

reprisals. Defeated

Clause 20 of the Bill would have the

Bill come into force retroactively to the date that the Act originally came

into force, except for the amendment to subsection 18(2) contained in clause 8 which

relates to the voting of the speaker on decisions made by the House of Assembly

Management Commission.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

ACCOUNTABILITY, INTEGRITY AND ADMINISTRATION ACT NO. 2

Analysis

S.2 Amdt.

Definitions

S.3 Amdt.

Purpose

S.6 Amdt.

Speaker term of office

S.11 Amdt.

Salaries, expenses, severance and pensions

S.12 Amdt.

Other remuneration

S.13 Amdt.

Time at duties

S.14 Amdt.

Commencement and termination dates

S.18 Amdt.

House of Assembly Management Commission

S.20 Amdt.

Duties and responsibilities of commission

S.23 Amdt.

Audit committee

S.24 Amdt.

Advance rulings on allowance use

S.32 Amdt.

Subordinate offices

S.35 Amdt.

Codes of conduct

S.37 Amdt.

Inquiry

S.45 Amdt.

Improper retention of public money

S.48 Amdt.

Application of Acts

S.51 Amdt.

Annual report of speaker

S.54 Amdt.

Interpretation

Defeated

Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

SNL2007 cH-10.1

as amended

(1) Paragraph 2(

g) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity

and Administration Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(g) "commissioner",

unless the context indicates otherwise, means the Commissioner for Legislative

Standards appointed under the House of

Assembly Act ;

(2) Paragraph 2(

i) of the Act is amended by

deleting the number "5" and substituting the number "6".

(3) Subparagraph 2(r)(

v) of the Act is amended by

deleting the word "Citizen's" and substituting the word "Citizens'

2. Paragraph 3(

g) of the Act is amended by

deleting the words "the responsibility of" and substituting the words

"responsibility for the"

Section 6 of the Act is amended by deleting the

word "following" and substituting the words "immediately before".

4. Paragraph 11(4)(

b) of the Act is amended by

deleting the word "or" and substituting the word "and".

5. (1) Paragraph 12(1)(

g) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

(

g) leader of a third party, $18,367;

(2) Paragraph 12(1)(

k) of the Act is amended by

deleting the words and hyphen "chairperson-public" and substituting

the words and comma "chairperson, public".

6. (1) Subsection 13(3) of the Act is amended

by adding immediately after paragraph (

a) the following:

(a.1) adoption, pregnancy or parental leave as

established by directive;

(2) Paragraph 13(3)(

e) of the Act is amended by

deleting the figure "19.1" and substituting the figure

"19.2".

(3) Section 13 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after subsection (3) the following:

(3.1) Notwithstanding paragraph (3)(e), the speaker

may, under paragraph (3)(g), approve the absence of a member to attend to constituency

duties within his or her constituency where the speaker is of the opinion that

the absence is necessary and in accordance with directives of the commission.

7. (1) Subsection 14(1) of the Act is amended

by adding immediately after the words "until the" the words "day

immediately before the".

(2) Subsection 14(2) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a member shall

not claim reimbursement of expenses under subsection 11(2) from the date an

election is called until the date of his or her reelection as a member.

8. (1) Subsection 18(2) of the Act is amended

by adding immediately after the word "commission" the words and comma

"and when presiding, shall vote in the case of a tie".

(2) Subsection 18(4) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

(4) Where there is no third party, the member

chosen for the purposes of paragraph (3)(

g) shall be an additional member from

the official opposition caucus.

(3) Subsection 18(8) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(8) A quorum of the commission shall be 50% of its

members, but

(

a) one member representing the government;

(

b) one member representing a party in opposition

to the government; and

(

c) the speaker or the deputy speaker

shall be present during a meeting of the

commission.

(4) Section 18 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after subsection (10) the following:

(11) Upon the dissolution of the House of Assembly,

the commission members shall, until the members of the commission are replaced,

be considered to remain in office as commission members as if there had been no

dissolution.

9. (1) Subsection 20(3) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(c), where a

financial or management policy has not been established by the commission for

the House of Assembly and statutory offices, the financial and management

policies of the government shall apply.

(2) Paragraphs 20(5)(

b) and (

c) of the Act are

repealed and the following substituted:

(

b) ensure that an annual financial audit is

completed of the accounts of the House of Assembly and the statutory offices in

accordance with

section 43 before September 1 immediately following the

fiscal year to which that audit relates ;

(

c) ensure that a compliance audit is completed of

the accounts of the House of Assembly and the statutory offices in accordance

with

section 43 at least once every General Assembly and reported on before

September 1 immediately following the last fiscal year to which that audit

relates;

10. Paragraph 23(7)(

d) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(

d) review the financial statements, audit report

and recommendations of the auditor and give advice about them to the

commission, including, where the committee considers it appropriate,

recommending that the commission approve and sign the financial statements;

11. (1) Subsection 24(1) of the Act is amended

by deleting the comma immediately after the word "reimbursement".

(2) Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding immediately

after subsection (8) the following:

(9) Notwithstanding that an expense claim has been

denied by an officer, staff member or the speaker, in accordance with the

rules, where there is an appeal to the commission under this

section and the

commission determines that that claimed expense amount

(

a) has been incurred by the member; and

(

b) is a permitted expense under the Act and

rules; and

(

c) does not exceed an expense amount or allowance

allocation permitted under the rules,

and a denial of payment of the expense

amount would, in the opinion of the commission, be unjust, the commission may

approve the expenditure for the claimed expense to the extent that the

commission considers to be just and the decision of the commission is final.

12. (1) Paragraph 32(2)(

a) of the Act is

amended by deleting the word "Citizen's" and substituting the word "Citizens'

(2) Paragraph 32(2)(

d) of the Act is amended by

deleting the number "5" and substituting the number "6".

13. Subsection 35(1) of the Act is amended by

deleting the word "by" where it last occurs.

14. Subsection 37(3) of the Act is amended by

deleting the words "decides to conduct" and substituting the word "conducts".

15. Subsection 45(7) of the Act is amended by

adding immediately after the word "service" the words "and the

statutory offices".

16. Subsection 48(2) of the Act is amended by

adding immediately before the word "directive" the words "rule

or".

17. Paragraph 51(

e) of the Act is amended by adding

a comma immediately after the word "salaries".

18. (1) Paragraph 54(1)(

c) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

(c) "investigator" means the citizens'

representative appointed under the Citizens'

Representative Act ;

(2) Subsection 54(2) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(c), where a

disclosure relates to the citizens' representative, the commissioner shall be

the investigator for the purposes of this Part.

19. [Clause 19 defeated]

Commencement

20. This Act, except subsection

8(1), shall be considered to have come into force on June

14, 2007 .

Earl G. Tucker, Queen's Printer