Bill C-205

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First Reading

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	1st Session, 36th Parliament, 46 Elizabeth II, 1997
	The House of Commons of Canada
	BILL C-205
	An Act to provide for parliamentary scrutiny and approval of user fees set by federal authority and to require public disclosure of the amount collected as user fees
	Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Short title	1. This Act may be cited as the User Fee Act.
Definitions	2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.
``Committee'' « comité »	``Committee'' means the Standing Committee of the House of Commons appointed by the House to study matters related to the regu lating authority in question.
``regulating authority'' « organisme de réglemen- tation »	``regulating authority'' means the Governor in Council, a department, board, agency, com mission, Crown corporation or any other body that has the power to set a user fee un der the authority of an Act of Parliament.
``user fee'' « frais d'utilisa- tion »	``user fee'' means a fee, charge or levy for a thing, service, use, authorization, permit or licence supplied or granted under the au thority of an Act of Parliament, payable by any person and set pursuant to an authority established by an Act of Parliament, but does not include anything that is directly set by an Act of Parliament or by a calculation directly set by an Act of Parliament.
Proposal for establishment or increase	3. (1) Where a regulating authority wishes to establish, increase, widen the application of or increase the duration of a user fee with effect from July 1, 1998 or later, the regulating authority must submit to the Committee a proposal
	(a) stating for what thing, service, use, authorization, permit or licence the user fee is charged;
	(b) explaining the reason for the change in the user fee; and
	(c) declaring the total amount that the regulating authority estimates will be col lected in the first three fiscal years after the user fee is established or increased.
Minor change in incidence	(2) Where a regulating authority wishes to make a minor change in the definition of the persons to whom the fee is to apply, solely for the purpose of maintaining fairness or circum venting avoidance, the authority shall report to the Committee the reasons for the change, and if the Committee approves the change, the authority may make the change without making a proposal under subsection (1).
Committee review	4. The Committee shall review every proposal received pursuant to section 3 and shall report to the House of Commons with its recommendations thereon.
Resolution by Commons	5. (1) If a Committee has received a proposal and has not made a report to the House of Commons within one hundred and fifty days after receiving the proposal, the House may pass a resolution approving, denying or amending the proposal.
Setting user fees	(2) A regulating authority may not establish or increase a user fee after July 1, 1998 unless the authority has first made a proposal under section 3 and either
	(a) the House of Commons has concurred in a report by the Committee approving the proposal or approving the proposal with amendments; or
	(b) the House has passed a resolution under subsection (1) approving the proposal or approving the proposal with amendments.
Authority to follow recommen- ded decreases	(3) Where a report as concurred in by the House of Commons or a resolution made by the House pursuant to subsection (1) recom mends that a proposal be denied or the user fee be less than that proposed by the regulating authority as to amount, application or dura tion, the regulating authority shall set the user fee in the manner recommended by the report as concurred in or as stated in the resolution, as the case may be.
User fees shown separately	6. The amount of money collected by the Government of Canada as user fees must be identified and shown separately in
	(a) the Public Accounts laid before the House of Commons pursuant to section 64 of the Financial Administration Act; and
	(b) every other report made public by the Government of Canada that shows the revenue of Canada and shows separately the sources from which it is generated.
R.S., c. F-11	*7. The Financial Administration Act* is amended by adding the following after section 19.3:**
Application of User Fee Act	19.4 The power to issue a regulation under section 19 or 19.1 that establishes, increases, decreases or alters the application of a user fee within the meaning of the User Fee Act is subject to that Act.

Bill C-205

BILL C-205