Bill C-111

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First Reading

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	Offences
Offence and punishment	106. (1) Every employer who contravenes subsection 82(1) or 86(2) is guilty of an offence and, in addition to any penalty otherwise provided, is liable on summary conviction to
	(a) a fine of not more that $5,000; or
	(b) both the fine and imprisonment for a term of not more than six months.
Offence and punishment	(2) Every person who contravenes section 87 or 88 is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Offence and punishment	(3) Every person who contravenes regulations made under paragraph 108(1)(a) or (b) is guilty of an offence and, in addition to any penalty otherwise provided, is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than $25 a day for each day of default, but not more than $1,000 in all.
Offence	(4) Every person is guilty of an offence who
	(a) makes, or participates in, assents to or acquiesces in the making of, false or deceptive statements in a return, certificate, statement or answer filed or made as required by or under this Part or the regulations;
	(b) to evade payment of a premium imposed by this Act, destroys, alters, mutilates, secretes or otherwise disposes of the records or books of account of an employer;
	(c) makes false or deceptive entries in records or books of account of an employer, omits to enter a material particular in the records or books of account or assents to or acquiesces in the making or omission of the entries;
	(d) wilfully, in any manner, evades or attempts to evade compliance with this Act or payment of premiums imposed by this Act; or
	(e) conspires with any person to commit an offence described in paragraphs (a) to (d).
Punishment	(5) In addition to any penalty otherwise provided, the person is liable on summary conviction to
	(a) a fine of not less than $25 and not more than $5,000 plus, in an appropriate case, not more than double the amount of the premium that should have been shown to be payable or that was sought to be evaded; or
	(b) both the fine and imprisonment for a term of not more than six months.
Liability to pay penalty	(6) If a person has been convicted under this Part for contravening subsection 82(1) or regulations made under paragraph 108(1)(a) or (b), the person is not liable to pay a penalty imposed under section 82 or under any regulation made under section 108 for the same contravention unless the person was assessed for that penalty or it was demanded from them before the information or complaint giving rise to the conviction was laid or made.
Officers, etc., of corporations	107. If a corporation commits an offence under this Part, any officer, director or agent of the corporation who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the offence is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable on conviction to the punishment provided for the offence, whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted.
	Regulations
Regulations	108. (1) The Minister may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations
	(a) requiring any class of persons to file information returns respecting any class of information required in connection with premiums under this Act, including information respecting premiums of persons employed by any of those persons identified by the province in which those persons were employed;
	(b) requiring a person who is, by regulations made under paragraph (a), required to file an information return to supply a copy of the return or a prescribed portion of it to the person or persons in respect of whose premiums the return or portion relates;
	(c) prescribing a penalty for non-compliance with regulations made under paragraph (a) or (b) equal to the greater of $100 and the product obtained when $25 is multiplied by the number of days during which the non-compliance occurs, to a maximum of $2,500;
	(d) respecting the manner in which any provision of this Act that applies or extends to an employer of an insured person shall apply or extend to
	(i) a person by whom the remuneration of an insured person for services performed in insurable employment is paid either wholly or in part, and
	(ii) the employer of that person;
	(e) for permitting an employer to deduct premiums paid on behalf of insured persons otherwise than from the remuneration for the period for which the premiums were payable;
	(f) providing that, in any case or class of cases where insured persons work
	(i) under the general control or direct supervision of or are paid by a person other than their actual employer, or
	(ii) with the concurrence of a person other than their actual employer on premises or property with respect to which that person has any rights or privileges under a licence, permit or agreement,
	the other person is, for the purposes of paying premiums, deemed to be the employer of the insured persons in addition to the actual employer, and providing for the payment and recovery of premiums paid for the insured persons;
	(g) for defining and determining earnings, pay periods and the amount of insurable earnings of insured persons and for allocating their earnings to any period of insurable employment;
	(h) for determining the amount of premiums payable;
	(i) for prescribing and regulating the manner, conditions and times for paying and recording premiums;
	(j) for determining the earnings and premiums paid or payable for one or more insured persons employed by an employer who has failed to keep books, records or accounts as required under this Act;
	(k) for regulating the possession, custody or control of documents or things used in the administration of this Act;
	(l) for the registration of employers;
	(m) for allocating to particular insured persons payments of premiums made by an employer;
	(n) regulating the procedure to be followed in making rulings or deciding appeals under sections 90 to 92;
	(o) for defining and determining whether employers are associated and determining how any refund under section 96 is to be allocated to them; and
	(p) prescribing or providing for anything that, by this Part, is to be prescribed or is to be provided for by regulations.
Alternative method of calculation	(2) If the Minister considers that it is not possible to apply any of the regulations, the Minister may, on his or her own initiative or on the request of an employer, approve another method or methods of defining and determining insurable earnings and determining the premiums payable for them.
Minister may alter or rescind method	(3) The Minister may at any time alter or rescind the approved method, subject to such conditions, if any, as the Minister considers appropriate.
Effective date of certain regulations	(4) Regulations made under paragraph (1)(p) prescribing or providing for anything mentioned in subsection 82(1) take effect on the day they are published in the Canada Gazette or on any later or earlier day specified in the regulations.
	PART V
	PILOT PROJECTS
Regulations	109. Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make such regulations as it deems necessary respecting the establishment and operation of pilot projects for testing whether or which possible amendments to this Act or the regulations would make this Act or the regulations more consistent with current industry employment practices, trends or patterns or would improve service to the public, including regulations
	(a) respecting the time and manner in which employers are to supply their employees or former employees or the Commission with information on their employment history;
	(b) providing for the use in a pilot project
	(i) of gross earnings, as defined by regulation, or prescribed amounts that are functions of gross earnings, as so defined, for any purpose for which insurable earnings, maximum insurable earnings or weekly insurable earnings are relevant to the operation of this Act, or
	(ii) of periods other than weeks, for any purpose for which a period of weeks or a number of weeks is relevant to the operation of this Act;
	(c) providing for the application of a pilot project in respect of one or more of the following:
	(i) prescribed employers or groups or classes of employers, including groups or classes consisting of randomly selected employers,
	(ii) prescribed areas, or
	(iii) prescribed claimants, employees, former employees or groups or classes of claimants, employees or former employees, including groups or classes consisting of randomly selected claimants, employees or former employees; and
	(d) respecting the manner in which and the extent to which any provision of this Act or the regulations applies to a pilot project, and adapting any such provision for the purposes of that application.
Expiration of regulations	110. Regulations made under this Part that are not repealed cease to have effect three years after they come into force.
	PART VI
	ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
	Boards of Referees
Boards to be established	111. (1) There shall be boards of referees, consisting of a chairperson and one or more members chosen from employers or representatives of employers and an equal number of members chosen from insured persons or representatives of insured persons.
Chairpersons	(2) The chairperson of a board of referees shall be appointed by the Governor in Council for a renewable term of three years and may be removed at any time by the Governor in Council for cause.
Panels	(3) Panels of employers and their representatives and insured persons and their representatives shall be established by the Commission, and the members of the boards of referees shall be selected from those panels in the prescribed manner.
Remuneration and allowances	(4) The following amounts, as approved by the Treasury Board, shall be paid:
	(a) remuneration to the chairperson and members of a board of referees;
	(b) travel, subsistence and other allowances, including compensation for loss of remunerative time, to the chairperson and members and to any other person required to attend before the board; and
	(c) any other expenses in connection with the operation of the board.
Regulations	(5) The Commission may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations
	(a) for the constitution of boards of referees, including the appointment of the members, the number of members constituting a quorum and the practice and procedure for proceedings before a board of referees;
	(b) authorizing the chairperson of a board of referees to exclude from a hearing before the board any claimant or employer, or any of their representatives, or any person who is or may be a witness at the hearing, when oral evidence concerning a circumstance of sexual or other harassment mentioned in subparagraph 29(c)(i) is being given;
	(c) requiring the oral evidence given in the absence of a claimant or employer to be made available, in the specified manner and time, to the claimant or employer; and
	(d) governing the time and manner in which a claimant or employer to whom the oral evidence is made available may respond to the evidence.
	Umpires
Appointment	112. (1) The Governor in Council may appoint from among the judges of the Federal Court such number of umpires as the Governor in Council considers necessary for the purposes of this Act and, subject to this Act, may prescribe their jurisdiction.
Judges acting as umpires	(2) Subject to subsection (4), a judge or former judge appointed under an Act of Parliament or the legislature of a province may, at the request of the chief umpire made with the approval of the Governor in Council, act as an umpire and, while acting, the judge or former judge has all the powers of an umpire.
Consent required	(3) No request may be made to a judge without the consent of the chief justice or chief judge of the court of which the judge is a member, or, in the case of a judge of the court of a province, the consent of the attorney general of the province.
Approval of Governor in Council	(4) The Governor in Council may approve the making of the requests in general terms or for particular periods or purposes, and may limit the number of persons who may act under subsection (2).
Salary and travel allowance	(5) A judge or former judge who acts as an umpire shall be paid
	(a) a salary for the period the person acts at the rate fixed by the Judges Act for a judge of the Federal Court, other than the Chief Justice or the Associate Chief Justice of that Court, less any amount otherwise payable to the person under that Act for the period; and
	(b) the travel allowances that a judge is entitled to be paid under that Act.
Appeals	(6) An umpire may sit and hear appeals under this Act at any place in Canada.
Chief umpire	(7) The Governor in Council may designate one of the umpires to be the chief umpire.
Duty	(8) The chief umpire has supervision over and direction of the work of the umpires, subject to such rules as the chief umpire may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make to regulate their work.
Hearings	113. (1) An umpire is not bound by any legal or technical rules of evidence in conducting hearings for the purposes of this Act and all appeals shall be dealt with by the umpire as informally and expeditiously as the circumstances and fairness will permit.
Significant matters	(2) If in the opinion of the chief umpire an appeal concerns a matter of significant importance to the administration of this Act, the chief umpire may direct that the appeal be reviewed or heard jointly by the chief umpire and one or more other umpires.