Bill C-203

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First Reading

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	Review of Proposed Regulations
Publication	18. (1) The Corporation shall publish in the Canada Gazette any regulation that it proposes to make under subsection 19(1) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.
Copy to Board	(2) At least ten days before publishing a proposed regulation, the Corporation shall send a copy of it to the Board for review, unless the proposed regulation directly relates to rates or services in respect of which an appropriation is made by Parliament for the benefit of postal service users.
Notice of hearing	(3) As soon as possible after receiving a copy of a proposed regulation, and at least thirty days before commencing a public hearing into its merits, the Board shall publish a notice of the times and places of the public hearing in the Canada Gazette and in such newspapers throughout Canada as the Board considers appropriate.
Public hearing and recommenda- tions	(4) Within one hundred and twenty days after a copy of a proposed regulation is sent to the Board, it shall hold a public hearing into the merits of the proposed regulation and give to the Corporation its written recommendations.
Publication of recommen- dations	(5) As soon as possible after giving its written recommendations to the Corporation, the Board shall publish the recommendations in the Canada Gazette.
Re-publica- tion not required	(6) A proposed regulation that has been published under subsection (1) is not required to be published again if it is amended as a result of any recommendation given to the Corporation by the Board.
Submission for approval	19. (1) Where a proposed regulation has been published under section 18 and has not been withdrawn by the Corporation, the proposed regulation shall, following receipt by the Board of the Corporation's written response as provided for in subsection 25(1), be submitted by the Minister to the Clerk of the Privy Council for approval by the Governor in Council in its original form or, if it has been amended, in its amended form.
Notice of receipt	(2) On receiving a proposed regulation for the approval of the Governor in Council, the Clerk of the Privy Council shall in writing notify the Corporation of the date of its receipt.
Deemed approval	(3) The Governor in Council shall be deemed to have approved a proposed regulation thirty days after the date of its receipt if before that time the Governor in Council has not approved or refused to approve it.
Limitation	(4) This section and section 18 do not apply in respect of any proposed regulation that was published in the Canada Gazette under subsection 20(1) of the Canada Post Corporation Act before the coming into force of this section and section 18.
	Review of Major Service Proposals
Copy to Board	20. (1) Not less than one hundred and eighty days before submitting each corporate plan pursuant to section 122 of the Financial Administration Act, the Corporation shall send to the Board a copy of any major service proposal to be contained in the corporate plan.
Notice	(2) As soon as possible after receiving a copy of a major service proposal and at least thirty days before commencing a public hearing into the merits of the proposal, the Board shall publish a notice of the times and places of the public hearing in the Canada Gazette and in such newspapers throughout Canada as the Board considers appropriate.
Public hearing and recommenda- tions	(3) Within one hundred and twenty days after receiving a copy of a major service proposal, the Board shall hold a public hearing into the merits of the proposal and give to the Corporation its written recommendations.
Publication of recommen- dations	(4) As soon as possible after giving its written recommendations to the Corporation, the Board shall publish the recommendations in the Canada Gazette.
	Minister's Reference
Minister's reference	21. (1) The Minister may refer any matter pertaining to the operations of the Corporation to the Board for review and may require the Board to hold a public hearing if the Minister considers that a public hearing is warranted.
Notice	(2) Where the Minister refers a matter to the Board and requires it to hold a public hearing, the Board shall, at least thirty days before commencing the public hearing, publish a notice of the times and places of the public hearing in the Canada Gazette and in such newspapers throughout Canada as the Board considers appropriate.
Public hearing and recommenda- tions	(3) Within one hundred and twenty days after the Minister refers a matter to the Board, or within such longer period as the Minister may specify, the Board shall review the matter, hold any public hearing required by the Minister and give to the Minister and, if there has been a public hearing, to the Corporation, its written recommendations.
	General
Powers of the Board	22. Where the Board or a member on behalf of the Board holds a public hearing pursuant to this Act, the Board or the member, as the case may be, has power to summon and enforce the attendance of any witness it or the member considers necessary to the hearing and to compel the witness to give oral or written evidence on oath and to produce any document or thing that the Board or member considers requisite to a full public hearing.
Extension of time	23. Where the Board considers that the complexity of any proposed regulation, major service proposal or matter referred by the Minister precludes the Board from making recommendations on it within the period specified by or under this Act, the Board may extend the period by not more than thirty days with the agreement of the Corporation, in the case of a proposed regulation or major service proposal, or with the agreement of the Minister, in the case of a matter referred by the Minister.
Reasons and financial assessment	24. In making recommendations to the Corporation under this Act, the Board shall include in its recommendations the reasons on which they are based and an assessment of their financial implications for the Corporation.
Response of the Corporation	25. (1) Within thirty days after receiving any recommendations from the Board, the Corporation shall provide the Board with a written response to the recommendations indicating whether the Corporation accepts or rejects them and including supporting reasons if it rejects them.
Publication	(2) The Corporation shall, as soon as possible, publish its response in the Canada Gazette.
	POSTAL SERVICE CUSTOMER COUNCILS
	Organization and Membership
Postal Service Customer Councils	26. (1) The Governor in Council may, by order, establish Postal Service Customer Councils for such regions of Canada as the Governor in Council considers appropriate.
Membership of Councils	(2) Each Council shall consist of a Coordinator and at least seven other members appointed by the Coordinator from among the following authorities and organizations in the region for which the Council is established:
	(a) local and municipal authorities;
	(b) consumer, trade, industry, commerce and professional organizations; and
	(c) organizations involved in community or volunteer activities.
Duties of Coordinator	(3) The Coordinator of each Council is responsible for advising the Council and reporting to the Board on the conduct of the Council's work.
Expenses	(4) Subject to any applicable Treasury Board directive, members of Councils are entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses incurred by them in carrying out duties under this Act while absent from their ordinary places of residence.
	Duties
Duties of Councils	27. (1) The duties of each Council are
	(a) to consider the particular circumstances and needs, with respect to postal services, of the region for which it was established and to make representations and recommendations on postal services to the postal management in the region; and
	(b) to receive the views and complaints of postal service customers with respect to postal services in the region.
Board directions	(2) Each Council shall carry out its duties in conformity with the directions of the Board.
	Complaints
Complaints	28. (1) A customer of any service provided by the Corporation may file with a Council a complaint with respect to that service in a form acceptable to the Council.
Inquiry	(2) A Council shall inquire into any complaint that it receives unless the Council considers that an inquiry is not warranted because
	(a) the complaint has not been made to the Corporation or, if the complaint has been made to the Corporation, it has not had sufficient time to address the complaint;
	(b) the complaint is capable of being dealt with under another Act of Parliament or under a collective agreement to which the Corporation is a party;
	(c) the complaint involves matters arising outside the region for which the Council was established or matters that do not involve postal services in that region; or
	(d) the complaint is frivolous or vexatious.
Notice	(3) Where a Council considers that no inquiry is warranted, it shall notify the complainant in writing.
Powers of Council	(4) A Council has power to summon and enforce the attendance of any witness it considers necessary to the inquiry and to compel the witness to give oral or written evidence on oath and to produce any document or thing that the Council considers requisite to a full inquiry.
Report to Corporation	(5) After conducting an inquiry, a Council shall submit to the Corporation and to the complainant a written report of its findings and, if it considers that the complaint is well-founded, the Council may include in the report its recommendations for a course of action by the Corporation to address the complaint.
Response of the Corporation	29. (1) Within twenty days after receiving a report from a Council, the Corporation shall provide the Council with a written response to any recommendations included in the report indicating whether the Corporation intends to comply with them and, if it does, the measures that it intends to take to comply, and if it does not, the reasons therefor.
Copy to complainant	(2) A Council shall, as soon as possible, send to the complainant a copy of the Corporation's response.
	ANNUAL REPORT
Annual report	30. Within three months after the end of each fiscal year, the Board shall submit to the Minister a report on its activities for that year and the Minister shall cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament within the first fifteen sitting days of that House after receiving it.
	CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
R.S., c. A-1, Sch. I	Access to Information Act
	*31. Schedule I to the Access to Information Act* is amended by adding, in alphabetical order under the heading ``Other Government Institutions'', the following:**
	``Postal Services Review Board Office de réexamen du service postal''
R.S., c. C-10	Canada Post Corporation Act
	*32. Section 20 of the Canada Post Corporation Act* is amended by adding the following after subsection (5):**
Application	(5.1) Subsections (1) to (5) do not apply in respect of a proposed regulation if a copy of it is required to be sent to the Postal Services Review Board under subsection 18(2) of the Postal Services Act.
R.S., c. F-11	Financial Administration Act
	*33. Schedule II to the Financial Administration Act* is amended by adding, in alphabetical order, the following:**
	``Postal Services Review Board Office de réexamen du service postal''
R.S., c. P-21	Privacy Act
	*34. The schedule to the Privacy Act* is amended by adding, in alphabetical order under the heading ``Other Government Institutions'', the following:**
	``Postal Services Review Board Office de réexamen du service postal''
	COMING INTO FORCE AND DURATION OF ACT
Coming into force	35. This Act or any provision thereof comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.
Expiration	36. (1) Subject to subsection (2), all of the provisions of this Act brought into force pursuant to section 35 shall cease to be in force seven years after the first day on which a provision of this Act is so brought into force and no provision of this Act not in force on that day may be brought into force after that day.
Continuation in force	(2) The Governor in Council may, where the Governor in Council is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so, by order, continue in force for a period not exceeding five years all of the provisions of this Act brought into force pursuant to section 35.
Tabling of order	(3) An order made under subsection (2) shall be laid before each House of Parliament by or on behalf of the Minister within the first fifteen sitting days of that House after the order is made.