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Bill C-438

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1st Session, 37th Parliament,
49-50-51 Elizabeth II, 2001-2002

House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-438

An Act to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act and the Access to Information Act

      Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

R.S., c. C-24

CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD ACT

1. (1) The definition ``designated area'' in subsection 2(1) of the Canadian Wheat Board Act is replaced by the following:

``designated area''
« région désignée »

``designated area'' means that area comprised by the Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and that part of the Province of British Columbia known as the Peace River District;

(2) Subsection 2(3) of the Act is repealed.

2. (1) Subsection 3.02(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Directors

3.02 (1) Fifteen directors are elected in accordance with sections 3.06 to 3.08 and the regulations. The president is appointed by the board, after consultation with the Minister.

(2) Subsection 3.02(4) of the Act is repealed.

3. (1) Paragraph 3.05(c) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    (c) the conditions under which the directors may be removed from office;

(2) Paragraph 3.05(e) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    (e) the manner in which the board may decide, after consultation with the Minister, to remove the president and implement that decision ;

4. Subsection 3.06(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Regulations

3.06 (1) Subject to section 3.061, the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations respecting the election of directors.

5. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 3.06:

Election of directors

3.061 (1) Subject to this section, the directors shall be elected by producers who are qualified to vote in an election of directors, each of whom may cast no more than one vote in the election.

Obligation of producer

(2) Every producer who intends to vote in an election of directors shall notify the board in writing of his or her intention to do so and advise the board whether he or she is or has been the holder of a permit book, and, where a producer is not or has not been such a holder, the producer shall provide the board with a signed affidavit attesting to the fact that he or she is a producer described in paragraph (3)(a).

Producer qualified to vote

(3) A producer is qualified to vote in an election of directors if

    (a) the producer has grown or marketed in Canada in the year the election is held or in any year preceding that year, a minimum number of tonnes of wheat or barley which shall be established by the board after it has consulted with actual producers of wheat or barley; and

    (b) the producer has provided the board with a signed affidavit in accordance with subsection (2) or the board has verified that he or she is a qualified producer, as the case may be.

Definition of ``producer''

(4) In this section, ``producer'' does not include a producer who is excluded from the application of Part IV.1 or any regulation made under that Part by virtue of an election made under section 46.1.

6. (1) The portion of section 3.07 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Administra-
tion of election

3.07 Subject to the regulations, the board shall, after consultation with the Minister, take any measures that the board considers necessary for the proper conduct and supervision of an election of directors, including

(2) Paragraph 3.07(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    (b) paying the costs of the election incurred by the board on behalf of the Corporation, including the costs incurred in the preparation, printing and distribution of material providing information on candidates.

7. Subsection 3.09(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Term

3.09 (1) The president holds office for the term that is determined by resolution of the board and may be removed from office by resolution of the board under any conditions determined by any by-law under paragraph 3.05(c).

8. Subsection 3.1(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Remunera-
tion

3. (1) The president is paid the remuneration that is fixed by resolution of the board .

9. Subsection 3.11(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Absence or incapacity

(2) If the president is absent or unable to act or if the office of president is vacant, the board may, by resolution of the board and after consultation with the Minister, appoint an interim president. An interim president shall not act for more than ninety days without the approval of the board .

10. Paragraph 3.12(1)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    (a) act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the producers ; and

11. Paragraph 3.13(1)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    (a) acted honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the producers ; and

12. Subsection 4(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Status

(2) Subject to subsection (2.1), the Corporation is not an agent of Her Majesty and is not a Crown corporation within the meaning of the Financial Administration Act.

Exception

(2.1) The Corporation is deemed to be a Crown corporation within the meaning of the Financial Administration Act for the purposes of the definition of the expression ``Crown corporation'' in section 2 of the Auditor General Act.

13. Section 5 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Object

5. The Corporation is incorporated with the object of securing the best financial return to the producers of grain grown in Canada. The Corporation shall carry out its operations with this object as its first priority.

14. (1) Section 7 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Sale and disposal of grain

7. Subject to the regulations, the Corporation shall sell and dispose of grain acquired by it pursuant to its operations under this Act for prices that will secure the best financial return to the producers of that grain.

(2) Subsections 7(2) and (3) of the Act, as enacted by section 7 of An Act to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, chapter 17 of the Statutes of Canada, 1998, are repealed.

15. Subsection 9(1) of the Act is amended by striking out the word ``and'' at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (e):

    (f) provide such information or document to the Auditor General of Canada as is requested by him or her for the purposes of an audit of the Corporation carried out under this Act or the Auditor General Act; and

    (g) provide such records and information as are requested under the Access to Information Act.

16. Section 18 of the Act is repealed.

17. (1) Paragraph 28(d) of the Act is repealed.

(2) Paragraphs 28(f) and (g) of the Act are repealed.

(3) Paragraphs 28(i) to (k) of the Act are repealed.

18. The portion of subsection 32(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Wheat for interprovin-
cial and export trade

32. (1) The Corporation shall undertake the marketing, in interprovincial and export trade, of wheat and barley produced in the designated area, except for wheat and barley from producers who have elected to be excluded pursuant to subsection 46.1(1), and for that purpose shall

19. The portion of section 45 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Trading in wheat or wheat products

45. Except as permitted under this Act or the regulations, no person other than the Corporation shall

20. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 46:

PART IV.1

NON-APPLICATION BY ELECTION

Non-applica-
tion by election

46.1 (1) A producer may, in respect of one or more types of grain and in a form prescribed by a regulation made under subsection (4), elect to be excluded from the application of Part IV and any regulation made under that Part for a period of two years or more.

Termination of election

(2) Where a producer makes an election under subsection (1), the election may be terminated at any time upon the written consent of the producer and the Corporation.

Payment procedures

(3) The Corporation shall, by a regulation made under subsection (4), establish payment procedures that apply to every producer who has made an election that has not been terminated under subsection (2) and are independent of payment procedures that apply to any producer who has not made such an election.

Regulations

(4) The Governor in Council may make regulations

    (a) prescribing anything that may be prescribed under this Part;

    (b) establishing payment procedures for the purposes of this Part; and

    (c) providing for any other matter necessary to give effect to this Part.

21. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 76:

REPORTS TO PARLIAMENT

Examination by the Auditor General

76.1 (1) The Auditor General of Canada shall examine the operations of the Corporation for the period commencing with the year this Act is assented to and ending on June 30, 2005 in order to determine whether the Corporation achieved the object described in section 5 during that period, and make a report to the Minister not later than December 31, 2005 indicating whether the Corporation achieved that object during that period.

Tabling of report

(2) The Minister shall table the report referred to in subsection (1) in the House of Commons upon receiving it or, if the House is not then sitting, within the first three days the House next sits.

Reference to committee of the House of Commons

(3) The report shall

    (a) within two days of being tabled in the House of Commons under subsection (2), be referred to such committee of that House as is established or designated to consider matters relating to agriculture; or

    (b) if the House is then dissolved, be referred to such committee of that House as is established or designated to consider matters relating to agriculture when the House resumes sitting, within two days of the establishment or designation of such committee.

Report by the committee

(4) The committee to whom a report is referred under subsection (3) shall consider the report and hold such hearings as it deems necessary in respect of the report for the purpose of determining whether it agrees with the conclusion of the Auditor General set out in the report as to whether the Corporation achieved the object described in section 5, and shall report to the House of Commons in respect of its determination not later than three months after the Auditor General's report was referred to the committee or, if the House is not then sitting, within the first three days the House next sits.

Considera-
tion by the House of Commons

(5) The House of Commons shall consider the report of the committee and indicate whether it concurs in the report not later than three months after the report is made to the House.

Repeal of this Act

(6) If the committee indicates, in a report to the House of Commons, that it has concluded that the Corporation has not achieved the object described in section 5, and the House concurs in that report, this Act is repealed on the day that is six months after the day on which the report is concurred in.

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