Bill C-27

If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.

First Reading

PDF

	RECOMMENDATION
	Her Excellency the Governor General recommends to the House of Commons the appropriation of public revenue under the circumstances, in the manner and for the purposes set out in a measure entitled ``An Act respecting airport authorities and other airport operators and amending other Acts''.
	SUMMARY
	This enactment establishes a framework for the economic activities of airport authorities and other operators of airports serving significant levels of air carrier traffic. It provides for
	(a) a declaration of a National Airports Policy;
	(b) a clarification of the respective roles of the Minister of Transport and airport operators;
	(c) public policy obligations for airport operators, including the provision of equitable access for air carriers to essential airport facilities;
	(d) the continuation of airport authorities as non-share capital, not-for-profit corporations incorporated under this enactment;
	(e) the scope of airport authority activities, including investments in other corporations;
	(f) a framework for the corporate governance of airport authorities, which addresses matters such as the structure and duties of the Board, director eligibility, conflict of interest rules and consultation with air carriers and the community;
	(g) obligations for airport authorities, as lessees of airports owned by Her Majesty in right of Canada;
	(h) disclosure and accountability obligations for airport operators, including requirements in respect of audited financial statements, annual reports and annual meetings that are open to the public, other documents available to the public and an independent performance review of airport authorities to be conducted every five years;
	(i) a framework for the fees imposed by airport operators, including a set of charging principles to be observed, a requirement for a transparent charging methodology and additional conditions for the imposition of fees directly on passengers;
	(j) a process for ensuring the compliance of existing, new and revised fees with the framework, including requirements for public notice of a fee proposal and its justification, consultation with users and other stakeholders, consideration of representations received and an opportunity for users to appeal new or revised fees to the Canadian Transportation Agency in certain cases;
	(k) the transfer of certain obligations from the Airport Transfer (Miscellaneous Matters) Act;
	(l) the elimination of the unconditional exemption from the Income Tax Act for airport authorities; and
	(m) compliance and enforcement mechanisms based on proceedings either by way of summary conviction or administrative monetary penalty, and an opportunity for persons subject to administrative monetary penalties to appeal to the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada.
	EXPLANATORY NOTES
	Airport Transfer (Miscellaneous Matters) Act
	Clause 211: Subsection 4(1) reads as follows:
	4. (1) Where the Minister has leased an airport to a designated airport authority, on and after the transfer date Parts IV, V, VI, VIII, IX and X of the Official Languages Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to the authority in relation to the airport as if
	(a) the authority were a federal institution; and
	(b) the airport were an office or facility of that institution, other than its head or central office.
	Clause 212: The heading before section 8 and sections 8 to 11 read as follows:
	INCOME TAX
	8. (1) No tax is payable under Part I of the Income Tax Act by a corporation for a taxation year commencing after 1990 on that portion of its taxable income for the year that may reasonably be regarded as being derived from an airport business if
	(a) throughout the year, the corporation was a designated airport authority and no part of the income or capital of the corporation was or became payable to, or otherwise available for the personal benefit of, any member or shareholder of the corporation; and
	(b) all or substantially all of the gross revenue of the corporation, other than dividends received from a taxable Canadian corporation, in the year was derived from an airport business.
	(2) No tax is payable under Parts I.3, IV and IV.1 of the Income Tax Act by a corporation for a taxation year commencing after 1990 for which no tax is payable on all or a portion of its taxable income by reason of subsection (1).
	(3) Unless a contrary intention appears, words and expressions used in this section have the same meaning as in the Income Tax Act.
	(4) For the purposes of subsection (1),
	``airport business'' means the business of operating an airport and any activities incidental or pertaining to that operation and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, includes the rental or leasing of real property situated at the airport, the making of investments, the granting of franchises, concessions and licences and the provision of parking facilities at the airport and heliport facilities and bus services serving the airport, but does not include activities relating to the operation of a hotel, motel, restaurant, bar, retail or wholesale store, a motor vehicle rental or leasing service, a taxi or limousine service, a freight transportation service, an airline, an aircraft rental or leasing service, an aircraft fuelling or maintenance service, a currency exchange service or an amusement or entertainment centre or any prescribed activity;
	``taxation year'', in respect of a corporation, means
	(a) where the corporation is designated as a designated airport authority in a taxation year of the corporation, only that part of that year following the designation, and
	(b) where the corporation ceases to be a designated airport authority in a taxation year of the corporation, only that part of that year preceding the cessation.
	SEIZURE AND DETENTION OF AIRCRAFT
	9. (1) Where the amount of any landing fees, general terminal fees or other charges related to the use of an airport, and interest thereon, set by a designated airport authority in respect of an airport operated by the authority has not been paid, the authority may, in addition to any other remedy available for the collection of the amount and whether or not a judgment for the collection of the amount has been obtained, on application to the superior court of the province in which any aircraft owned or operated by the person liable to pay the amount is situated, obtain an order of the court, issued on such terms as the court considers necessary, authorizing the authority to seize and detain aircraft.
	(2) Where the amount of any fees, charges and interest referred to in subsection (1) has not been paid and the designated airport authority has reason to believe that the person liable to pay the amount is about to leave Canada or take from Canada any aircraft owned or operated by the person, the authority may, in addition to any other remedy available for the collection of the amount and whether or not a judgment for the collection of the amount has been obtained, on ex parte application to the superior court of the province in which any aircraft owned or operated by the person is situated, obtain an order of the court, issued on such terms as the court considers necessary, authorizing the authority to seize and detain aircraft.
	(3) Subject to subsection (4), except where otherwise directed by an order of a court, a designated airport authority is not required to release from detention an aircraft seized under subsection (1) or (2) unless the amount in respect of which the seizure was made is paid.
	(4) A designated airport authority shall release from detention an aircraft seized under subsection (1) or (2) if a bond or other security in a form satisfactory to the authority for the amount in respect of which the aircraft was seized is deposited with the authority.
	(5) Words and expressions used in this section and section 10 have the same meaning as in the Aeronautics Act.
	10. (1) Any aircraft of a person referred to in subsection 9(1) or (2) that would be exempt from seizure under a writ of execution issued by the superior court of the province in which the aircraft is situated is exempt from seizure and detention under that subsection.
	(2) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, exempt any aircraft from seizure and detention under section 9.
	QUALIFIED INVESTMENT
	11. For the purpose of qualifying the bonds, debentures or other evidences of indebtedness of a designated airport authority
	(a) as an authorized investment under paragraph 86(i) of the Canadian and British Insurance Companies Act, paragraph 61(1)(b) of the Loan Companies Act or paragraph 78(1)(b) of the Trust Companies Act,
	(b) as a permitted investment under paragraph 1(j) of Schedule III to the Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985, and
	(c) as assets that may be vested in trust in Canada under paragraph 1(i) of Schedule II to the Canadian and British Insurance Companies Act or paragraph 1(i) of the schedule to the Foreign Insurance Companies Act,
	the rights and interests acquired by the authority under the instrument executed by the Minister that transfers an airport to the authority are deemed to be assets listed in that paragraph.
	Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada Act
	Clause 213: New.