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

	Annual Meeting with Selecting Bodies
Meeting with directors	133. (1) Every airport authority must invite the selecting bodies to meet at least once a year with a majority of the directors of the board, including the chairperson, and the chief executive officer. Section 81 does not apply in respect of that meeting.
Confidential affairs	(2) Meetings under this section may not deal with the confidential affairs of the airport authority.
	Public Access to Documents
Examination and provision of records, reports, etc.	134. (1) Every airport authority must make available the documents referred to in subsection (2) to any person at its head office, during usual business hours, and must, on payment of a reasonable fee, provide a copy of the documents to them. The authority must list the documents on its Internet site, if it has one.
List of documents	(2) The documents to be made available by the airport authority are
	(a) the current and all previous airport master plans;
	(b) the current and all previous land use plans;
	(c) the current and all previous business plans, excluding information the disclosure of which would be harmful to the authority's commercial interests;
	(d) all annual reports;
	(e) all audited financial statements of the authority and every corporation in which it holds an ownership interest and the corresponding auditor's reports;
	(f) all five-year performance reviews and responses to them;
	(g) the current version of the by-laws;
	(h) the current and all previous methodologies for determining fees;
	(i) the current and all previous environmental management plans;
	(j) a description of the environmental incidents on the airport for which notice is required to be given under subsection 110(1) and any corrective measures taken;
	(k) all airport transfer agreements and any amendments to them;
	(l) all instruments relating to borrowing or lending by the authority to the extent that their disclosure is required to explain how the financial requirements of the authority are to be determined or is required by law;
	(m) all documents related to the survey referred to in section 135;
	(n) the minutes of all meetings required under this Act to be held with air carriers and the community;
	(o) a copy of all notices given and announcements made under Part 6;
	(p) copies of all declarations referred to in section 25 that are in effect; and
	(q) copies of all press releases issued by the authority.
Interpretation	(3) In the case of an airport authority that operates one or more airports that are not leased to it by Her Majesty in right of Canada, paragraphs (2)(a) to (c) and (h) to (j) only apply in respect of the airport leased to it by Her Majesty in right of Canada on the transfer date.
	Survey
Survey required	135. Every airport authority must, in the year preceding the performance review referred to in section 138, conduct a survey on the airport leased to it by Her Majesty on the transfer date, regarding the degree of satisfaction of passengers with the services provided by the authority.
	Performance Indicators
Establishment	136. Every airport authority must, within one year after the coming into force of this section, establish performance indicators applicable to its activities.
Regulations	137. The Governor in Council may make regulations establishing performance indicators applicable to the activities of airport authorities.
	Performance Reviews
Performance review	138. (1) The board of an airport authority must cause a performance review to be undertaken in respect of the business and affairs of the airport authority within six months after the date that is every fifth year after the transfer date. A report of the review must be sent to the board before the end of the six-month period and made available to each selecting body and the public within 30 days after it is received by the board.
Selection	(2) The board must choose a reviewer through a public bid solicitation process. It may not choose
	(a) an individual or firm that is or was, during the period of review, the auditor of the airport authority or one of its subsidiaries;
	(b) an individual who participated in the audit as a partner, associate or employee of an individual or firm referred to in paragraph (a); or
	(c) a firm that designates an individual who participated in the audit to carry out the performance review.
Qualifications	(3) The reviewer must be a qualified person who is not subject to any influence, interest or relationship that may impair, or be perceived to impair, the independence or objectivity of the reviewer in carrying out the performance review.
Content	139. (1) The report of the reviewer must include the following information:
	(a) the terms of reference of the review;
	(b) the extent to which, in the opinion of the reviewer, the airport authority is carrying out its airport undertaking in a manner that is in accordance with its purpose as an airport authority, the relevant plans of the authority, its lease and any applicable legislation;
	(c) the extent to which, in the opinion of the reviewer, the financial and management controls, information management systems and management practices are maintained in a manner that provides reasonable assurance that
	(i) the property of the authority and the property of Her Majesty in right of Canada that is located on the airport are safeguarded, and
	(ii) the financial, human and physical resources of the authority are managed effectively and efficiently;
	(d) the extent to which, in the opinion of the reviewer, the authority's governance and accountability mechanisms are adequate for the management of public assets;
	(e) the extent to which, in the opinion of the reviewer, the authority is meeting the needs of users;
	(f) the significance, in the opinion of the reviewer, of any risks to the authority, including risks related to investments in any other corporation;
	(g) an analysis of the authority's performance indicators and an assessment of the extent to which they have been met;
	(h) a review of any matter raised by the board or any selecting body;
	(i) any concerns or qualifications that the reviewer has regarding any matter dealt with by the report; and
	(j) a description of any matter falling within the scope of the reviewer's examination for the report that, in their opinion, should be brought to the attention of the board, including compliance with this Act.
Regulations	(2) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the contents of the report, including additional contents to be included in it.
Response	140. The airport authority must send a copy of its response to the reviewer's conclusions and recommendations to each selecting body and the reviewer within 120 days after the expiry of the six-month period referred to in subsection 138(1). The airport authority must also make a copy of the response available to the public within that period.
Meeting	141. If at least four selecting bodies, at least one of which is a municipality or a regional authority referred to in subsection 63(4) and at least one of which is a non-governmental entity referred to in subsection 63(5), request a meeting within 30 days after the airport authority has sent them its response to the reviewer's report, the board must invite all selecting bodies and the reviewer to a meeting to discuss any matter in the report raised by a selecting body, any measures to be taken by the authority to implement the recommendations of the report or the reasons why no such measures may be taken. The meeting must be held within 21 days after the request of the selecting bodies is made.
	PART 6
	AIRPORT FEES
	Application
Application	142. (1) This Part applies to airport authorities and airport operators referred to in paragraphs (c) and (d) of the definition ``airport operator'' in subsection 2(1). In the case of airport authorities, it applies only in respect of airports leased to them by Her Majesty in right of Canada on the transfer date.
Application to Territories	(2) Subject to subsection (3), this Part does not apply to airport operators referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition ``airport operator'' in subsection 2(1).
Territorial airport operators	(3) Airport operators referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition ``airport operator'' in subsection 2(1) must, if they establish or increase a fee,
	(a) give notice of any proposal to establish or increase the fee, including an explanation of how the fee is set and, in the case of a passenger fee, describe the purpose for which the revenues from the fee are to be used;
	(b) provide opportunities for users and other parties to obtain information about the proposal and to express their views about it; and
	(c) announce its decision in respect of the proposal, after considering the views expressed by users and other parties.
	Imposition of Fees
Conditions for imposition of fees	143. (1) An airport operator may impose only the following fees:
	(a) a fee that was in existence immediately before the coming into force of this section; and
	(b) a fee that has been established or revised after the coming into force of this section in accordance with this Part.
Prohibition	(2) No person who provides airside and terminal facilities and services on behalf of an airport operator may impose fees.
Deeming	(3) For the purposes of this Part, a person who operates all the airside and terminal facilities and services at an airport on behalf of an airport operator referred to in paragraph (c) or (d) of the definition ``airport operator'' in subsection 2(1) is deemed to be the airport operator of that airport.
	Charging Principles
Charging principles	144. (1) Airport operators must observe the following principles when establishing or revising a fee:
	(a) fees must be in accordance with the airport operator's methodology for determining fees established under section 145;
	(b) fees for particular facilities and services may differentiate among air carriers only on the basis of objective criteria that are applied in the same manner to all air carriers who meet them;
	(c) fees may not differentiate among air carriers on the basis of their nationality;
	(d) fees must not be set at a level that, based on projections that in the opinion of the airport operator are reasonable and prudent, would generate revenues exceeding the portion of the financial requirements referred to in paragraph 145(2)(b); and
	(e) aeronautical fees must be structured in such a way that a user would not, for the purpose of avoiding a fee, be encouraged to engage in practices that diminish aviation safety or security.
Exception	(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(a), fees may be established or revised after the coming into force of this section and before the date of the announcement referred to in subsection 172(1) before the methodology has been established.
	Establishment and Revision of Methodology for Determining Fees
Methodology	145. (1) Airport operators must establish their methodology for determining fees in accordance with this Part. The methodology may be revised at any time in accordance with this Part.
Contents - aeronautical and some passenger fees	(2) The methodology must
	(a) explain how the financial requirements of the airport operator are to be determined;
	(b) explain how the airport operator will determine the portion of the financial requirements that are to be met from fees, except passenger fees used for a major capital program, infrastructure covered by an agreement referred to in paragraph 50(2)(c) or a program designated under section 176;
	(c) identify the fees that are to be used to meet that portion of the financial requirements;
	(d) describe the unit of measurement to be used for each fee referred to in paragraph (c) and provide the rationale for the use of that unit;
	(e) explain how each fee is to be set, including how it will relate to the portion of the financial requirements referred to in paragraph (b); and
	(f) provide the rationale for the use of different fees referred to in paragraph (c), or for any difference in the imposition of such fees, in respect of particular facilities and services.
Contents - program-relat ed passenger fees	(3) In the case of a passenger fee used for a major capital program, infrastructure covered by an agreement referred to in paragraph 50(2)(c) or a program designated under section 176, the methodology must explain how the fee relates to the funding of the program or infrastructure, including debt financing, and provide the rationale for any difference in the imposition of the fee.
Other charges	(4) The airport operator must explain the policies and principles used for determining charges that it imposes on air carriers other than fees.
Notice	146. (1) Airport operators must give notice of any proposal to establish or revise their methodology for determining fees.
Contents	(2) The notice must
	(a) provide a summary of the proposal;
	(b) provide a justification for the methodology in relation to the charging principles;
	(c) indicate that further information about the proposal is available from the airport operator on request;
	(d) specify that representations about the proposal may be sent by mail or electronic means to the airport operator at the address, and not later than the date, set out in the notice, which date must not be earlier than 90 days after the notification is published under subsection 150(5); and
	(e) indicate the date, time and place for holding the meetings referred to in subsections 151(2) and (3).
Announceme nt of methodology	147. (1) The airport operator must, after the date referred to in paragraph 146(2)(d) and after considering all representations made under subsection 151(6), announce its decision on the methodology for determining fees.
Contents	(2) The announcement must