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Bill C-421

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2nd Session, 37th Parliament,
51-52 Elizabeth II, 2002-2003

House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-421

An Act respecting the establishment of the Office of the Chief Actuary of Canada and to amend other Acts in consequence thereof

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

SHORT TITLE

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Chief Actuary Act.

INTERPRETATION

Definitions

2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.

``Chief Actuary''
« actuaire en chef »

``Chief Actuary'' means the Chief Actuary of Canada appointed under subsection 4(1).

``prescribed''
« version anglaise seulement »

``prescribed'' means prescribed by regulations made under this Act.

PURPOSE OF ACT

Purpose

3. The purpose of this Act is to provide for an independent Chief Actuary of Canada who will report directly to the House of Commons on the activities of his or her office.

CHIEF ACTUARY OF CANADA

Appointment of Chief Actuary

4. (1) Subject to subsection (4), the Governor in Council shall, by commission under the Great Seal, appoint a qualified actuary to be the officer called the Chief Actuary of Canada after approval of the appointment by a resolution of the Senate and House of Commons.

Tenure of office and removal

(2) The Chief Actuary holds office during good behaviour for a term of ten years but may be removed by the Governor in Council at any time on address of the Senate and House of Commons.

Re-appoint-
ment

(3) The Chief Actuary is, on the expiration of a first or subsequent term of office, eligible to be re-appointed for a further term not exceeding ten years.

Absence or incapacity

(4) In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Chief Actuary or if the office is vacant, the Governor in Council may appoint another qualified person to hold office instead of the Chief Actuary for a term not exceeding six months and that person shall, while holding office, have all the powers, duties and functions of the Chief Actuary set out in section 7 and shall be paid such salary as may be fixed by the Governor in Council.

Salary

5. (1) The Chief Actuary shall be paid a salary equal to the salary of a puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Pension benefits

(2) The provisions of the Public Service Superannuation Act, other than those relating to tenure of office, apply to the Chief Actuary, except that a person appointed as Chief Actuary from outside the Public Service may, by notice in writing given to the President of the Treasury Board not more than sixty days after the date of the appointment, elect to participate in the pension plan provided for in the Diplomatic Service (Special) Superannuation Act, in which case the provisions of that Act, other than those relating to tenure of office, apply to the Chief Actuary and the provisions of the Public Service Superannuation Act do not apply.

Limitation

6. The Chief Actuary shall not hold any other office under Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province or engage in any other employment for reward.

POWERS, DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF CHIEF ACTUARY

Powers, duties and functions of Chief Actuary

7. The Chief Actuary has the powers, duties and functions assigned to the Chief Actuary by this Act or any other Act of Parliament.

Duty to provide advice etc.

8. (1) The Chief Actuary shall provide such advice, opinion, analysis or recommendation in respect of any prescribed social insurance program or public pension plan established by an Act of Parliament as is requested by

    (a) any Minister of the Crown who is prescribed to be a Minister who is entitled to make such a request in respect of that program or plan;

    (b) any government of a province that participates in that program or plan; or

    (c) any member of the Senate or the House of Commons.

Provision of actuarial services

(2) The Chief Actuary may provide actuarial services to any person or body other than a person or body referred to in subsection (1) in return for a fee which shall be determined by the Chief Actuary.

Annual report

9. (1) The Chief Actuary shall report annually to the House of Commons on

    (a) the work of the office of the Chief Actuary; and

    (b) on whether, in carrying on the work of the Chief Actuary's office, the Chief Actuary received all the information and explanations the Chief Actuary required.

Annual and additional reports

(2) Each annual report referred to in subsection (1) shall call attention to anything that the Chief Actuary considers to be of significance and of a nature that should be brought to the attention of the House of Commons.

Submission of annual report to Speaker and tabling of report

(3) Each annual report referred to in subsection (1) shall be submitted by the Chief Actuary to the Speaker of the House of Commons not later than two months after December 31 of the year to which the report relates and the Speaker shall table each such report in the House of Commons on the day it is received if the House is sitting, or if the House is not sitting, the Speaker shall table the report with the clerk of the House of Commons unless the House is not sitting because it is dissolved, in which case the Speaker shall cause a copy of the report to be published in the Canada Gazette.

Special report to the House of Commons

10. (1) The Chief Actuary may make a special report to the House of Commons on any matter of pressing importance or urgency that, in the opinion of the Chief Actuary, should not be deferred until the presentation of the next report under subsection 9(1).

Submission of reports to Speaker and tabling of reports

(2) Each special report made to the House of Commons under subsection (1) or 15(2) shall be submitted by the Chief Actuary to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Speaker shall table each such report in the House of Commons on the day it is received if the House is sitting, or if the House is not sitting , the Speaker shall table the report with the clerk of the House of Commons unless the House is not sitting because it is dissolved, in which case the Speaker shall cause a copy of the report to be published in the Canada Gazette.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION BY THE CHIEF ACTUARY

Access to information

11. (1) Except as provided by any other Act of Parliament that expressly refers to this subsection, the Chief Actuary is entitled to free access at all convenient times to information that relates to the fulfillment of the Chief Actuary's responsibilities and the Chief Actuary is entitled to require and receive from members of the public service of Canada such information, reports and explanations as the Chief Actuary deems necessary for that purpose.

Stationing of officers in departments

(2) The Chief Actuary may, in order to carry out the duties of the Chief Actuary more effectively, station in any department any person employed in the office of the Chief Actuary and the department shall provide the necessary office accomodation for any person so stationed.

Oath of secrecy

(3) The Chief Actuary shall require every person employed in the office of the Chief Actuary who is to have access to any information that relates to the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the Chief Actuary to comply with any security requirements applicable to, and take any oath of secrecy required to be taken by persons who normally have access to that information.

STAFF OF THE CHIEF ACTUARY

Officers etc.

12. (1) Such officers and employees as are necessary to enable the Chief Actuary to perform the duties of the Chief Actuary shall be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

Delegation to Chief Actuary

(2) The Chief Actuary may exercise and perform, in such manner and subject to such terms and conditions as the Public Service Commission directs, the powers, duties and functions of the Public Service Commission under the Public Service Employment Act, other than the powers, duties and functions of the Commission in relation to appeals under section 21 of that Act and inquiries under section 34 of that Act.

Suspension

(3) The Chief Actuary may suspend from the performance of his or her duty any person employed in the office of the Chief Actuary.

Responsibi-
lity for personnel management

13. In respect of the persons employed in the office of the Chief Actuary, the Chief Actuary is authorized to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Treasury Board under the Financial Administration Act that relate to personnel management including the determination of terms and conditions of employment and the responsibility for employer and employee relations, within the meaning of paragraph 7(1)(e) and sections 11 to 13 of that Act.

Delegation

14. The Chief Actuary may designate a senior member of the Chief Actuary's staff to sign on behalf of the Chief Actuary any advice, opinion, analysis or recommendation the Chief Actuary is required to give under this Act or any other Act of Parliament and any report the Chief Actuary is required to submit to the Speaker of the House of Commons under this Act or any other Act of Parliament, and any member so signing that advice, opinion, analysis or report shall indicate beneath his or her signature his or her position in the office of the Chief Actuary and the fact that he or she is signing on behalf of the Chief Actuary.

ESTIMATES

Estimates

15. (1) The Chief Actuary shall annually prepare an estimate of the sums that will be required to be provided by Parliament for the payment of the salaries, allowances and expenses of the Chief Actuary's office during the next ensuing fiscal year.

Special report

(2) The Chief Actuary may make a special report to the House of Commons in the event that amounts provided for the office of the Chief Actuary in the estimates submitted to Parliament are, in the Chief Actuary's opinion, inadequate to enable the Chief Actuary to fulfill the responsibilities of the office of the Chief Actuary.

Appropria-
tion allotments

16. The provisions of the Financial Administration Act with respect to the division of appropriations into allotments do not apply in respect of appropriations for the office of the Chief Actuary.

REGULATIONS

Regulations

17. The Governor in Council may make regulations

    (a) prescribing any social insurance program established by an Act of Parliament to be a social insurance program for the purposes of subsection 8(1);

    (b) prescribing any public pension plan established by an Act of Parliament to be a public pension plan for the purposes of subsection 8(1); and

    (c) prescribing any Minister of the Crown to be a Minister who is entitled to make a request to the Chief Actuary under subsection 8(1).

CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS

R.S., c. C-8

Canada Pension Plan

18. Subsection 2(1) of the Canada Pension Plan is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

``Chief Actuary''
« actuaire en chef »

``Chief Actuary'' means the Chief Actuary appointed under subsection 4(1) of the Chief Actuary Act or the person appointed under subsection 4(4) of that Act to hold office instead of the Chief Actuary;

19. Subsection 46(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Upward or downward adjustment factor

(3) Subject to subsections (4) to (6), a retirement pension that becomes payable after December 31, 1986 commencing with a month other than the month in which the contributor reaches sixty-five years of age is a basic monthly amount equal to the basic monthly amount calculated in subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, adjusted by a factor fixed by the Minister, on the advice of the Chief Actuary, to reflect the time interval between the month in which the retirement pension commences and the month in which the contributor reached, or would reach, sixty-five years of age, but such time interval shall be deemed never to exceed five years.

20. (1) Subsection 115(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Chief Actuary to report every three years

115. (1) The Chief Actuary shall, during the first year of each three year period for which a review is required by subsection 113.1(1), prepare a report setting out, as at a date not earlier than December 31 of the year before the three year period, the results of an actuarial examination of the operation of this Act based on the state of the Canada Pension Plan Account and the investments of the Investment Board.

(2) Subsection 115(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Report to be made by Chief Actuary when certain Bills introduced

(2) In addition to any report required under this section, the Chief Actuary shall, whenever any Bill is introduced in or presented to the House of Commons to amend this Act in a manner that would in the opinion of the Chief Actuary materially affect any of the estimates contained in the most recent report under this section made by the Chief Actuary, prepare, using the same actuarial assumptions and basis as were used in that report, a report setting forth the extent to which such Bill would, if enacted by Parliament materially affect any of the estimates contained in that report.

(3) Subsection 115(8) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Report to be tabled in the House of Commons

(8) The Chief Actuary shall, not later than five days after the completion of any report under this section, submit the report to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Speaker shall table the report in the House of Commons on the day it is received if the House is sitting, or if the House is not sitting, the Speaker shall table the report with the clerk of the House of Commons unless the House is not sitting because it is dissolved, in which case the Speaker shall cause a copy of the report to be published in the Canada Gazette.