Bill C-18

1st Session, 38th Parliament,

53 Elizabeth II, 2004

house of commons of canada

BILL C-18

An Act to amend the Telefilm Canada Act and another Act

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

TELEFILM CANADA ACT

1. The definitions “Canadian feature film” and “Canadian feature film production”, “film activity”, “film-maker”, “film production” and “film technician” in section 2 of the Telefilm Canada Act are repealed.

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

5. No person who has, directly or indirectly and individually or as a shareholder, partner or otherwise, any pecuniary interest in the audio-visual industry is eligible to be appointed or to hold office as a member of the Corporation.

3. The heading before section 10 of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:

MANDATE AND POWERS

4. Section 10 of the Act is replaced by the following:

10. (1) The mandate of the Corporation is to foster and promote the development of the audio-visual industry in Canada and to act in connection with agreements entered into under subsection (8).

(2) For the purpose of carrying out its mandate, the Corporation has the capacity, rights, powers and privileges of a natural person.

(3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (2), the Corporation may

(a) invest in individual Canadian audio-visual productions in return for a share in the proceeds from those productions;

(b) make loans to producers of individual Canadian audio-visual productions and charge interest on those loans;

(c) make awards for outstanding accomplishments in Canadian audio-visual productions;

(d) make grants to audio-visual industry professionals resident in Canada to assist them in improving their craft; and

(e) advise and assist Canadian audio-visual producers in the distribution of their works and in the administrative functions of audio-visual production.

(4) The Corporation shall not borrow money within the meaning of Part X of the Financial Administration Act otherwise than from the Crown.

(5) Despite subsection (4), the Corporation may, in accordance with terms and conditions approved by the Treasury Board and the Minister of Finance, guarantee loans for audio-visual productions and their distribution.

(6) For the purposes of this Act, a “Canadian audio-visual production” is an audio-visual production in respect of which the Corporation has determined

(a) that the completed production will, in the judgment of the Corporation, have a significant Canadian creative, artistic and technical content, and that arrangements have been made to ensure that the copyright in the completed production will be owned by an individual resident in Canada, by a corporation incorporated under the laws of Canada or a province or by any combination of owners described in this paragraph; or

(b) that provision has been made for the production under a co-production agreement entered into between Canada and another country.

(7) The Corporation shall not be regarded as a partner in any production in which it may invest, and its liability shall be limited to the amount of its investment in the production.

(8) The Corporation may enter into agreements with the Department of Canadian Her­itage for the provision of services or programs relating to the audio-visual or sound recording industries.

(9) The Corporation shall, to the greatest possible extent consistent with the performance of its duties under this Act,

(a) carry out its mandate in the broader context of the policies of the Government of Canada with respect to culture; and

(b) consult and cooperate with any departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada and the governments of the provinces that have a mandate related to the mandate of the Corporation.

5. (1) The portion of subsection 19(2) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(2) All amounts required for the purposes of paragraphs 10(3)(a) and (b) and subsection 10(5) shall be paid

(2) Paragraphs 19(3)(a) to (c) are replaced by the following:

(a) proceeds from any production in which the Corporation has invested under paragraph 10(3)(a);

(b) the principal amount of or interest on any loan made by the Corporation under paragraph 10(3)(b); or

(c) fees charged by the Corporation in respect of loan guarantees provided under subsection 10(5).

6. Paragraph 20(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(a) for the purposes of paragraphs 10(3)(c) to (e), and

7. Section 21 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 21(1) and is amended by adding the following:

(2) Sections 90 to 93, subsection 94(2) and sections 95, 99, 100 and 102 of the Financial Administration Act apply, with any necessary modifications, to the Corporation.

CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT TO FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT

8. Subsection 85(1) of the Financial Administration Act is replaced by the following:

85. (1) Divisions I to IV do not apply to the Bank of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the International Development Research Centre or the National Arts Centre Corporation.

(1.1) Subject to subsection 21(2) of the Telefilm Canada Act, Divisions I to IV do not apply to Telefilm Canada.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISION

9. Everything done by Telefilm Canada before the coming into force of this Act is valid to the same extent as it would have been were it done after that coming into force.