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INFORMATION BULLETIN
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2009AG0014-000540 |
Ministry of Attorney General
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MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT INTRODUCED
VICTORIA – Bill 20, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2009, introduced in the legislature today, will affect the following provincial statutes:
Animal Disease Control Act, Livestock Identification Act – Changes to the definition of livestock dealer in the two acts will mean Alberta farmers dealing in livestock within B.C. will be subject to the same licensing and record-keeping requirements as B.C. farmers.
Community Care and Assisted Living Act – Amendments clarify that the requirement for safe exit or removal from small community care facilities in the case of a fire applies to child day cares, with eight or less children, as well as to residential care facilities for adults and children. The changes help ensure licensees operate community care facilities in ways that promote the health and safety of residents. They support government’s efforts to further protect British Columbians living in community care facilities or using child care facilities.
Community Living Authority Act – The amendments strengthen Community Living BC’s board of governance, bringing it in line with other provincial Crown corporations. Advisory committees with Community Living BC provide ongoing support and input from community living and other stakeholders.
Criminal Records Review Act – B.C. will be the first province in Canada to require criminal record reviews of employees who work with vulnerable adults under amendments to B.C’s Criminal Records Review Act. The changes will ensure that adults who are frail or have complex medical problems will be protected from employees with a criminal history of abuse or financial exploitation. Mandatory criminal record reviews have deterred unsuitable candidates from applying to work with children, and similar results are expected with this legislation. The criminal records review program in the ministry will conduct the reviews and determine if a potential employee is a risk and should not be employed to work unsupervised with vulnerable adults. All employees working in government funded and regulated facilities will need to be reviewed before they are hired, and every five years after that. Current employees will also need to be reviewed. This change, when added to the existing checks for people working with children, will strengthen protection for the most vulnerable citizens of British Columbia.
Election Act – An amendment ensures the appropriate campaign spending limits will apply to candidates in byelections, as well as general elections. Current limits only apply to candidates in general elections.
Forest Act – Amendments apply to allowable annual cuts, cruise-based billing and wood residue export applications.
· As forest conditions often remain similar for longer than five years, extending the effective terms for allowable annual cuts from five years to 10 years permits the allowable annual cut to be determined less frequently and only as needed. The legislation continues to permit the province’s chief forester to determine an allowable annual cut at any time.
· Proposed changes simplify business administration for both government and licensees by enabling the stumpage appraisal manuals to require cruise-based billing for specified situations. Cruise-based billing means stumpage is billed using information from a cruise, as opposed to information from a scale. Cruise-based billing encourages greater use and helps minimize waste in the harvest area. This change supports recommendations from the Working Roundtable on Forestry to make the stumpage system simpler and more transparent.
· Changes will provide a quicker turnaround time for operators by allowing the minister, as opposed to cabinet, to approve sawmill wood residue export applications for amounts up to 5,000 bone dry units (about 5,400 metric tonnes) per application. Typically, mill owners ask for export permission if domestic demand is unexpectedly interrupted or if they produce a short-term surplus. About 10 applications are expected each year.
· Amendments extend the deadline for the area-based allowable annual cut trial program to ensure there is sufficient time to monitor its effectiveness. Removes the sunset date of Feb. 1, 2010 and replaces it with a date to be determined by regulation.
Forestry Revitalization Act – Proposed changes will rescind the deadline for the Minister of Forests when issuing area deletion orders in tree farm licences and to recognize these area deletions as compensable under Sec. 39.1 of the Forest Act. Areas deleted from tree farm licences will be reallocated to First Nations agreements, community forest agreements and woodlot licences.
Homeowner Protection Act – Amendments confirm that, effective July 31, 2009, no new applications for financial assistance under the reconstruction program are being accepted by the Homeowner Protection Office.
Hydro and Power Authority Act – Changes repeal outdated sections regarding public notice for tenders and opening tenders for the repair and construction of BC Hydro’s power plants. The sections currently overlap new procurement thresholds established for Crown corporations under TILMA. Repealed sections are not consistent with requirements set out in TILMA and no longer reflect BC Hydro’s needs or current utility industry practice.
Land Surveyors Act – Amendments will mean that a majority, rather than all, of the voting shares in land surveying companies must be owned by practising land surveyors, making the companies more attractive to investors. Another amendment will mean that a majority, rather than all, of the directors of land surveying companies must be practising land surveyors. In addition, up to two lay people will be permitted to sit on the Association of B.C. Land Surveyors management board. The changes will result in greater consistency between B.C. and Alberta legislation governing land surveyors.
Motor Dealer Act – The changes confirm and validate the collection and setting of fees set by the Motor Vehicle Sales Authority (MVSA). Responsibility for administration of the Motor Dealer Act was transferred to the authority in 2004. They charge fees for licences issued to motor dealers and salespeople, as well as for certification courses. Fees collected are used to cover the costs of administration.
Along with amendments specified, the bill makes minor technical or housekeeping amendments to a number of other statutes.
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MINISTRY PUBLIC AFFAIRS BUREAU CONTACT LIST
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Animal Disease Control Act, Livestock Identification Act, Land Surveyors Act Ministry of Agriculture and Lands Patrick Vert 250 387-9147
Community Care and Assisted Living Act Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport Jeff Rud 250 952-2387
Community Living Authority Act, Homeowner Protection Act Ministry of Housing and Social Development Seumas Gordon 250 387-6490
Criminal Records Review Act, Motor Dealer Act Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General 250 356-6961
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Election Act Ministry of Attorney General Dave Townsend 250 387-4962 250 889-5945 (cell)
Forest Act, Forestry Revitalization Act Ministry of Forests and Range Vivian Thomas 250 387-5728
Hydro and Power Authority Act Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources 250 952-0628 250 213-6934 (cell)
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