Bill C-203

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First Reading

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	1nd Session, 35th Parliament, 42 Elizabeth II, 1994
	The House of Commons of Canada
	BILL C-203
	An Act to provide for the review of postal rates and services and to amend certain 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 Postal Services Review Act.
	INTERPRETATION
Definitions	2. In this Act,
``Board'' « Office »	``Postal Services Review Board'' or ``Board'' means the Postal Services Review Board established by subsection 5(1);
``Corporation' ' « Société »	``Corporation'' means the Canada Post Corporation;
``Council'' « comité d'usagers »	``Council'' means a Postal Service Customer Council established under section 26;
``major service proposal'' « proposition de modification du service »	``major service proposal'' means a planned change in the nature or quality of postal services that would, or would be likely to, materially affect users on more than a local basis and that is required to be contained in a corporate plan prepared pursuant to section 122 of the Financial Administration Act;
``Minister'' « ministre »	``Minister'' means such member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada as the Governor in Council may designate for the purposes of the Canada Post Corporation Act.
	PURPOSES
Purposes	3. The purposes of this Act are to establish a process of independent review of the rates and services of the Canada Post Corporation and to increase user participation in the review of postal rates and services in order to promote the development of efficient and competitive postal service that meets the needs of Canadians, at fair and reasonable rates, by establishing
	(a) an independent national body whose duty is to hold public hearings and make recommendations on proposed changes in postal rates, major service proposals and any other matters referred to it by the Minister; and
	(b) regional bodies whose duty is to represent the local interests of postal service customers.
	AUTHORIZATION BY PARLIAMENT
Authoriza- tion by Parliament	4. No payment shall be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to defray any expenses necessary for the implementation of this Act without the authority of an appropriation made by Parliament for such purposes.
	POSTAL SERVICES REVIEW BOARD
	Organization and Membership
Establish- ment of Board	5. (1) There is hereby established a Board, to be known as the Postal Services Review Board, consisting of not more than five members, including a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, to be appointed by the Governor in Council.
Term of office	(2) Each member shall be appointed to hold office during good behavior for a term not exceeding seven years, and may be removed for cause by the Governor in Council.
Re-appoint- ment	(3) A member is eligible for re-appointment on the expiration of the member's term of office, but a member who has served two consecutive terms is not, during the twelve months following the completion of the second term, eligible for re-appointment.
Acting after expiration of appointment	(4) A person may continue to act as a member after the expiration of the person's term of appointment in respect of any matter in which the person became engaged as a member.
Eligibility	6. A person is eligible to be appointed as a member of the Board and to continue in office only if the person is a Canadian citizen ordinarily resident in Canada or a permanent resident within the meaning of the Immigration Act.
Remunera- tion	7. (1) Each member of the Board shall be paid such remuneration as may be fixed by the Governor in Council.
Expenses	(2) Members of the Board are entitled to be paid, in accordance with any applicable Treasury Board directive, reasonable travel and living expenses incurred by them in carrying out duties under this Act while absent from their ordinary places of residence.
Chairman	8. The Chairman of the Board has supervision over and direction of its work and staff, including the apportionment of work among the members of the Board and the assignment of members to sit at public hearings and deal with any other matters before the Board.
Absence, etc., of Chairman	9. (1) In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Chairman of the Board, or if the office of Chairman is vacant, the Vice-Chairman of the Board has and may exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Chairman.
Absence, etc., of both Chairman and Vice-Chair- man	(2) In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Board, or if both those offices are vacant, the other members of the Board constituting a quorum shall elect from among themselves a member to act as Chairman.
Approval of Governor in Council required	(3) A member elected under subsection (2) shall not act as Chairman for more than ninety days without the approval of the Governor in Council.
	Personnel
Officers and employees	10. Such officers and employees, including coordinators of Councils, as are necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the Board shall be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.
Experts	11. The Board may engage, on a temporary basis, the services of legal counsel or persons having technical or specialized knowledge to advise and assist the Board in the performance of its duties and, subject to any applicable Treasury Board directive, the Board may fix and pay the remuneration and expenses of those persons.
	Head Office
Head Office	12. The head office of the Board shall be in such place as is designated as the location of the head office of the Corporation under section 9 of the Canada Post Corporation Act.
	By-laws
By-laws	13. (1) The Board may make by-laws for the conduct and management of the Board and respecting the calling of meetings of the Board and the conduct of business at meetings, the establishment of committees of the Board and the delegation of duties to those committees.
Absence of by-law	(2) In the absence of a by-law respecting any matter involving the work of the Board, the matter shall be dealt with by the Chairman of the Board or by such other member of the Board as the Chairman may direct.
	Procedural Rules
Procedural rules	14. The Board may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make rules respecting
	(a) public hearings by the Board and the performance of its work;
	(b) the procedure for making applications and representations to the Board and generally the manner of conducting any business before the Board;
	(c) the disclosure of information provided to the Board for the purposes of this Act;
	(d) the quorum for meetings of the Board and its committees;
	(e) the reimbursement of any expenses incurred as a result of participation at public hearings; and
	(f) the performance of the work of the Councils.
	Policy Directions
Policy directions	15. (1) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, issue a policy direction to the Board concerning any matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the Board, if the Governor in Council is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so.
Tabling in Parliament	(2) A policy direction shall be laid before each House of Parliament by or on behalf of the Minister within the first fifteen sitting days of that House after the direction is issued.
Consultation	(3) Before a policy direction is issued, the Minister shall consult the Board with respect to the nature and subject-matter of the direction.
Effect of policy directions	(4) The powers, duties and functions of the Board respecting any matter that comes within its jurisdiction shall be exercised and performed in conformity with the policy directions.
Limitation	(5) A policy direction shall not affect the Board's work with respect to any proposed regulation, major service proposal or other matter that is before the Board under section 18 or 20 when the direction is issued.
	Duties and Powers
Duties	16. (1) The duties of the Board are
	(a) to review any proposed regulation that the Corporation sends to the Board under subsection 18(2) and to make recommendations to the Corporation with respect to the proposed regulation;
	(b) to review any major service proposal that the Corporation sends to the Board under subsection 20(1) and to make recommendations to the Corporation with respect to the proposal;
	(c) to review any matter that the Minister refers to the Board under subsection 21(1) and to make recommendations to the Minister and to the Corporation with respect to the matter; and
	(d) to give direction to the Councils and their coordinators and generally to oversee their work.
Public interest	(2) In fulfilling its duties, the Board shall take into consideration the public interest, including the public interest in
	(a) the provision of postal services in a manner satisfactory to the users of those services;
	(b) the operation of an efficient and competitive postal service;
	(c) fair and reasonable rates;
	(d) the provision and extension of postal services in a manner that encourages fair competition with other like services;
	(e) the Corporation fulfilling its objects pursuant to section 5 of the Canada Post Corporation Act; and
	(f) the operation of the Corporation on a financially self-sustaining basis.
Corporation's needs	(3) In fulfilling its duties, the Board shall take into account the need of the Corporation to generate revenue from all sources sufficient to defray the costs incurred by the Corporation in the conduct of its operations and to recover from revenue, through depreciation, the book value of its fixed assets and the amounts that were planned to be recovered through future postal rates as recorded in the last financial statement of the Corporation issued immediately prior to the coming into force of this section.
Public hearings	17. (1) In order to fulfil its duties the Board
	(a) shall hold a public hearing into
	(i) the merits of any proposed regulation or major service proposal referred to in subsection 16(1), and
	(ii) any matter referred to the Board by the Minister under subsection 21(1) if the Minister requires it to hold a public hearing; and
	(b) may do anything else that it considers incidental to holding a public hearing.
Delegation	(2) The Chairman of the Board may designate one or more of its members to conduct a public hearing on behalf of the Board and to report to the Board on the hearing and, after receiving the report, the Board shall give its written recommendations to the Corporation, as provided in sections 18, 20 and 21.
Public hearing	(3) A public hearing may be held at any place in Canada that the Board considers appropriate and may be adjourned by the Board from time to time.

Bill C-203

BILL C-203