Bill S-228

2nd Session, 39th Parliament,

56-57 Elizabeth II, 2007-2008

senate of canada

BILL S-228

An Act to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act (board of directors)

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

1. Subsections 2(4) and (5) of the Canadian Wheat Board Act are replaced by the following:

(4) The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by regulation, designate substances produced by processing or manufacturing wheat, either alone or together with any other material or substance, as wheat products for the purposes of this Act.

(5) The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by regulation, designate any place in Canada as a pooling point for the purposes of this Act.

2. Subsection 3.02(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

3.02 (1) Ten directors are elected by producers in accordance with sections 3.06 to 3.08 and the regulations. Two additional directors are appointed by the ten elected directors and two additional directors are appointed by the Minister for the purpose of bringing to the board outside expertise that may not otherwise be available. The president is appointed by the Governor in Council in accordance with section 3.09.

3. Subsection 3.06(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) The Minister shall not make the recommendation referred to in subsection (1) unless he or she has consulted with the board, including consulting with respect to geographical representation on the board and the staggering of the terms of office of directors, and has received the approval of the board.

4. The portion of section 3.07 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

3.07 Subject to the regulations, the Corporation shall take any measures that the Minister may, following consultation with and approval from the board, determine for the proper conduct and supervision of an election of directors, including

5. Subsection 3.09(3) of the Act is repealed.

6. Subsection 3.1(1) of the Act is replaced by the following :

3.1 (1) The president is paid the remuneration fixed in accordance with paragraph 3.09(2)(b).

7. Subsection 3.11(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) If the president is absent or unable to act or the office of president is vacant, the Minister may, following consultation with and approval from the board, appoint an interim president. An interim president shall not act for more than ninety days without the approval of the Governor in Council.

8. Subsection 6(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) The Governor in Council may, with the approval of the board, make regulations authorizing the Corporation to deduct an amount from any amount it receives in the course of its operations under this Act and to credit the amount so deducted to the contingency fund established under paragraph (1)(c.3).

9. (1) Subsection 18(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

18. (1) The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by order, direct the Corporation with respect to the manner in which any of its operations, powers and duties under this Act shall be conducted, exercised or performed.

(2) Subsection 18(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) Except as directed by the Governor in Council, following consultation with the board, the Corporation shall not buy grain other than wheat.

10. Section 29 of the Act is replaced by the following:

29. (1) The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, empower the Corporation to make inquiries and investigations to ascertain the availability of delivery and transportation facilities, supplies of grain and all matters connected with the interprovincial or export marketing of grain, and for that purpose empower the Corporation and the directors to exercise the powers of commissioners under Part I of the Inquiries Act.

(2) The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by regulation, provide that persons other than producers who have become entitled to grain may, notwithstanding anything contained in this Part, deliver grain to an elevator or railway car and the terms and conditions on which the grain may be so delivered.

11. Section 30 of the Act is replaced by the following:

30. The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by regulation, apply this Part to grain produced in any area in Canada outside the designated area specified in the regulation and to producers in respect of that grain, and thereafter, until the regulation is revoked, “grain” in this Part means grain produced in the designated area and in the area so specified in the regulation and “producer” means a producer in respect of that grain.

12. (1) Subsection 33(1.1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(1.1) With the approval of the Governor in Council, following consultation with the board, and subject to such terms and conditions as the Governor in Council may prescribe, in addition to any payment authorized by section 32, the Corporation may fix and pay in respect of any pool period a sum per tonne to each producer who has sold and delivered wheat to the Corporation in a railway car during the pool period.

(2) Subsection 33(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if the Governor in Council, having regard to a report by the Corporation of the effect on its financial position of an interim payment on account of the distribution of the balance referred to in subsection (2), is of the opinion that an interim payment can be made without loss, the Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, authorize and direct that payment to be made.

13. The portion of section 33.5 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

33.5 The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, exempt holders of certificates from the deduction under section 33.1 on the basis of

14. Section 34 of the Act is replaced by the following:

34. In taking any action pursuant to section 32, 33 or 37 in respect of a grade of wheat, the Governor in Council, following consultation with the board, or the Corporation may take that action in respect of any wheat within that grade that has an inherent quality characteristic that distinguishes it from any other wheat within that grade as if the wheat having that inherent quality characteristic were wheat of a different grade.

15. The portion of subsection 37(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

37. (1) The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by regulation,

16. The portion of section 38 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

38. The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, authorize the Corporation to adjust its accounts at any time by transferring to the then current pool period all wheat delivered during a preceding pool period and then remaining unsold, and the Corporation shall credit to the accounts for that preceding pool period, and charge against the accounts for the current pool period, such amount as the Governor in Council deems to be a reasonable price for the wheat so transferred, and all wheat so transferred shall,

17. Subsection 40(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

40. (1) The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by regulation, apply the provisions of this Part, in respect of wheat produced in any area in Canada outside the designated area, specified in the regulation.

18. The portion of subsection 41(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

41. (1) The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by regulation, designate for the purposes of this Part

19. Subsection 44(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) Where a regulation made pursuant to paragraph 41(1)(b) or (c) is repealed, the Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, authorize the Corporation to transfer all wheat of any grade or class specified in the regulation delivered during any pool period and remaining unsold at the time of the repeal of the regulation to the pool period that commences at that time for wheat not designated by any regulation made pursuant to subsection 41(1).

20. The portion of section 46 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

46. The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, make regulations

21. Subsection 47(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

47. (1) The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by Regulation, extend the application of Part III or of Part IV or of both Parts III and IV to oats or to barley or to both oats and barley.

22. Section 47.1 of the Act is replaced by the following:

47.1 (1) Neither the Minister nor any other minister nor any other member of Parliament shall cause to be introduced in Parliament a bill that would

(a) exclude any kind, type, class or grade of wheat or barley, or wheat or barley produced in any area in Canada, from the provisions of Part IV, either in whole or in part, or generally, or for any period, or

(b) extend the application of Part III or Part IV or both Parts III and IV to any other grain,

unless

(c) the Minister, or that other minister or that other member of Parliament, as the case may be, has consulted with and received the approval of the board for the exclusion or extension being proposed, and

(d) subject to subsections (2) and (3), the producers of the wheat or barley referred to in paragraph (a), or the other grain referred to in paragraph (b), as the case may be, have voted clearly and democratically by secret ballot, in favour of the exclusion or extension being proposed.

23. The portion of section 50 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

50. The Governor in Council may, following consultation with and approval from the board, and on the recommendation of the Minister, make an order

24. Subsection 52(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) Where, while an order establishing a marketing plan is in force, the Governor in Council has reason to believe and is of the opinion that any security given by the administrator of that plan pursuant to this section is not sufficient to ensure that all obligations under the plan to producers participating therein will be met, the Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, by order, require the administrator to give, within such period as the Governor in Council considers reasonable, such additional security by bond, insurance or otherwise as, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, is sufficient to ensure that those obligations will be met.

25. The portion of section 59 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

59. The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, make regulations

26. Section 61 of the Act is replaced by the following:

61. The Governor in Council may, following consultation with the board, make regulations for any purpose for which regulations may be made under this Act.

27. Subsection 61.1(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board and the Minister made at the request of the Corporation, and following consultation with the board, make any regulations in relation to the Corporation that the Governor in Council considers necessary for the purpose of implementing any provision of the Agreement that pertains to the Corporation.

28. Section 76 of the Act is replaced by the following:

76. For greater certainty, but not so as to restrict the generality of any declaration in the Canada Grain Act that any elevator is a work for the general advantage of Canada, it is hereby declared that all flour mills, feed mills, feed warehouses and seed cleaning mills, whether heretofore constructed or hereafter to be constructed, are and each of them is hereby declared to be works or a work for the general advantage of Canada and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, every mill or warehouse mentioned or described in Schedule 1 is a work for the general advantage of Canada.

29. (1) The schedule to the Act is renumbered as Schedule 1.

(2) The Act is amended by adding, after Schedule 1, the Schedule 2 set out in the schedule to this Act.