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3rd Session, 37th Parliament REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS (HANSARD) SELECT STANDING COMMITTEE ON PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, ETHICAL CONDUCT, STANDING ORDERS AND PRIVATE BILLS Victoria Wednesday, April 17, 2002 Issue No. 2 BARRY PENNER, MLA, CHAIR ISSN 1703-2474 Published under the authority of the Speaker Internet: www.legis.gov.bc.ca/cmt SELECT STANDING COMMITTEE ON PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, ETHICAL CONDUCT, STANDING ORDERS AND PRIVATE BILLS Victoria Wednesday, April 17, 2002 Chair: * Barry Penner (Chilliwack-Kent L) Deputy Chair: * Patty Sahota (Burnaby-Edmonds L) Members: * Bill Bennett (East Kootenay L) * Jeff Bray (Victoria–Beacon Hill L) * Ida Chong (Oak Bay–Gordon Head L) * Walt Cobb (Cariboo South L) * John Les (Chilliwack-Sumas L) Paul Nettleton (Prince George–Omineca L) * Joy MacPhail (Vancouver-Hastings NDP) * denotes member present Clerks: Ian Izard Craig James CONTENTS Select Standing Committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills Wednesday, April 17, 2002 Page Election of Chair and Deputy Chair ............................................................................................................................................5 Report on Private Bills...................................................................................................................................................................5 I. Izard Privilege Matter..............................................................................................................................................................................7 MINUTES SELECT STANDING COMMITTEE PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, ETHICAL CONDUCT, STANDING ORDERS AND PRI- VATE BILLS Wednesday, April 17, 2002 11 a.m. Birch Room Parliament Buildings, Victoria Present: Barry Penner, MLA (Chair); Patty Sahota, MLA (Deputy Chair); John Les, MLA; Ida Chong, MLA; Bill Bennett, MLA; Walt Cobb, MLA; Jeff Bray, MLA; Joy MacPhail, MLA Unavoidably Absent: Paul Nettleton, MLA 1. As there was not yet a Chair to the Committee, the Clerk to the Committee called the meeting to order at 11:04 a.m. 2. Resolved, that Barry Penner, MLA, serve as Chair of the Committee. (J. Les, MLA) 3. Resolved, that Patty Sahota, MLA, serve as Deputy Chair of the Committee. (I. Chong, MLA) 4. The Committee received an overview of bills referred to this Committee. 5. The Committee was advised that a business plan would be prepared for its consideration of the Privilege matter. 6. The Committee agreed to meeting again in two weeks to begin its consideration of the Privilege matter referred to it by the House. 7. The Committee adjourned to the Call of the Chair at 11:21 a.m. Barry Penner, MLA Ian Izard Chair Law Clerk and Clerk Assistant Craig James Clerk of Committees and Clerk Assistant 5 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2002 I. Izard: I'm going to be brief, but if anybody has any questions, interrupt me, please. The committee met at 11:04 a.m. The first bill we're going to be dealing with will be about a company called Spring Enterprises Inc. B. Penner (Convener): Noting the time, we'll call This is a company that was struck off the register of the meeting to order, if that's agreeable to everyone. companies for failure to file annual reports for two The agenda has been circulated. years. It has been struck off for more than ten years, so they can't go back on unless they apply to get a Interjections. bill passed. We've had a couple of those done in recent years. B. Penner (Convener): I think most people had it e- The reason for them, traditionally, is that they own mailed to them late last week. I don't have it in front of some real estate, and in order to sell the real estate, me, but going by memory, there are three items on the they have to be reincorporated. In this particular case, agenda. The first is that we have to appoint the Chair the company was incorporated in British Columbia and vice-Chair for the committee. and then extraprovincially registered in Ontario. They Ian, should I let you take over at this stage? thought that by complying with the Ontario act, they [1105] didn't have to comply with ours anymore. Unfortu- nately, that's not the case. The bill is going to be intro- [I. Izard in the chair.] duced in the next day or two. We will then have a hearing, and the applicant will have to come and Election of Chair and Deputy Chair demonstrate to the committee why they should have their bill. I. Izard: Okay. The first item we'll deal with is ap- This leads me into the process. A private bill is re- pointment of the Chair, so we'll accept nominations quested by a petition from outside the assembly by an from the floor. individual or a company, and it's for a benefit that is particular to themselves. For that reason, it isn't just J. Les: I move Barry Penner. processed like a normal bill. It must come before this committee, and this committee must decide whether I. Izard: Okay. Barry Penner is moved. it's appropriate to confer the benefit. If it's contested by a party who has standing, then that party can come to I. Izard: Any others? Okay, Barry Penner is se- the hearing and contest it, so in a sense, we sit in a lected. quasi-judicial fashion. Secondly, the vice-Chair. Most of these types of bills are not contested, but presumably, if somebody were aggrieved, they'd have I. Chong: I nominate Patty Sahota. the right. We require them to advertise the fact that they're going to seek this bill. It has already been ad- I. Izard: Any others? So both by acclamation. vertised in the Vancouver Sun, and we've received no The next item of business is that I'm going to give a notice of anybody contesting it. brief report on private bills — an outline of what a pri- We will have that hearing. If the committee author- vate bill is and how it operates. We'll be having a cou- izes the bill to proceed, then it goes back to the House ple of hearings later on in the session to deal with for second reading, and it follows the normal string of those. Then I'm going to pass it over to Craig James to events. The sponsor of the bill is Mr. Christensen. He deal with the privilege matter. doesn't play an active role in the committee, but he has Okay. You're now the Chairman of the committee. to do the motions and so on to get it through the House. [B. Penner in the chair.] On the second bill I expect to receive…. I can't tell Report on Private Bills you what it is yet, because I haven't received it, beyond a draft. When it has been put in final form, I will circulate B. Penner (Chair): Thank you, everyone on the a memo to all the members on the committee with a committee, for your support. As mentioned by Ian, copy of the bill. I don't know if it's going to proceed at there are a number of private bills we may consider as this point in time. If it is, you'll be advised at that point. a committee this session. None has yet been introduced [1110] in the Legislature, which I understand must happen Members of the committee will be supplied with a before this committee is empowered to deal with them. binder that will have a copy of all the materials in it. It I know that from time to time I get asked, especially will also have a copy of the standing orders as they by the new members elected in May 2001, what the relate to private bills. We'll deliver those to you in ad- difference is between a private bill, a private member's vance, so you can review the material before coming to bill and a government bill. I'd ask Ian to give us a bit of the hearing. My experience has been that on these rein- an overview at this stage, if he could, just describing corporations, it's a relatively brief thing — it doesn't the background, the history and the role of private bills really affect anybody else — but other ones can be as opposed to the other types I've described. somewhat drawn out. 6 PARLIAMENTARY REFORM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2002 Does that cover what members are interested in I. Izard: After the ten-year period, they go to the hearing? registrar to…. B. Penner (Chair): That's a good basic overview, I. Chong: And the registrar will just automatically but I'm sure it's going to spark a few questions. I see do it. we have Bill and then Ida. Bill first. I. Izard: The registrar would normally do it if there B. Bennett: Ian, two questions. What are the criteria we are no contested reasons for not doing it, but even then would use to determine standing for someone that wanted they make a judicial decision to do it or not. to come and oppose this? Secondly, is there a body of precedent we can refer to, to help us make the decision? I. Chong: As I said, I just wanted to find out. Those that will be coming to us are fairly lengthy off-the- I. Izard: The standing is determined by whether the record types of situations. If a situation came to us and other party is affected by the bill. For instance, if a the assets of a corporation had reverted to the company is being reincorporated, that doesn't have any Crown…. bearing on the average person on the street. I. Izard: The Crown doesn't actively go out seeking B. Bennett: Is that our call — the standing? assets. The technical situation under the Escheat Act is that after a particular period of time, they revert to I.

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