Act BEFORE self-repeal by 1996RS-339-18, effective May 31, 2003 (BC Reg 74/2003, repealing BC Reg 109/2000).
Okanagan Valley Tree Fruit Authority Act
[RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 339
Definitions
1 In this Act:
"board" means the board of directors of the corporation;
"corporation" means the Okanagan Valley Tree Fruit Authority continued under section 2;
"director" means a member of the board;
"Interior" means
(a) that part of British Columbia
(i) lying East of the 120th meridian of West longitude, West of the 118th meridian of West longitude and South of the 51st parallel of North latitude, and
(ii) lying East of the 118th meridian of West longitude, West of the 116th meridian of West longitude and South of the 50th parallel of North latitude, or
(b) such other area as may be prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
Corporation established
2 (1) The corporation known as the Okanagan Valley Tree Fruit Authority is continued, consisting of a board of directors appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council must appoint one of the directors as the chair of the board.
(3) The corporation must have a corporate seal, which may be engraved, lithographed, printed or otherwise mechanically reproduced.
Purpose of the corporation
3 (1) The purpose of the corporation is to ensure an efficient and coordinated approach to the revitalization and transformation of the Interior tree fruit industry to ensure a strong, dynamic and competitive tree fruit industry.
(2) In addition to the general purpose of the corporation under subsection (1), it is also the purpose of the corporation with respect to the tree fruit industry in the Interior to do the following:
(a) assist in the rehabilitation and improvement of orchard land and orchards;
(b) develop and operate programs to improve productivity of the tree fruit industry and the marketability of tree fruit;
(c) commission applied research into production and marketing;
(d) provide for the training of growers and farm workers;
(e) subject to the regulations, assist growers, packing houses, processors and marketing enterprises by providing advice and assistance;
(f) such other things as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize.
Powers and capacity
4 (1) The corporation is an agent of the government.
(2) The corporation has the power and capacity of a natural person of full capacity.
(3) Subject to the regulations, the corporation may do one or more of the following for the purposes of this Act:
(a) acquire agricultural land within the Interior;
(b) hold and maintain land acquired under paragraph (a);
(c) dispose of land acquired under paragraph (a) by sale, lease or otherwise;
(d) provide financial assistance by way of grant, loan, guarantee or otherwise to growers;
(e) subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, enter into agreements with the government of Canada, the government of a province or another government, or with an official or agency of any of those governments;
(f) such other things as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize.
(4) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, in any year the corporation may pay to a municipality in which it has property a grant not exceeding the amount that would be payable as taxes on the property in that year if the property were not exempt from taxation by the municipality.
Meetings and quorum
5 (1) The board must meet at least 4 times a year.
(2) A majority of the directors holding office constitutes a quorum at meetings of the board.
(3) Subject to section 6 (5), the affirmative votes of the majority of the directors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present are sufficient to pass a resolution of the corporation.
Powers of board
6 (1) The directors must manage the affairs of the corporation or supervise the management of those affairs.
(2) The directors may
(a) exercise the powers conferred on them under this Act,
(b) exercise the powers of the corporation on behalf of the corporation, and
(c) delegate the exercise or performance of any power or duty conferred or imposed on them to the chief executive officer or to a person employed by the corporation.
(3) The directors may pass the resolutions they consider necessary or advisable for
(a) the management and conduct of the affairs of the corporation, and
(b) the exercise of their powers or performance of their duties.
(4) Without limiting subsection (3), the directors may pass resolutions respecting the procedure to be followed at the meetings.
(5) A resolution under this section approved by the required number of directors by telex, telegraph, facsimile transmission, telephone or any other similar means of communication, confirmed in writing or other graphic communication, is as valid as if it had been passed at a meeting of the directors properly called and constituted.
Board remuneration
7 The corporation may pay to a director
(a) reasonable travelling and incidental expenses necessarily incurred in attending the meetings of the corporation, and
(b) if the director is not a member of the Legislative Assembly or a public servant, remuneration at rates set by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
Officers and employees
8 (1) On the recommendation of the minister, the Lieutenant Governor in Council must appoint a person as the chief executive officer of the corporation.
(2) The chief executive officer must carry out those functions and perform those duties that are specified in the resolutions of the corporation.
(3) To the extent authorized by the board, the chief executive officer may appoint officers and employees necessary to carry on the business and operations of the corporation and may define their duties and determine their remuneration.
(4) The chief executive officer may provide a system of organization to establish responsibility and promote efficiency within the corporation.
(5) The Public Service Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act do not apply to the corporation or to a director, officer or employee of the corporation.
Borrowing powers
9 Subject to the regulations, for the purpose of carrying out any of the purposes or powers referred to in this Act, or for the exercise or performance of any power, right, function or duty conferred or imposed on it under this or any other Act, the corporation may
(a) borrow money from the government, and
(b) issue notes, bonds, debentures and other securities bearing interest at the rates prescribed and payable as to principal and interest in the currencies, at the places, at the times and in the manner approved by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations.
Single fund for corporation money
10 (1) All funds, including borrowings, income and revenue, that come into the hands of the corporation, whether as agent, owner or otherwise, form one fund out of which the corporation must pay all expenditures necessary for its purposes.
(2) The corporation must account for the fund in its annual report.
Financial administration
11 (1) The corporation must
(a) establish and maintain an accounting system satisfactory to the minister, and
(b) whenever required by the minister, render detailed accounts of its revenues and expenditures for the period or to the day the minister designates.
(2) All books or records of account, documents and other financial records must at all times be open for inspection by the minister or a person designated by the minister.
(3) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations may direct the Comptroller General to examine and report to the Treasury Board on any or all of the financial and accounting operations of the corporation.
(4) At least once in every year, the accounts of the corporation must be audited and reported on by an auditor appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(5) The costs of the audit must be paid by the corporation.
(6) At the times specified by the minister, the corporation must submit to the minister and to Treasury Board for review and approval a business plan that includes the following:
(a) revenue, expenditure, borrowing and lending proposals;
(b) a statement of assets and liabilities;
(c) such other information as the minister may require.
(7) After the end of the fiscal year of the corporation, the corporation must prepare for the minister
(a) a report of the corporation on its operations for the preceding fiscal year, and
(b) a financial statement showing the revenues, expenditures, assets and liabilities of the corporation at the end of the preceding fiscal year and the operations of the corporation for that year in the form required by the minister.
(8) The financial statement referred to in subsection (7) (b) must be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
(9) The fiscal year of the corporation is a period of 12 months beginning on April 1 in each year and ending on March 31 in the next succeeding year.
(10) The report and financial statement referred to in subsection (7) must be laid before the Legislative Assembly within 90 days next following the end of the fiscal year for which the report and statement are made if the Legislative Assembly is then sitting or, if the Legislative Assembly is not then sitting, as soon as practicable.
(11) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations is the fiscal agent of the corporation.
Information
12 When requested to do so by the minister, the corporation must provide to the minister reports or other information in addition to that required under section 11.
Pensions
13 The Public Service Pension Plan, continued under the Public Sector Pension Plans Act, applies to the corporation and its officers and employees.
Benefits
14 The Public Service Benefit Plan Act applies to the officers and employees of the corporation.
Application of other Acts
15 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Company Act and the Company Clauses Act do not apply to the corporation.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may by order declare that certain provisions of the Company Act apply to the corporation.
Confidentiality
16 A director, officer or employee of the corporation must not disclose information obtained under this Act except to the extent necessary for carrying out the corporation's purposes or as required by law.
Power to make regulations
17 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:
(a) prescribing the area for the purposes of the definition of "Interior";
(b) governing the purposes, powers and duties of the corporation;
(c) exempting any or all officers or employees of the corporation from the operation of section 13.