S-12
First Session, Forty-first Parliament,
60-61 Elizabeth II, 2011-2012
SENATE OF CANADA
BILL S-12
An Act to amend the Statutory Instruments Act and to make consequential amendments to the Statutory Instruments Regulations
first reading, October 17, 2012
LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE
90673
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Statutory Instruments Act to provide for the express power to incorporate by reference in regulations. It imposes an obligation on regulation-making authorities to ensure that a document, index, rate or number that is incorporated by reference is accessible. It also provides that a person is not liable to be found guilty of an offence or subjected to an administrative sanction for a contravention relating to a document, index, rate or number that is incorporated by reference unless certain requirements in relation to accessibility are met. Finally, it makes consequential amendments to the Statutory Instruments Regulations.
Also available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address:http://www.parl.gc.ca
1st Session, 41st Parliament,
60-61 Elizabeth II, 2011-2012
senate of canada
BILL S-12
An Act to amend the Statutory Instruments Act and to make consequential amendments to the Statutory Instruments Regulations
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 Incorporation by Reference in Regulations Act.
R.S., c. S-22
STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS ACT
2. The Statutory Instruments Act is amended by adding the following after section 18:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
Power to incorporate documents by reference
18.1 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the power to make a regulation includes the power to incorporate in it by reference a document — or a part of a document — as it exists on a particular date or as it is amended from time to time.
Limitation
(2) In the case of a document produced by the regulation-making authority, either alone or jointly with a person or body in the federal public administration, the document or part may be incorporated only if it
(a) contains only elements that are incidental to or elaborate on the rules set out in the regulation and is incorporated as it exists on a particular date;
(b) is reproduced or translated from a document, or part of a document, produced by a person or body other than the regulation-making authority, with any adaptations of form or reference that will facilitate its incorporation in the regulation; or
(c) is a regulation.
Index, rate or number
(3) The power to make a regulation also includes the power to incorporate by reference an index, rate or number — as it exists on a particular date or as it is varied from time to time — established by Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada or a person or body other than the regulation-making authority.
Meaning of “regulation-making authority”
(4) For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), “regulation-making authority” includes the following:
(a) if the regulation-making authority is the Governor in Council or the Treasury Board,
(i) the minister who recommends the making of the regulation,
(ii) the minister who is accountable to Parliament for the administration of the regulation, and
(iii) any person or body — other than Statistics Canada and standards development organizations accredited by the Standards Council of Canada — for which either of those ministers is accountable to Parliament;
(b) if the regulation-making authority is a minister, any person or body — other than Statistics Canada and standards development organizations accredited by the Standards Council of Canada — for which that minister is accountable to Parliament; and
(c) in any other case, any minister who is accountable to Parliament for the regulation-making authority.
Impact of section 18.1
18.2 The powers conferred by section 18.1 are in addition to any power to incorporate by reference that is conferred by the Act under which a regulation is made and that section does not limit such a power.
Accessibility
18.3 (1) The regulation-making authority shall ensure that a document, index, rate or number that is incorporated by reference is accessible.
Governor in Council and Treasury Board regulations
(2) If the Governor in Council or the Treasury Board is the regulation-making authority, the obligation under subsection (1) rests with the minister who is accountable to Parliament for the administration of the regulation.
No registration or publication
18.4 For greater certainty, a document, index, rate or number that is incorporated by reference in a regulation is not required to be transmitted for registration or published in the Canada Gazette by reason only that it is incorporated by reference.
Proof of incorporated document, index, rate or number
18.5 (1) In any proceeding in which a document, index, rate or number — that is incorporated by reference in a regulation — is relevant, a certificate appearing to be issued by or on behalf of the regulation-making authority that includes any of the following statements is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, presumed to be authentic and proof of the matters set out in those statements:
(a) a statement that the document attached to the certificate, or the index, rate or number set out in it, is the document, index, rate or number that was incorporated in the regulation on a specified date or during a specified period; or
(b) a statement regarding the manner in which the incorporated document, index, rate or number was accessible on that date or during that period.
Governor in Council and Treasury Board regulations
(2) If the Governor in Council or the Treasury Board is the regulation-making authority, the certificate may be issued by the minister who is accountable to Parliament for the administration of the regulation.
No finding of guilt or administrative sanction
18.6 A person is not liable to be found guilty of an offence or subjected to an administrative sanction for any contravention in respect of which a document, index, rate or number — that is incorporated by reference in a regulation — is relevant unless, at the time of the alleged contravention, it was accessible as required by section 18.3 or it was otherwise accessible to that person.
Validity of incorporation
18.7 The validity of an incorporation by reference that conforms with section 18.1 and that was made before the day on which that section comes into force is confirmed.
Replacement of “autorité réglementante” with “autorité réglementaire”
3. The French version of the Act is amended by replacing “autorité réglementante” with “autorité réglementaire” in the following provisions:
(a) the definition “autorité réglementante” in subsection 2(1);
(b) subsections 3(1) and (3);
(c) sections 4 and 5;
(d) the portion of section 8 after paragraph (b);
(e) subsection 9(2);
(f) subsection 15(1); and
(g) paragraphs 20(e) and (i).
C.R.C., c. 1509
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS TO THE STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS REGULATIONS
Replacement of “autorité réglementante” with “autorité réglementaire”
4. The French version of the Statutory Instruments Regulations is amended by replacing “autorité réglementante” with “autorité réglementaire” in the following provisions:
(a) subparagraph 5(a)(ii);
(b) subsection 8(2); and
(c) the portion of section 18 before paragraph (a).
Published under authority of the Senate of CanadaAvailable from:Publishing and Depository ServicesPublic Works and Government Services Canada
Explanatory Notes
Statutory Instruments Act
Clause 2: New.