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Lieutenant-Governor
HON. THE PREMIER.
BILL
[1964
No. 741
R.S.B C.
1960, c. 121;
1961, c. 39.
An Act to Amend the Public Utilities Act
H
ER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the
Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts
as follows:—
Short title.
1. This Act may be cited as the Public Utilities Act Amendment Act,
1964.
Amends s. 2.
2. Section 2 of the Public Utilities Act, being chapter 323 of the
Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1960, is amended as follows:—
(a) By inserting after the word "Act," in the first line the words
" unless the context otherwise requires," so that the first line shall read
as follows:" 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,".
(b) By inserting after the definition of " company " the following
definition:—
"'compensation' means any rate, remuneration, gain, or reward
of any kind paid, payable, promised, demanded, received, or
expected, directly or indirectly, and is presumed to exist where
a public utility service is promised or provided as part of a
plan to sell land;".
(c) By striking out the words "the public" in the second line of
item (5) in the definition of " public utility " and substituting the words
" two or more persons ", so that the item shall read as follows:—
"(5 ) the diverting, developing, pumping, impounding,
distributing, or furnishing of water to or for two or more
persons or any corporation for compensation;".
(d) By inserting after the definition of " service " the following definition:—
" ' tenant' does not include a lessee for a term of more than five
years;".
Amends s. 6.
3. Section 6 is amended by renumbering the present section as subsection (1) and adding the following as subsection (2):"(2) Upon application by a municipality, the Commission may, by
order, exempt the municipality from complying with subsection ( I)
except within a defined area or defined areas and may, upon application
and after due notice to the municipality, enlarge or reduce such area
or areas or add others."
Amends 1. 10
4. Section 14 is amended by inserting the following as subsection
(10:—
"(1a) Whenever the Commission deems it necessary to ascertain
whether a person is engaged or about to engage in construction or operation of a public utility plant or system, the Commission may request the
person to furnish all information required by it and to make specific
answers to all questions submitted by the Commission, and the person
shall comply with the request."
Repeals s. 27.
5. Section 27 is repealed.
Amends s. 40
6. Section 40 is amended by striking out the word " pipe " in the third
line and substituting the word " pipes," so that the section shall read as
follows:" 40. Where a public utility having the right to enter a municipality
for the purpose of placing therein with or without the consent of the
municipality its rails, posts, wires, pipes, conduits, or other appliances
upon, along, across, over, or under any public street, lane, square, park,
public place, bridge. viaduct, subway, or watercourse cannot come to an
agreement with the municipality as to the use of the street, lane, square,
park, public place. bridge, viaduct, subway, or watercourse for that purpose, or as to the terms and conditions of such use, then, upon application
to the Commission and after such inquiry as it may see fit to make, the
Commission may by its order permit the use of the street, lane, square,
park, public place, bridge, viaduct, subway, or watercourse by the company for the purpose in question, and prescribe the manner, terms, and
conditions of its use."
Amends s. 51
7. Section 51 is amended by striking out the word " monthly " in the
second line, so that the section shall read as follows:" 51. The salaries of the Commissioners shall be determined by the
Lieutenant-Governor in Council and shall be payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund."
Amends s. 84
S. Section 84 is renumbered as subsection (1) and the following
added as subsection (2 ):—
"(2 ) The Commission may by regulation or order, on such conditions
(if any) as it may deem expedient, with the approval of the LieutenantGovernor in Council. exempt any person or any equipment or facilities
from the application of this Act or any provision of this Act or may limit
or vary the application of this Act thereto, and the exemption, limitation,
or variation is of the same force and effect as if set out in this Act."
Printed by A. Sutton, Printer to the Queen', Most Excellent Majesty
in right of the Province of British Columbia.
1964
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
2. tut The insertion of these words is to make the section read uniformly with
other interpretation sections in other Statutes. The Court of Appeal has noted that
"public utility" might be interpreted literally in some sections and less strictly in
others. The inclusion of these words will indicate this policy more clearly.
(1) The suggested amendment would make it clear that these rates. remuneration, gains, and rewards are to be regarded as compensation for purposes of the
Act.
(e) This amendment is intended to clear doubt that has arisen as to the meaning
of this item because of the use of the words " the public" and the various interpretations that may be placed on those words. Instead. the item would speak of " two
or more persons".
(dl Under section 2 of this Act the person who furnishes services or a commodity to a tenant only when the service or commodity is not resold is excepted
from the definition of " public utility
and this amendment would provide that,
for that purpose, a person who has a lease for longer than a five-year term may
not be regarded as a tenant.
3. Under the suggested subsection 12). the Commission could restrict the areas
outside a municipality wherein the municipality must supply services and define
thereby the obligations of the municipality. An order made by the Commission
could be amended from time to time where new applicants for service outside the
defined areas request an extension of those areas or the municipality requests that
the areas be reduced.
4. There is now no provision for the acquisition of such information except from
persons or companies that come within the definition of " public titility".
5. Under this section. public utilities have been exempted from the provisions
of the Securities Act. The repeal of the section would bring public utilities under
t hat Act.
6. This is to correct punctuation
7. The present section makes it mandatory that salaries be paid monthly.
S. There is now no provision allowing the Commission to exempt partially or
wholly any person or facility from the application of the Act. This proposed subsection would give a power of exemption to the Commission.
(This statement is submitted by the Legislative Counsel
and is not part of the legislation.)
MEMORANDUM
IlLS NO
OFFICE OF ATTORNEY-GENERAL
TO
His Honour
The
VICTORIA, 13.C..
Lieutenant-Governor.
March 10, 1964.
Re: Public Utilities Act
Amendment Act, 1964..
This Bill contains amendments for
clarification of the existing provisions and as
well gives the Public Utilities Commission a power
to exempt facilities from the Act. The Bill also
removes the exemption from the Securities Act now
applicable to public utilities.
Geral H. Cross,
Legislative Counsel.
GHG:LS