Bill 60 - Accountability and Continuous Improvement Act

BILL 60

Accountability and Continuous Improvement Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1 The following definitions apply in this Act.

“annual plan” means a plan approved under section 4. (plan annuel)

“annual report” means a report approved under section 5. (rapport annuel)

“Crown body” means an organization or body listed in Schedule A. (organisme de la Couronne)

“Crown corporation” means a board, Crown corporation or commission listed under Part IV of the First Schedule of the Public Service Labour Relations Act. (société de la Couronne)

“Crown entity” means a department over which a member of the Executive Council presides or a Crown body. (entité de la Couronne)

“memorandum of understanding” means a memorandum approved or amended under section 6. (protocole d’entente)

“responsible minister” means the Minister responsible for a Crown entity. (ministre responsable)

Application of this Act

2 This Act applies to all Crown entities.

Mandate letter

3( 1) The responsible minister for a Crown body shall prepare annually a mandate letter within the time prescribed by Executive Council.

3( 2) A mandate letter shall be in the form approved by Executive Council, which form may be different for different Crown bodies.

3( 3) A mandate letter shall be addressed to the Chair of the Crown body, if any, and shall include

(a) strategic and operational direction within the authority of the responsible minister,

(b) performance expectations of the Crown body, and

3( 4) Before it is provided to the Crown body, a mandate letter shall be approved by Executive Council.

3( 5) A mandate letter shall be provided to the Crown body by the responsible minister before the Crown body prepares its annual plan.

Annual plan

4( 1) A Crown entity shall each year prepare an annual plan in the form approved by Executive Council, which form may be different for different Crown entities.

4( 2) The annual plan of a Crown entity shall

(a) set out the goals and objectives to be met during the period covered by the plan taking into account

( i) the strategic direction of the government in the area of the Crown entity’s mandate as communicated to the Crown entity by the responsible minister,

( ii) the Crown entity’s mandate as set out in the Act or other instrument creating it, and

( iii) the financial resources of the Crown entity,

(b) identify objective performance measures specific to the goals and objectives set out in the plan,

(c) include a statement indicating that the Minister of the Crown or the chair of the Crown entity, as the case may be, is accountable for the preparation of the plan and for achieving the specific goals and objectives of the plan, and

(d) contain any other information prescribed by regulation, if any.

4( 3) An annual plan shall be submitted to the responsible minister on or before a date determined by Executive Council and be signed by the responsible minister or by the chair of the Crown entity, as the case may be.

4( 4) The responsible minister shall approve an annual plan if satisfied the plan is in keeping with

(a) the strategic direction of the government in the area of the Crown entity’s mandate as communicated to it by the responsible minister,

(b) the mandate of the Crown entity, and

4( 5) Following the approval of the annual plan, the responsible minister shall make the annual plan public by publishing it on the department’s website no later than three months after the beginning of the fiscal year of the period covered by the plan.

Annual report

5( 1) A Crown entity shall each year prepare an annual report on its preceding fiscal year in the form approved by Executive Council, which form may be different for different Crown entities.

5( 2) An annual report shall include

(a) the audited financial statement of the Crown entity, if the entity is required to prepare an audited financial statement,

(b) a comparison of the actual results to the projected results set out in the annual plan, and

(c) a statement indicating that the Minister of the Crown or the chair of the Crown entity, as the case may be, is accountable for the preparation of the annual report and for achieving the specific goals and objectives of the report.

5( 3) If an annual report discloses a variance between the actual and projected results of the Crown entity for the fiscal year, the report shall provide an explanation of the variance.

5( 4) An annual report shall be provided to the responsible minister or chair of the Crown entity and the responsible minister or chair of the Crown entity, as the case may be, shall sign and approve the annual report on or before a date fixed by Executive Council.

5( 5) Following the approval of an annual report, the annual report shall be filed with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly on or before a date prescribed by regulation.

5( 6) Despite subsection (5), in the circumstances prescribed by regulation, an extension of the time to file an annual report may be granted by Executive Council for no more than six months.

5( 7) Following the filing of an annual report, the annual report shall be made public by the responsible minister by publishing the report on the website of the responsible minister.

Memorandum of understanding

6( 1) Within three months after the commencement of this section or within three months of an entity becoming a Crown corporation, the responsible minister and the Crown corporation shall jointly develop a memorandum of understanding that shall contain the following:

(a) the Crown corporation’s mandate;

(b) the roles and responsibilities of the Crown corporation, the members of the Board of the Crown corporation, the chief executive office of the Crown corporation, if any, and the responsible minister and Deputy Minister;

(c) the Crown corporation and the responsible minister’s mutual expectations in respect of communication, collaboration and consultation with each other;

(d) the financial, staffing and administrative arrangements for the Crown corporation;

(e) the requirement for providing quarterly financial reports to the responsible minister;

(f) any other information required by Executive Council.

6( 2) A memorandum of understanding shall

(a) be in a form approved by Executive Council, and

(b) be reviewed and renewed, amended or replaced three years from the date on which it was developed and every three years thereafter.

6( 3) A memorandum of understanding may be amended at any time by the Crown corporation and the responsible minister.

Disclosure harmful to a business or financial interests

7( 1) A Crown entity may refuse to disclose any information required to be disclosed under this Act that would reveal commercial, financial, labour relations, scientific or technical information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to

(a) harm the competitive position of the Crown entity, or

(b) interfere with contractual or other negotiations of the Crown entity.

7( 2) If subsection (1) is inconsistent with or in conflict with a provision of the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, subsection (1) prevails.

Regulations

8( 1) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) prescribing information for the purposes of paragraph 4(2)(d);

(b) prescribing a date or dates for the purposes of subsection 5(5);

(d) exempting Crown entities from the filing of an annual report;

(e) defining any word or expression used in but not defined in this Act for the purposes of this Act, the regulations or both;

(f) respecting any other matter that may be necessary for the proper administration of this Act.

8( 2) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, by regulation, add an organization or body to or delete an organization or body from Schedule A.

Conditional amendments

9( 1) If Bill 39, introduced in the third session of the 57th Legislature and entitled the Electricity Act, receives Royal Assent, then on the later of the commencement of this section and the commencement of section 3 of that Act, Schedule A of this Act is amended by striking out

New Brunswick Electric Finance Corporation

New Brunswick Power Coleson Cove Corporation

New Brunswick Power Distribution and Customer Service Corporation

New Brunswick Power Holding Corporation

New Brunswick Power Nuclear Corporation

New Brunswick System Operator

New Brunswick Power Transmission Corporation

and substituting the following:

New Brunswick Power Corporation

9( 2) If Bill 39, introduced in the third session of the 57th Legislature and entitled the Electricity Act, receives Royal Assent, then on the later of the commencement of this section and the commencement of section 51 of that Act, Schedule A of this Act is amended by striking out

New Brunswick Power Generation Corporation

and substituting the following:

New Brunswick Energy Marketing Corporation

Commencement

10 This Act or any provision of it comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation.

SCHEDULE A

Ambulance New Brunswick Inc.

Arts Development Trust Fund

Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Agency of New Brunswick

Environmental Trust Fund

FacilicorpNB Ltd.

Forest Protection Limited

Invest New Brunswick

Kings Landing Corporation

New Brunswick Community College

New Brunswick Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation

New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation

New Brunswick Electric Finance Corporation

New Brunswick Health Council

New Brunswick Highway Corporation

New Brunswick Housing Corporation

New Brunswick Immigrant Investor Fund (2009) Ltd.

New Brunswick Internal Services Agency

New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation

New Brunswick Legal Aid Services Commission

New Brunswick Liquor Corporation

New Brunswick Lotteries and Gaming Corporation

New Brunswick Municipal Finance Corporation

New Brunswick Power Coleson Cove Corporation

New Brunswick Power Distribution and Customer Service Corporation

New Brunswick Power Generation Corporation

New Brunswick Power Holding Corporation

New Brunswick Power Nuclear Corporation

New Brunswick System Operator

New Brunswick Power Transmission Corporation

New Brunswick Securities Commission

Regional Development Corporation

Service New Brunswick

Sport Development Trust Fund

Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission