Broadcasting Act (S.C. 1991, c. 11)

Marginal note:Acquisition and disposition of property

• 48 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Corporation may purchase, lease or otherwise acquire any real or personal property that the Corporation deems necessary or convenient for carrying out its objects and may sell, lease or otherwise dispose of all or any part of any property acquired by it.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (2) The Corporation shall not, without the approval of the Governor in Council, enter into

  • (a) any transaction for the acquisition of any real property or the disposition of any real or personal property, other than program material or rights therein, for a consideration in excess of four million dollars or such greater amount as the Governor in Council may by order prescribe; or

  • (b) a lease or other agreement for the use or occupation of real property involving an expenditure in excess of four million dollars or such greater amount as the Governor in Council may by order prescribe.

• Marginal note:Retaining proceeds

  (3) Subject to subsection (4), the Corporation may retain and use all of the proceeds of any transaction for the disposition of real or personal property.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (4) In the case of a transaction for the disposition of real or personal property requiring the approval of the Governor in Council under subsection (2), the Corporation may retain and use all or any part of the proceeds therefrom unless otherwise directed by the Governor in Council.

Marginal note:Expropriation

• 49 (1) Where, in the opinion of the Corporation, the taking or acquisition of any land or interest therein by the Corporation without the consent of the owner is required for the purpose of carrying out its objects, the Corporation shall so advise the appropriate Minister in relation to Part I of the Expropriation Act.

• Marginal note:Application of Expropriation Act

  (2) For the purposes of the Expropriation Act, any land or interest therein that, in the opinion of the Minister referred to in subsection (1), is required for the purpose of carrying out the objects of the Corporation shall be deemed to be land or an interest therein that, in the opinion of the Minister, is required for a public work or other public purpose and, in relation thereto, a reference to the Crown in that Act shall be construed as a reference to the Corporation.

Head Office and Meetings

Marginal note:Head office

• 50 (1) The head office of the Corporation shall be in the National Capital Region as described in the schedule to the National Capital Act or at such other place in Canada as the Governor in Council may specify.

• Marginal note:Meetings

  (2) The Board shall meet at least six times in each year.

• Marginal note:Telephone conferences

  (3) A director may, subject to the by-laws of the Corporation, participate in a meeting of the Board or a committee of directors by means of such telephone or other communication facilities as permit all persons participating in the meeting to hear each other, and a director who participates in such a meeting by those means is deemed for the purposes of this Part to be present at the meeting.

By-laws

Marginal note:By-laws

• 51 (1) The Board may make by-laws

  • (a) respecting the calling of meetings of the Board;

  • (b) respecting the conduct of business at meetings of the Board, the establishment of special and standing committees of directors, the delegation of duties to special and standing committees of directors, including the committees referred to in section 45, and the fixing of quorums for meetings thereof;

  • (c) fixing the fees to be paid to directors, other than the Chairperson and the President, for attendance at meetings of the Board or any committee of directors, and the travel and living expenses to be paid to directors;

  • (d) respecting the duties and conduct of the directors, officers and employees of the Corporation and the terms and conditions of employment and of termination of employment of officers and employees of the Corporation, including the payment of any gratuity to those officers and employees or any one or more of them, whether by way of retirement allowance or otherwise;

  • (e) respecting the establishment, management and administration of a pension fund for the directors, officers and employees of the Corporation and their dependants, the contributions thereto to be made by the Corporation and the investment of the pension fund moneys thereof; and

  • (f) generally for the conduct and management of the affairs of the Corporation.

• Marginal note:Certain by-laws subject to Minister’s approval

  (2) No by-law made under paragraph (1)(c) or (e), and no by-law made under paragraph (1)(d) that provides for the payment of any gratuity referred to in that paragraph, has any effect unless it is approved by the Minister.

Financial Provisions

Marginal note:Independence of the Corporation

• 52 (1) Nothing in sections 53 to 70 shall be interpreted or applied so as to limit the freedom of expression or the journalistic, creative or programming independence enjoyed by the Corporation in the pursuit of its objects and in the exercise of its powers.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), and notwithstanding sections 53 to 70 or any regulation made under any of those sections, the Corporation is not required to

  • (a) submit to the Treasury Board or to the Minister or the Minister of Finance any information the provision of which could reasonably be expected to compromise or constrain the journalistic, creative or programming independence of the Corporation; or

  • (b) include in any corporate plan or summary thereof submitted to the Minister pursuant to section 54 or 55 any information the provision of which could reasonably be expected to limit the ability of the Corporation to exercise its journalistic, creative or programming independence.

Marginal note:Part VII of Financial Administration Act not to apply

52.1 Notwithstanding the Financial Administration Act, Part VII of that Act does not apply to a debt incurred by the Corporation.

Marginal note:Financial year

53 The financial year of the Corporation is the period beginning on April 1 in one year and ending on March 31 in the next year, unless the Governor in Council otherwise directs.

Marginal note:Corporate plan

• 54 (1) The Corporation shall annually submit a corporate plan to the Minister.

• Marginal note:Scope of corporate plan

  (2) The corporate plan of the Corporation shall encompass all the businesses and activities, including investments, of the Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Contents of corporate plan

  (3) The corporate plan of the Corporation shall include

  • (a) a statement of

    • (i) the objects for which the Corporation is incorporated, as set out in this Act,

    • (ii) the Corporation’s objectives for the next five years and for each year in that period and the strategy the Corporation intends to employ to achieve them, and

    • (iii) the Corporation’s expected performance for the year in which the plan is submitted as compared to its objectives for that year, as set out in the last corporate plan;

  • (b) the capital budget of the Corporation for the next following financial year of the Corporation;

  • (c) an operating budget for the next following financial year of the Corporation; and

  • (d) where the Corporation intends to borrow money in the next financial year, a general indication of the borrowing plans and strategies of the Corporation for that year.

• Marginal note:Approval of Minister of Finance

  (3.1) Where the Corporation includes a general indication of its plans to borrow money in its corporate plan, the Corporation shall submit that part of its corporate plan to the Minister of Finance for that Minister’s approval.

• Marginal note:Capital budgets

  (4) The Corporation shall submit the capital budget to the Minister in a corporate plan pursuant to paragraph (3)(b) for the approval of the Treasury Board.

• Marginal note:Notification of business activity

  (5) Where the Corporation or a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Corporation proposes to carry out a substantial change to business activities in any period in a manner that is not consistent with the last corporate plan of the Corporation in respect of that period, the Corporation shall forthwith notify the Minister in writing of the inconsistency in the manner of carrying on the business activity.

• Marginal note:Scope of budgets

  (6) The budgets of the Corporation referred to in paragraphs (3)(b) and (c) shall encompass all the businesses and activities, including investments, of the Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Form of budgets

  (7) The budgets of the Corporation referred to in paragraphs (3)(b) and (c) shall be prepared in a form that clearly sets out information according to the major businesses or activities of the Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Approval of multi-year items

  (8) The Treasury Board may approve any item in a capital budget submitted pursuant to paragraph (3)(b) for any financial year or years following the financial year for which the budget is submitted.

Marginal note:Summary of plan

• 55 (1) The Corporation shall submit to the Minister, in respect of each financial year, a summary of the corporate plan submitted pursuant to section 54 that summarizes the information referred to in subsection 54(3), modified so as to be based on the financial resources proposed to be allocated to the Corporation as set out in the Estimates for that financial year that have been tabled in the House of Commons.

• Marginal note:Scope of summary

  (2) A summary shall encompass all the businesses and activities, including investments, of the Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any, and shall set out the major business decisions taken with respect thereto.

• Marginal note:Form of summary

  (3) A summary shall be prepared in a form that clearly sets out information according to the major businesses or activities of the Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, if any.

• Marginal note:Tabling in Parliament

  (4) The Minister shall cause a copy of every summary received pursuant to this section to be laid before each House of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Reference to committee

  (5) A summary laid before a House of Parliament pursuant to subsection (4) stands permanently referred to such committee of that House or of both Houses of Parliament as may be designated or established to review matters relating to the business and activities of the Corporation.

Marginal note:Regulations

56 The Treasury Board may make regulations prescribing the form in which corporate plans and summaries required pursuant to sections 54 and 55 shall be prepared, the information to be included therein, the information to accompany corporate plans and the time at, before or within which they are to be submitted and summaries are to be laid before each House of Parliament.

Marginal note:Bank accounts

• 57 (1) The Corporation shall maintain in its own name one or more accounts with

  • (a) any member of the Canadian Payments Association;

  • (b) any local Cooperative Credit Society that is a member of a Central Cooperative Credit Society having membership in the Canadian Payments Association; and

  • (c) subject to the approval of the Minister of Finance, any financial institution outside Canada.

• Marginal note:Administration of Corporation funds

  (2) All money received by the Corporation through the conduct of its operations or otherwise shall be deposited to the credit of the accounts established pursuant to subsection (1) and shall be administered by the Corporation exclusively in the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties and functions.

• Marginal note:Investments

  (3) The Corporation may invest any money administered by it in bonds or other securities of, or guaranteed by, the Government of Canada.

• Marginal note:Proprietor’s Equity Account

  (4) The Corporation shall, in its books of account, establish a Proprietor’s Equity Account and shall credit thereto the amount of all money paid to the Corporation for capital purposes out of parliamentary appropriations.