Energy Administration Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. E-6)

Price Restraint

Marginal note:Provincial agreement on prices

39 With the approval of the Governor in Council, the Minister may enter into an agreement with the government of a producer-province for the purpose of establishing mutually acceptable prices for the various kinds of gas produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in that province during such period as may be agreed on and for other purposes considered expedient to carry out the purpose of this Part.

Marginal note:Prescribing prices

• 40 (1) Where an agreement is entered into with a producer-province under section 39, the Governor in Council may, by regulation, prescribe prices at which the various kinds of gas to which this Part applies that are produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in that province are to be sold on or for delivery in any areas or zones in Canada and outside that province or at any points of export from Canada.

• Marginal note:Prescribing prices

  (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Governor in Council may, by regulation, prescribe prices at which the various kinds of gas to which this Part applies that are produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut are to be sold on or for delivery in any areas or zones in Canada and outside any of those territories or at any points of export from Canada.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, prescribe prices at which the various kinds of gas to which this Part applies that are produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in an offshore area are to be sold on or for delivery in any areas or zones in Canada and outside that offshore area or at any points of export from the offshore area and in that case the provisions of this Part, except those that refer to an agreement with the government of a producer-province, that apply in respect of gas produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in a province apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of gas produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in the offshore area as if the offshore area were a province of production.

• Marginal note:How prescribed price established

  (4) For the purpose of establishing prices pursuant to subsection (1) or section 42, the Governor in Council shall have regard to such matters as he deems requisite from time to time to achieve the purpose of this Part including

  • (a) transportation and other costs applicable to the movement of gas;

  • (b) the kinds of gas produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in Canada;

  • (c) the prices of alternative fuels in interprovincial markets; and

  • (d) the probable effect on the producers and consumers in Canada of establishing prescribed prices for the various kinds of gas.

Marginal note:Application of certain provisions

• 41 (1) Subject to this section, sections 43 to 55 do not apply in respect of a producer-province until such time as the Governor in Council acquires authority under subsection 40(1) or section 42 to prescribe prices at which the various kinds of gas to which this Part applies that are produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in that producer-province are to be sold on or for delivery in any areas or zones in Canada and outside that province or at any points of export from Canada.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (1.1) Sections 43 to 55 do not apply in respect of a producer-province during any period in which an order of the Governor in Council that declares those provisions to be non-applicable in respect of the province remains in effect.

• Marginal note:Territories or offshore area

  (2) Where the Governor in Council prescribes prices pursuant to subsection 40(2) or (3) at which the various kinds of gas to which this Part applies that are produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut or the offshore area, as the case may be, are to be sold, sections 43 to 55 apply in respect of any of those territories or that offshore area.

Marginal note:Where no price agreement effective

42 Where no agreement is entered into under section 39 with the government of a producer-province, or any such agreement is terminated by the declaration of the parties, or, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, is not effective or is not capable of being effective, the Governor in Council may, by regulation, prescribe prices at which the various kinds of gas to which this Part applies that are produced, extracted, recovered or manufactured in that province are to be sold on or for delivery in any areas or zones in Canada and outside the province or at any points of export from Canada.

Marginal note:Prohibition

• 43 (1) No person shall

  • (a) move any gas outside its province of production for consumption elsewhere unless the price paid to acquire that gas is a price approved by special or general orders of the Commission of the Regulator;

  • (b) purchase or otherwise acquire from within a producer-province or sell within a producer-province any gas for consumption outside that province unless the price paid therefor is a price approved by special or general orders of the Commission of the Regulator; or

  • (c) sell or purchase any gas outside its province of production unless the price paid therefor is a prescribed price for that gas.

• Marginal note:Saving

  (2) Paragraph (1)(c) does not apply in respect of a sale of gas in a province for consumption therein if the gas is purchased in that province otherwise than from a person who brought the gas out of its province of production or caused it to be brought therefrom.

Marginal note:Evidence required

44 No person shall transport, carry, convey or move any kind of gas out of its province of production or take delivery of any kind of gas outside its province of production unless there is documentary evidence recorded by the person that the price paid or to be paid therefor is a price approved by the Commission of the Regulator or a prescribed price, as the case may require.

Marginal note:Records

45 Every person who engages in a transaction described in section 43 shall keep records and books of account at his place of business in Canada, or elsewhere in Canada as the regulations may require, in such form and containing such information as will enable a determination to be made of the price at which any gas was purchased or sold in the course of the transaction.

Marginal note:Records

46 Every person who acquires any gas in a province other than its province of production from the person who brought the gas out of its province of production or caused it to be brought therefrom shall keep records and books of account at his place of business in Canada, or elsewhere in Canada as the regulations may require, in such form and containing such information as will enable a determination to be made of the price at which the gas was so acquired.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Offences respecting records and other documents

47 Every person who

• (a) knowingly makes any false entry or statement in any record, book of account or other document required by this Part or any regulations thereunder to be kept, or

• (b) knowingly destroys, mutilates or falsifies any record, book of account or other document required by this Part or any regulations thereunder to be kept

is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.

Marginal note:Contravention of sections 43 and 44

• 48 (1) Every person who contravenes any of the provisions of sections 43 and 44 is guilty of an offence and liable

  • (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both; or

  • (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding one million dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.

• Marginal note:Officers, etc., of corporation

  (2) Where a corporation commits an offence under this Part, any officer, director or agent of the corporation who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the offence is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable on conviction to the punishment provided for the offence whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted.

Marginal note:Offence by employee or agent

49 In a prosecution for an offence under this Part, it is sufficient proof of the offence to show that it was committed by an employee or agent of the accused whether or not the employee or agent is identified or has been prosecuted for the offence, unless the accused establishes that the offence was committed without his knowledge or consent and that he exercised all due diligence to prevent its commission.

Marginal note:Continuing offence

50 Where an offence under this Part is committed on more than one day, it shall be deemed to be a separate offence for each day on which the offence is committed or continued.

Marginal note:Limitation period

51 Any proceedings by way of summary conviction in respect of an offence under this Part may be instituted at any time within but not later than one year after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

52 The Governor in Council may make regulations

• (a) prescribing the records, books of account or other documents that are to be kept by any person who purchases or sells any gas or who engages in any transaction described in section 43 and the form and contents of the information to be maintained in those records, books of account and documents;

• (b) prescribing the place in Canada where such records, books of account or other documents as are prescribed by the regulations are to be kept;

• (c) respecting the determination of the value of gas in circumstances where no consideration, or no consideration in money, is given therefor;

• (d) respecting the approval by the Commission of the Regulator of prices paid to acquire gas from within its province of production for movement out of that province; and

• (e) providing for any matter or thing necessary to effect the purpose of this Part.

General

Marginal note:Conflict

53 In the event of a conflict between any price prescribed under this Part and any price established under Part 3 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, the price prescribed under this Act prevails.

Marginal note:Distributing excess

• 54 (1) Where in any month gas that is purchased or otherwise acquired in or from its province of production is transported and resold by the purchaser thereof in any areas or zones in Canada outside its province of production or at any points of export from Canada, the purchaser shall, in respect of each such month, distribute to producers, in accordance with such regulations as the Governor in Council may make in that behalf, an amount equal to the excess of

  • (a) the total revenues received by the purchaser for the gas so resold in that month

  over

  • (b) the purchaser’s cost of service, as determined by the Commission of the Regulator, in respect of the gas so resold in that month, including the purchaser’s cost of gas.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Where in any month gas that is purchased or otherwise acquired in or from its province of production is transported from that province for delivery in any areas or zones in Canada outside its province of production or at any points of export from Canada by a person other than its purchaser, the purchaser shall, in respect of each such month, distribute to producers, in accordance with such regulations as the Governor in Council may make in that behalf, an amount equal to the excess of

  • (a) the total value, as determined by the Commission of the Regulator, of the purchaser’s gas delivered in that month in those areas or zones outside its province of production or at those points of export from Canada

  over

  • (b) the purchaser’s cost, as determined by the Commission of the Regulator, in respect of the acquisition and transportation of that gas to its point of delivery in that month.

• Marginal note:Cost of gas

  (3) For the purposes of this section, the cost of gas shall be computed, if approved by the Commission of the Regulator, by using prices payable at the well-head to producers of gas or shall be computed by such other means as the Commission of the Regulator may prescribe.

• Marginal note:Determining other costs

  (4) In determining a purchaser’s cost of service for the purposes of subsection (1) or a purchaser’s cost in respect of the acquisition and transportation of gas for the purposes of subsection (2), the Commission of the Regulator is to be governed by the rules it applies in determining those costs for the purposes of making orders with respect to traffic, tolls or tariffs under Part 3 of the Canadian Energy Regulator Act.