Nuclear Safety and Control Act (S.C. 1997, c. 9)

Meetings

Marginal note:Meetings

• 14 (1) The Commission may meet for the conduct of its affairs at such times and in such places as are established by by-law of the Commission.

• Marginal note:Telephone conferences

  (2) A member may, subject to the by-laws of the Commission, participate in a meeting of the Commission by means of a telephone or other communication device that permits all persons participating in the meeting to hear one another, and a member who participates in a meeting by those means is deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be present at the meeting.

By-laws

Marginal note:By-laws

15 The Commission may make by-laws respecting the management and conduct of its affairs and to meet its objects and carry out its duties under this Act and may, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, make by-laws

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

• (b) respecting generally the carrying on of the work of the Commission, including establishing the number of members that constitutes a quorum of the Commission or of a panel of the Commission; and

• (c) determining the procedures to be followed in proceedings other than those for which rules are otherwise prescribed.

Officers, Employees and Contractors

Marginal note:Employment of staff

• 16 (1) The Commission may, notwithstanding any other Act of Parliament, appoint and employ such professional, scientific, technical or other officers or employees as it considers necessary for the purposes of this Act and may establish the terms and conditions of their employment and, in consultation with the Treasury Board, fix their remuneration.

• Marginal note:Delegation to President

  (2) The Commission may delegate to the President any of the powers conferred on it by subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Compensation

  (3) The members, officers and employees of the Commission are deemed to be employees for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and to be employed in the federal public administration for the purposes of any regulations made pursuant to section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.

Marginal note:Technical assistance

• 17 (1) The Commission may enter into contracts for the services of any persons having technical or specialized knowledge of any matter relating to the work of the Commission, to advise and assist the Commission in the exercise or performance of any of its powers, duties or functions under this Act, and those persons shall receive such payment for their services and such expenses as are fixed by the Commission.

• Marginal note:Delegation to President

  (2) The Commission may delegate to the President any of the powers conferred on it by subsection (1).

Civil Liability

Marginal note:Immunity

• 18 (1) No civil proceedings may be brought against any member or other person or authority acting on behalf or under the direction of the Commission for anything done, reported or said in good faith in the course of the exercise or performance or purported exercise or performance of any power, duty or function of the Commission under this Act or for any alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of any such power, duty or function.

• Marginal note:Immunity

  (2) No civil proceedings may be brought against any person or authority referred to in subsection 44(8) or (9) for anything done, reported or said in good faith in the course of the exercise or performance or purported exercise or performance of any power, duty or function of the Commission under this Act or for any alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of any such power, duty or function.

• Marginal note:Commission not relieved

  (3) Nothing in this section relieves the Commission of liability in respect of a tort or extracontractual civil liability to which the Commission would otherwise be subject.

Directives

Marginal note:Directive of Governor in Council

• 19 (1) The Governor in Council may, by order, issue to the Commission directives of general application on broad policy matters with respect to the objects of the Commission.

• Marginal note:Directives binding

  (2) An order made under this section is binding on the Commission.

• Marginal note:Publication and tabling

  (3) A copy of each order made under this section shall be

  • (a) published in the Canada Gazette; and

  • (b) laid before each House of Parliament.

Powers

Marginal note:Court of record

• 20 (1) The Commission is a court of record.

• Marginal note:Witnesses and records

  (2) The Commission has, with respect to the appearance, summoning and examination of witnesses, the production and inspection of records, the enforcement of its orders and other matters necessary or proper for the due exercise of its jurisdiction, all such powers, rights and privileges as are necessary to carry out the duties of the Commission or to enforce any order, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the power to

  • (a) issue a summons requiring a person

    • (i) to appear at the time and place stated in the summons to give evidence concerning any matter relevant to any subject-matter before the Commission, and

    • (ii) to produce, either before or at a hearing, such records and things as the Commission considers appropriate to the full investigation and consideration of matters within its jurisdiction; and

  • (b) administer oaths and examine any person under oath.

• Marginal note:Informal and expeditious

  (3) All proceedings before the Commission shall be dealt with as informally and expeditiously as the circumstances and considerations of fairness permit, but, in any case, within the prescribed period of time.

• Marginal note:Not bound by legal rules

  (4) The Commission is not bound by the legal rules of evidence and in particular may

  • (a) receive and accept such evidence and information on oath, by affidavit or otherwise, as in its discretion it considers appropriate; and

  • (b) refuse to accept any evidence that the Commission does not consider relevant or trustworthy.

• Marginal note:Control of subject-matter

  (5) Before conducting a proceeding, the Commission may

  • (a) stay or dismiss an application where the applicant is not in compliance with a term or condition of a licence or of any order made under this Act;

  • (b) determine the issues in respect of which it will receive evidence or hear argument; and

  • (c) exclude from consideration any matter on which it has rendered a decision.

• Marginal note:Control of proceedings

  (6) The Commission may take such measures as it considers necessary to maintain order during proceedings before it and in particular may limit the participation in the proceedings of, or eject from the proceedings, any person who disrupts the proceedings and, where the person is ejected, continue the proceedings in the person’s absence.

• Marginal note:Assistance of peace officers

  (7) A peace officer shall provide such assistance as the Commission or a member of the Commission may request for the purpose of maintaining order during proceedings before the Commission.

• Marginal note:Enforcement of orders of the Commission

  (8) Any decision or order of the Commission may, for the purpose of enforcement, be made a rule, order or decree of the Federal Court or of a superior court of a province and may be enforced in like manner as a rule, order or decree of that court.

• Marginal note:Procedure for enforcement

  (9) To make a decision or order of the Commission a rule, order or decree of the Federal Court or a superior court, the usual practice and procedure of the court in those matters may be followed, or the President may provide to the court a certified copy of the decision or order under the seal of the Commission and thereupon the decision or order becomes a rule, order or decree of the court.

Marginal note:Powers

• 21 (1) The Commission may, in order to attain its objects,

  • (a) enter into arrangements, including an arrangement to provide training, with any person, any department or agency of the Government of Canada or of a province, any regulatory agency or department of a foreign government or any international agency;

  • (b) establish and maintain programs to provide the Commission with scientific, technical and other advice and information;

  • (b.1) establish and maintain a participant funding program to facilitate the participation of the public in proceedings under this Act;

  • (c) establish, and fix the terms of reference of, advisory, standing and other committees;

  • (d) establish and maintain offices and laboratories;

  • (e) disseminate objective scientific, technical and regulatory information to the public concerning the activities of the Commission and the effects, on the environment or on the health or safety of persons, of the development, production or use of nuclear energy or the production, possession or use of a nuclear substance, prescribed equipment or prescribed information;

  • (f) provide, under an appropriate security classification, to any department or agency of a foreign government or international agency with which Canada or the Commission has entered into an arrangement for the provision of such information, information relating to the development, production or use of nuclear energy or the production, possession or use of a nuclear substance, prescribed equipment or prescribed information including, after obtaining such assurances as it considers necessary to protect any commercial interest, protected commercial information;

  • (g) charge any fees that may be prescribed for any information, product or service that it provides under this Act or for the participant funding program that it establishes and maintains under this Act;

  • (h) certify and decertify prescribed equipment for the purposes of this Act;

  • (i) certify and decertify persons referred to in paragraph 44(1)(k) as qualified to carry out their duties under this Act or the duties of their employment, as the case may be; and

  • (j) authorize the return to work of persons whose dose of radiation has or may have exceeded the prescribed radiation dose limits.

• Marginal note:Refund of fees

  (2) The Commission may, under the prescribed circumstances, refund all or part of any fee referred to in paragraph (1)(g).

• Marginal note:Expenditure of revenue from fees

  (3) The Commission may spend for its purposes the revenue from the fees it charges for licences or classes of licences issued under section 24 in the fiscal year in which the revenues are received or in the next fiscal year.

Panels

Marginal note:Establishment of panels

• 22 (1) The President may establish a panel of the Commission consisting of one or more members and, subject to subsection (3), the panel may, as directed by the President, exercise or perform any or all of the powers, duties and functions of the Commission.

• Marginal note:Act of a panel

  (2) An act of a panel is deemed to be an act of the Commission.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (3) A panel may not make by-laws or regulations or review a decision or order of the Commission.

Decision-Making

Marginal note:Decision-making by Commission

• 23 (1) The President or the presiding member shall not vote at a meeting of the Commission or a panel of the Commission, as the case may be, except that the President or presiding member has and shall cast the deciding vote in case of an equal division.

• Marginal note:Member ceasing to hold office

  (2) A person who has ceased to be a member may, with the authorization of the President and for such period as the President may fix, take part in the disposition of any matter in which that person became engaged while holding office as a member, and a person so authorized shall, for that purpose, be deemed to be a member of the Commission.

• Marginal note:Where member unable to act

  (3) Where any member has taken part in a matter and for any reason is unable to take part in the disposition of the matter, the remaining members who took part in the matter may, with the authorization of the President, make the disposition notwithstanding that the quorum may have been lost.

• Marginal note:Where one-member panel unable to act

  (4) Where a panel consists of one member and the member is at any time unable to dispose of a matter that is before the panel, the President may authorize another member to consider and dispose of the matter.