This archived statute consolidation is current to November 10, 1992 and includes changes enacted and in force by that date.

Trade Development Corporation Act

[SBC 1989] CHAPTER 17

Assented to June 1, 1989

Contents
Section
  1.  Interpretation
  2.  Corporation established
  3.  Powers and capacity
  4.  Purpose of the corporation
  5.  Officers and employees
  6.  Management
  7.  Borrowing powers
  8.  Investment
  9.  Financial administration
  10.  Superannuation
  11.  Benefits
  12.  Transfer of property
  13.  Application of other Acts
  14.  Confidentiality
  15.  Regulations
  16.  Commencement

Interpretation

1.  In this Act

"corporation" means the British Columbia Trade Development Corporation established by section 2;

"export enterprise" means a person who is or who the corporation considers will be involved in the export of British Columbia goods or services;

"officer" means the chair, the president or an officer appointed under section 5 (1).

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-1; 1992-77-21.

Corporation established

2.  (1) There is hereby established a corporation to be known as the British Columbia Trade Development Corporation consisting of a board of directors of not less than 15 and not more than 30 persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(2) The corporation may use the names "British Columbia Trade Development Corporation" or "B.C. Trade".

(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint

(a) one of the directors as chair of the board of directors and may designate him or her as chief executive officer of the corporation, and

(b) a person as president and may designate him or her as chief operating officer of the corporation.

(4) A member of the Executive Council or of the public service who is appointed as a director or officer of the corporation ceases to be a director or officer on ceasing to be a member of the Executive Council or of the public service.

(5) The corporation may pay a director

(a) reasonable travelling and incidental expenses necessarily incurred in attending the meetings of the corporation, and

(b) if the director is not a member of the Legislative Assembly or a public servant, remuneration at rates fixed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(6) The corporation shall have a corporate seal which may be engraved, lithographed, printed or otherwise mechanically reproduced.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-2; 1992-77-22.

Powers and capacity

3.  (1) The corporation is an agent of the Crown.

(2) The corporation has the power and capacity of a natural person of full capacity.

(3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (2), the corporation may, for the purposes of this Act,

(a) make grants to an export enterprise to facilitate the export and sale of its goods or services,

(b) lend money to an export enterprise on terms and conditions as to repayment or otherwise that the corporation considers advisable,

(c) guarantee the payment of a loan or part of it, or all or part of the interest on it, or both, made by another lender to an export enterprise,

(d) do anything referred to in section 5 (1) of the Insurance Act without being licensed under that Act,

(e) act as a trustee for the government, and

(f) do such other things as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize.

(4) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations is the fiscal agent of the corporation.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-3.

Purpose of the corporation

4.  (1) The purpose of the corporation is to encourage and facilitate the export of British Columbia goods and services and to foster within British Columbia the expertise necessary to ensure a strong legacy of economic growth.

(2) In addition to the general purpose of the corporation under subsection (1), it is also the purpose of the corporation

(a) to promote the sale of British Columbia goods and services to markets outside British Columbia,

(b) to assist export enterprises by providing advice and assistance on terms and conditions that the corporation considers advisable,

(c) to provide financing by way of loans to or purchase of shares of an export enterprise, on terms and conditions that the corporation considers advisable,

(d) to provide other financial and technical assistance to an export enterprise to assist the export enterprise in carrying out the objects of this Act,

(e) to act as agent for and provide assistance to the government in the administration or implementation of government programs relating to export enterprises, and

(f) to do such other things relating to export enterprises as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may require.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-4.

Officers and employees

5.  (1) The president, to the extent authorized by the directors, may appoint the other officers and employees considered necessary to carry on the business and operations of the corporation, and may define their duties, determine their remuneration and provide a system of organization to establish responsibility and promote efficiency.

(2) The Public Service Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act do not apply to the corporation or to a director, officer or employee of the corporation.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-5; 1992-77-23.

Management

6.  (1) The directors shall manage the affairs of the corporation or supervise the management of those affairs and may

(a) exercise the powers conferred on them under this Act,

(b) exercise the powers of the corporation on behalf of the corporation, and

(c) delegate the exercise or performance of any power or duty conferred or imposed on them to the executive committee appointed under subsection (2), to a person appointed under this Act or to a person employed by the corporation.

(2) The directors shall appoint an executive committee of the corporation that shall be composed of not more than 8 directors.

(3) The directors may pass the resolutions or bylaws they consider necessary or advisable for the management and conduct of the affairs of the corporation and for the exercise of their powers or performance of their duties including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, resolutions or bylaws respecting the calling and holding of meetings of the directors and the procedure to be followed at the meetings.

(4) A majority of the directors holding office constitutes a quorum at meetings of the directors, and the affirmative votes of the majority of the directors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present are sufficient to pass a resolution or bylaw of the corporation.

(5) A resolution under this section approved by the required number of directors by telex, telegraph, facsimile transmission, telephone or any other similar means of communication confirmed in writing or other graphic communication, is as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the directors properly called and constituted.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-6; 1992-77-24.

Borrowing powers

7.  Subject to the regulations, the corporation, for the purpose of carrying out any of the objects or powers referred to in this Act or for the exercise or performance of any power, right, function or duty conferred or imposed on it under this or any other Act, may borrow money from the government and may issue notes, bonds, debentures and other securities bearing interest at the rates prescribed and payable as to principal and interest in the currencies, at the places, at the times and in the manner approved by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-7.

Investment

8.  Money received by the corporation may be invested by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations in investments permitted under section 36 (2) of the Financial Administration Act for money in a trust fund.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-8.

Financial administration

9.  (1) The corporation shall establish and maintain an accounting system satisfactory to the minister and shall, whenever required by him, render detailed accounts of its revenues and expenditures for the period or to the day he designates.

(2) All books or records of account, documents and other financial records shall at all times be open for inspection by the minister or a person he designates.

(3) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations may direct the Comptroller General to examine and report to the Treasury Board on any or all of the financial and accounting operations of the corporation.

(4) The accounts of the corporation shall, at least once in every year, be audited and reported on by an auditor appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and the costs of the audit shall be paid by the corporation.

(5) The corporation shall prepare for the minister, after the end of the fiscal year of the corporation,

(a) a report of the corporation on its operations for the preceding fiscal year, and

(b) a financial statement showing the assets and liabilities of the corporation at the end of the preceding fiscal year and the operations of the corporation for that year in the form required by the minister.

(6) The financial statement referred to in subsection (5) shall be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

(7) The Financial Information Act applies to the corporation.

(8) The fiscal year of the corporation is a period of 12 months beginning on April 1 in each year and ending on March 31 in the next succeeding year.

(9) The report and financial statement referred to in subsection (5) shall be laid before the Legislative Assembly within 90 days next following the end of the fiscal year for which the report and statement are made if the Legislative Assembly is then sitting, otherwise within 15 days after the opening of the next following session.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-9.

Superannuation

10.  (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may designate all or any of the persons appointed under this Act as employees under the Pension (Public Service) Act.

(2) A person designated under subsection (1) shall be deemed to be an employee for the purposes of the Pension (Public Service) Act and the corporation shall be deemed to be the employer of the person for the purposes of that Act.

(3) In calculating the amount of a superannuation allowance for the chair, each year of service as chair shall be counted as 1 1/2 years of pensionable service.

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to the calculation under section 6 (5) of the Pension (Public Service) Act.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-10; 1992-77-25.

Benefits

11.  The Public Service Benefit Plan Act applies to the officers and employees of the corporation.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-11.

Transfer of property

12.  For the purposes of this Act, the minister may designate property of the government that shall be disposed of to the corporation.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-12.

Application of other Acts

13.  (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Company Act and the Company Clauses Act do not apply to the corporation.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may by order declare that certain provisions of the Company Act apply to the corporation.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-13.

Confidentiality

14.  No director, officer or employee of the corporation shall disclose information obtained under this Act except to the extent necessary for carrying out the corporation's purposes or as required by law.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-14.

Regulations

15.  The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-15.

Commencement

16.  This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Historical Note(s): 1989-17-16.

[Editorial Note(s): Act effective June 1, 1989 (B.C. Reg. 148/89).]