Definitions and interpretation

1   (1) In this Act:

"annual operating agreement" means an agreement made pursuant to a transit service agreement, respecting the provision and maintenance of transit services with provisions respecting fares, level of service, Provincial and municipal contributions, proportionate administrative charges of the authority and other matters the Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe;

"authority" means British Columbia Transit continued under this Act;

"board" means the board of directors of the authority;

"commission" means a transit commission established under this Act;

"commuter rail service" means a public passenger transportation system, operated by the authority or under an operating agreement, for the transportation of passengers by railway;

"custom transit services" means public passenger transportation services for groups designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council;

"funding obligation" means, in respect of the annual cost of funding the public passenger transportation system in a regional transit service area represented by a regional transit commission, the portion of that annual cost that is, under section 12, to be contributed by the commission;

"local transit service area" means the local transit service area established under section 25;

"municipality" includes a regional district or part of a regional district;

"net taxable value", in relation to land and improvements within the treaty lands of a treaty first nation or Nisg̱a'a Lands, means the net taxable value of the land and improvements within the treaty lands or Nisg̱a'a Lands determined for regional hospital district purposes as if the Assessment Act, the Hospital District Act and the Taxation (Rural Area) Act apply for the purposes of the assessment and taxation of those lands and improvements;

"operating agreement" means an agreement, made between the authority and a person designated by the minister, respecting the operation by that person of a public passenger transportation system;

"public passenger transportation system" means a public system for the transportation of passengers by any means that is operated in one or both of a municipality and a regional transit service area

(a) under an annual operating agreement,

(b) under an operating agreement, or

(c) by the authority

and includes a rail transit system, a custom transit service and a commuter rail service;

"rail transit system" means a public system for transportation of passengers and goods by railway;

"regional transit service area" means a regional transit service area established under section 25;

"transit service agreement" means an agreement for not less than 5 years between the authority and a municipality, or between the authority and a regional district, respecting the provision and maintenance of transit services in a transit service area by means of annual operating agreements;

"transit services" means those services and facilities necessary for the establishment, maintenance and operation of a public passenger transportation system.

(2) If the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers that a rail transit system has begun service and is producing revenue, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the authority, order that on a date the Lieutenant Governor in Council specifies, the rail transit system is a public passenger transportation system for all purposes under this Act.

Authority continued

2   (1) British Columbia Transit is continued as a corporation, consisting of the persons referred to in section 4.

(2) The Business Corporations Act does not apply to the authority, but the Lieutenant Governor in Council may order that one or more provisions of that Act apply to the authority.

(3) The minister must determine the location of the head office of the authority.

(4) The authority must hold its annual meeting not later than May 30 in each year.

(5) The authority is an agent of the government.

Purposes and objects of authority

3   (1) The purposes and objects of the authority are

(a) to plan, acquire, construct or cause to be constructed public passenger transportation systems and rail transit systems that support regional growth strategies, official community plans and the economic development of the transit service areas,

(b) to provide for the maintenance and operation of those systems, and

(c) with the approval of the minister, to pursue commercial opportunities and undertake or enter into commercial ventures in respect of those systems and the authority's assets and resources.

(2) To carry out its purposes and objects, the authority must do the following:

(a) in accordance with section 25, establish and designate local and regional transit service areas;

(b) in accordance with section 25, establish local and regional transit commissions;

(c) consult with a municipality in a local transit service area with a view to providing transit services;

(d) establish annual operating budgets and capital budgets for each public passenger transportation system and rail transit system under this Act after consultation with the local and regional transit commissions, municipalities and regional districts affected by the public passenger transportation system or rail transit system;

(e) review all annual operating agreements to ensure that they are consistent with the approved budgets and with the general policy of the authority;

(f) for each regional transit service area, provide the transit services and maintain and operate the public passenger transportation system and rail transit system consistent with the approved budgets and with the general policy of the authority;

(g) recommend to the Lieutenant Governor in Council the formulas by which a municipality or regional transit commission may exercise the powers under sections 14 (1) (b) and 15 (2) (b) or (c).

(3) and (4) [Repealed 1998-30-52.]

Board of directors

4   (1) The board of directors consists of directors appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council to hold office during pleasure, and the Lieutenant Governor in Council must appoint, as directors,

(a) 2 individuals who are members of the regional transit commission for the greater Victoria metropolitan area established under section 25,

(b) 2 individuals each of whom is

(i) a mayor of a municipality that has a transit service agreement, or

(ii) a chair of a regional district that has a transit service agreement, and

(c) 3 other individuals.

(1.1) No act or proceeding of the directors is invalid merely because of there being in office less than the number of directors required by this section.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council must appoint from among the directors a chair of the board to hold office during pleasure and must fix the salary to be paid to the chair.

(3) The directors must appoint a chief executive officer of the authority and must establish the terms and conditions of the chief executive officer's employment.

(4) The directors must supervise the management of the affairs of the authority and may, unless otherwise provided in this Act, by resolution

(a) establish a plan of organization to carry out the powers of the authority,

(b) exercise the powers and duties of the authority under this Act,

(c) exercise the powers and duties conferred on them by this Act,

(d) delegate the exercise of a power of the authority to a person employed by the authority,

(e) establish rules for the conduct of their affairs and of any committee of directors, and

(f) appoint from their number committees and delegate to those committees any of the powers of the directors, except the powers of delegation and appointment given by paragraph (d) and this paragraph.

(5) A director must be reimbursed by the authority for reasonable travelling and out of pocket expenses necessarily incurred by the director in the discharge of the director's duties, and may be paid a director's fee in an amount approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Employees

5   (1) The chief executive officer may employ or retain persons necessary for the business and operations of the authority and for the functioning of the board, may define their duties and, subject to the regulations, may determine their remuneration.

(2) The Public Service Act and the Public Service Labour Relations Act do not apply to the authority or to its officers and employees.

(3) The Public Service Benefit Plan Act applies to the authority and to its officers and employees.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), the Public Service Pension Plan, continued under the Public Sector Pension Plans Act, applies to the authority and to the officers and employees of the authority.

(5) The amounts payable by the authority as the employer's contribution under the Public Service Pension Plan must be reduced by the amounts determined by the trustee of the pension fund under that plan to have been paid by the authority to the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority Pension Plan under the agreement entered into under section 7 (3) of the Metro Transit Operating Company Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 257, as reimbursement for the cost of increases in the pension benefits received under that Plan.

Management

6   (1) Every collective agreement between the authority and a trade union is deemed to provide that it is the function of the authority, subject to the provisions of the collective agreement, to manage the authority's affairs.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), "manage the authority's affairs" includes, without limitation, the right to determine

(a) the employment, complement and organization of employees necessary to carry on the business and operations of the authority, and

(b) the work methods and procedures applicable in the provision of transit services.

Authority not to be treated as one employer

7   For the purposes of the Labour Relations Code, the authority must not be treated as one employer with any corporation, individual, firm, syndicate or association with whom it contracts for the provision of transit services under this Act.

Powers of authority

8   (1) The authority has the capacity and, subject to this Act, the rights, powers and privileges of a natural person necessary to carry out its purposes and objects, and, without limiting the generality of this, the authority

(a) may plan, acquire, construct or cause to be constructed, maintain and operate public passenger transportation systems and rail transit systems,

(b) may acquire and dispose of property,

(c) may enter into contracts necessary for the purposes of this Act,

(d) may exercise within a municipality in or through which a rail transit system is planned, acquired, constructed or caused to be constructed, maintained or operated all the powers that a municipality authorized to lay out, construct and maintain highways may exercise in carrying out that authorization,

(e) has, for the purposes of planning, acquiring, constructing, causing to be constructed, maintaining and operating a rail transit system on a highway in a municipality,

(i) all the rights, powers and advantages conferred by any enactment on that municipality with respect to that highway, and

(ii) the right to enjoy and exercise any right of way, easement or licence owned, enjoyed or exercised by that municipality in connection with or for the purposes of its operation of that highway,

and the authority may exercise those rights, powers and advantages and enjoy and exercise that right of way, easement or licence in the same manner and to the same extent as the municipality might have done if the highway or part of the highway had not become part of a rail transit system,

(f) may determine the date on which a rail transit system or any part of a rail transit system has begun service, and

(g) may set the annual operating budgets and capital budgets for each public passenger transportation system under this Act, including the budgets for each local and regional transit commission, after consultation with the local and regional transit commissions, municipalities and regional districts affected by the public passenger transportation system.

(2) Despite the Community Charter, the Local Government Act or the Vancouver Charter, a municipality may, by bylaw, without the approval of the electors or the assent of the electors, enter into an agreement with the authority necessary for the purposes of this Act.

(3) If a municipality fails or refuses to enter into an agreement that the authority considers necessary for the purposes of this Act, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the authority, establish the contents of the agreement and order that it be binding on the parties named in it.

(4) Despite any other Act, on the making of an order under subsection (3), the persons named in it as parties are bound by the agreement.

(5) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the authority, order a regional district to undertake, vary or terminate a transit function, and, despite the Local Government Act, grant to or limit or impose conditions on the objects, functions, obligations, powers and duties of a regional district to the extent considered necessary to implement the order.

(6) [Repealed 1999-37-216.]

(7) Despite any other Act, section 33 of the Community Charter, section 292 of the Local Government Act and section 541 of the Vancouver Charter do not apply in respect of land affected by the planning, acquisition, construction, maintenance or operation of a rail transit system under this Act or in respect of the exercise of any power of a municipality that in any way relates to the rail transit system.

(8) Despite any other Act, the authority and a municipality may enter into agreements with each other and the government of Canada for the purposes of this Act.

(9) Despite any provision of this Act or any other enactment, the authority may own, acquire and dispose of property that is located in, or is being employed in, the transportation service region as defined in the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act.

Repealed

8.1   [Repealed 2015-12-14.]

Expropriation of property

9   Subject to the Expropriation Act, the authority may expropriate any land that the authority considers necessary for its purposes.

Financial and property arrangements

10   (1) The government may, out of money appropriated by the Legislature for the purpose, grant to the authority on terms and conditions it considers appropriate the amounts required to enable the authority to carry out its powers under this Act.

(2) The government may dispose of to the authority or to a corporation carrying on the business of a public passenger transportation system that part of the government's property relating to a public passenger transportation system that the government considers appropriate.

Cost sharing in municipality

11   (1) If a public passenger transportation system is operated in a municipality under an annual operating agreement, the authority and the municipality must, if required by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, contribute, as prescribed, a portion of the annual cost of providing the transit services under the annual operating agreement.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe

(a) classes of expenses, including the annual operating costs of the authority and including the amounts required to amortize capital expenditures under the transit service agreement between the authority and the municipality, that must be taken into account in determining the annual cost of the public passenger transportation system referred to in subsection (1), and

(b) the portions of the annual cost to be contributed by the authority and the municipality under subsection (1) and, for that purpose, may prescribe that the authority or the municipality must pay none or all or different portions of the prescribed classes of expenses.

Cost sharing in regional transit service area

12   (1) If a public passenger transportation system is operated in a regional transit service area, the authority and the regional transit commission must, if required by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, contribute, as prescribed, a portion of the annual cost of providing the transit services in the area.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe

(a) classes of expenses, including the annual operating costs of the authority and including the amounts required to amortize capital expenditures, that must be taken into account in determining the annual cost of the public passenger transportation system referred to in subsection (1), and

(b) the portions of the annual cost to be contributed by the authority and the regional transit commission under subsection (1) and, for that purpose, may prescribe that the authority or the commission must pay none or all or different portions of the prescribed classes of expenses.

Cost sharing for commuter rail service

13   (1) If a commuter rail service is operated in part in a municipality and in part in a regional transit service area, the authority, the municipality and the regional transit commission must, if required by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, contribute, as prescribed, a portion of the annual cost of providing that commuter rail service.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe

(a) classes of expenses that must be taken into account in determining the annual cost of the commuter rail service referred to in subsection (1), and

(b) the portions of the annual cost to be contributed by the authority, the municipality and the regional transit commission under subsection (1) and, for that purpose, may prescribe that the authority, the municipality or the commission must pay none or all or different portions of the prescribed classes of expenses.

(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, in respect of a commuter rail service referred to in subsection (1), make regulations as follows:

(a) establishing service and performance standards for that service;

(b) prescribing the fares that are to be charged to users of that service.

(4) An operating agreement respecting a commuter rail service must include provisions

(a) establishing service and performance standards for that service, and

(b) establishing the fares that are to be charged to users of that service.

(5) An operating agreement referred to in subsection (4) becomes effective when approved by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Fund raising by municipal tax levies

14   (0.1) This section does not apply in relation to the treaty lands of a treaty first nation or Nisg̱a'a Lands.

(1) If a municipality is required under section 11 or 13 to contribute a prescribed portion of the annual cost of operating a public passenger transportation system, the municipality must

(a) impose a tax, sufficient to meet the portion to be contributed by it based on the estimated annual cost less the estimated annual revenue from the public passenger transportation system accruing to the municipality, on the net taxable value of land and improvements in the local transit service area covered by the annual operating agreement, other than land and improvements that are taxable for school purposes only by special Act, or

(b) if the government has, on the recommendation of the municipality or otherwise, amended the Motor Fuel Tax Act to provide a tax under that Act for the raising of revenue for municipal purposes under this Act, with the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council,

(i) impose the tax under paragraph (a) of this subsection, or

(ii) dispense with the tax under paragraph (a), or impose a lesser tax than that required under paragraph (a), and apply to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to raise the balance of the prescribed portion in accordance with the tax available under the Motor Fuel Tax Act.

(2) The tax imposed under subsection (1) (a) or (b) must be equal to the net taxable value of land and improvements subject to the tax multiplied by the applicable rate that the municipality may impose, and section 18 and the regulations made under that section apply to the imposition of the rates under this section.

(3) The definitions of "land" and "improvements" in the Assessment Act apply.

(4) A bylaw may not be adopted under this section after March 31 in any year without the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Fund raising by regional transit commission tax levy

15   (1) In this section:

"commission contribution amount" means, in respect of a regional transit commission that is required under section 12 or 13 to contribute a portion of the annual cost of a public passenger transportation system, the portion to be contributed by the commission based on the estimated annual cost less the estimated annual revenue accruing to the commission from the public passenger transportation system;

"improvements" means improvements as defined in the Assessment Act;

"land" means land as defined in the Assessment Act.

(2) If a regional transit commission is required under section 12 or 13 to contribute a portion of the annual cost of a public passenger transportation system, the commission must do one of the following:

(a) prescribe, by regulation, a tax on the net taxable value of land and improvements in the regional transit service area, other than land and improvements that are taxable for school purposes only by special Act, which tax is sufficient to generate the commission contribution amount;

(b) prescribe, by regulation, a lesser tax than that required under paragraph (a) of this subsection and raise the balance of the commission contribution amount in accordance with section 12.1 of the Motor Fuel Tax Act;

(c) dispense with the tax under paragraph (a) of this subsection and raise the commission contribution amount in accordance with section 12.1 of the Motor Fuel Tax Act.

(2.1) Despite subsection (2), a regional transit commission may, under that subsection, raise more or less than the commission contribution amount in a fiscal year if

(a) any amount raised in that fiscal year that is in excess of the commission contribution amount is deposited in the fund created under subsection (2.2), or

(b) any shortfall that results from raising less than the commission contribution amount in that fiscal year is, subject to subsection (2.3), covered from that fund.

(2.2) A regional transit commission may establish and retain a fund for the purposes of this section.

(2.3) A regional transit commission must ensure that any fund created by it under subsection (2.2) does not have a negative balance at the end of any fiscal year.

(3) The tax prescribed under subsection (2) (a) or (b) must be equal to the net taxable value of the land and improvements subject to the tax multiplied by the applicable rate that the regional transit commission may prescribe, and section 18 and the regulations made under that section apply to the prescribing of the rates under this section.

(3.1) Despite subsection (2), if a regional transit service area includes the treaty lands of a treaty first nation or Nisg̱a'a Lands and the regional transit commission prescribes a tax under that subsection for a taxation year, the commission, instead of prescribing a tax to be collected in relation to land and improvements within the treaty lands or Nisg̱a'a Lands, must do the following, as applicable:

(a) apply the applicable tax rate prescribed under subsection (3) to the net taxable value of the land and improvements within the treaty lands to determine the amount that would have been prescribed in relation to the land and improvements if a tax were prescribed in relation to those lands and improvements;

(b) apply the applicable tax rate prescribed under subsection (3) to the net taxable value of the land and improvements within Nisg̱a'a Lands to determine the amount that would have been prescribed in relation to the land and improvements if a tax were prescribed in relation to those lands and improvements.

(4) A regulation may not be made under this section after March 31 in any year without the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(5) On or before May 1 in each year, the regional transit commission must

(a) send to the collector in each municipality and to the Surveyor of Taxes a notice setting out the following:

(i) the boundaries of the regional transit service area;

(ii) the amount to be raised by taxation under this section in the appropriate municipality or rural area;

(iii) the rates prescribed by the regional transit commission under subsection (3),

(b) if the regional transit service area includes treaty lands of a treaty first nation, send to the treaty first nation a requisition for the amount determined for the treaty first nation under subsection (3.1) (a) and a notice setting out the following:

(i) the boundaries of the regional transit service area;

(ii) the rates prescribed by the regional transit commission under subsection (3), and

(c) if the regional transit service area includes Nisg̱a'a Lands, send to the Nisg̱a'a Nation a requisition for the amount determined for the Nisg̱a'a Nation under subsection (3.1) (b) and a notice setting out the following:

(i) the boundaries of the regional transit service area;

(ii) the rates prescribed by the regional transit commission under subsection (3).

(6) The British Columbia Assessment Authority must, at the direction of the regional transit commission, certify and send to the regional transit commission and the authority the net taxable values of land and improvements, for the current year, in respect of which tax may be prescribed under subsection (2) or an amount determined under subsection (3.1), as applicable, for

(a) each municipality or rural area located in the regional transit service area,

(b) treaty lands of each treaty first nation located in the regional transit service area, and

(c) land within Nisg̱a'a Lands located in the regional transit service area.

Collection of taxes

16   (1) The municipality or the Surveyor of Taxes, as the case may be, must collect the taxes under section 15 in a municipality or rural area, as the case may be, if the taxes were prescribed by a regional transit commission under that section.

(2) In each year in which a regional transit commission prescribes taxes under section 15, the municipality or the Surveyor of Taxes, as the case may be, must pay to the authority

(a) instalments as prescribed in the regulations, and

(b) by December 31 of the year that the taxes were prescribed, all of the taxes prescribed under section 15, whether or not they have been collected.

(3) In addition to any money payable to the authority under subsection (2), if in any year (the "grant year") a grant in place of taxes for land and improvements in a municipality or rural area in the regional transit service area is received by the collector of the municipality or by the Surveyor of Taxes from

(a) the government of Canada under the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act (Canada),

(b) a corporation included in Schedule III or IV of the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act (Canada), or

(c) a public body as defined in section 1 of the Financial Administration Act,

the municipality or the Surveyor of Taxes, as the case may be, must pay to the authority, on or before February 1 in the following year, the amount determined by the following formula:

Repealed

17   [Repealed 1998-30-59.]

Exemptions for treaty lands of treaty first nations and Nisg̱a'a Lands

17.1   (1) For the purposes of determining the rates under section 15 (3) and the amount of a requisition referred to in section 15 (5) (b), the following property within the treaty lands of a treaty first nation must, subject to this section, be treated as if it were exempt:

(a) property of a treaty first nation member or treaty first nation constituent, as applicable under the treaty first nation's final agreement, that is exempt under the law of the treaty first nation from property taxation by the treaty first nation;

(b) property that is exempt under the treaty first nation's final agreement from property taxation;

(c) property that is exempt under a tax treatment agreement of the treaty first nation from property taxation under this Act;

(d) property that would be exempt under Division 6 of Part 7 of the Community Charter from property taxation if that Division applied;

(e) property that

(i) would be permitted to be exempt under Division 7 of Part 7 of the Community Charter from property taxation if that Division applied, and

(ii) is exempt under a law of the treaty first nation made under Part 2 of the Treaty First Nation Property Taxation Enabling Act from property taxation.

(2) For the purposes of determining the rates under section 15 (3) and the amount of a requisition referred to in section 15 (5) (c), the following property within Nisg̱a'a Lands must be treated as if it were exempt:

(a) property of a Nisg̱a'a citizen that is exempt under Nisg̱a'a laws from property taxation by the Nisg̱a'a Lisims Government;

(b) property that is exempt under the Nisg̱a'a Final Agreement from property taxation;

(c) property that, under the Taxation Agreement as defined in section 6.1 of the Nisg̱a'a Final Agreement Act, is exempt from property taxation under this Act;

(d) property that would be exempt under Division 6 of Part 7 of the Community Charter from property taxation if that Division applied;

(e) property that

(i) would be permitted to be exempt under Division 7 of Part 7 of the Community Charter from property taxation if that Division applied, and

(ii) is exempt under a Nisg̱a'a law made under Part 3 of the Nisg̱a'a Final Agreement Act from property taxation.

Variable tax rate system

18   (1) In this section:

"property class" means a class of property prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under section 19 of the Assessment Act;

"variable tax rate system" means a system under which individual tax rates are determined and imposed for each property class.

(2) If the council of a municipality imposes a tax under section 14 or if a regional transit commission prescribes a tax under section 15 (2), the council or regional transit commission must adopt a variable tax rate system.

(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, in respect of the variable tax rate system, make regulations

(a) prescribing limits on tax rates,

(b) prescribing relationships between tax rates,

(c) prescribing formulas for calculating the limits or relationships referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b),

(d) allowing the minister under prescribed circumstances to vary, by order, the limits, relationships or formulas established under paragraph (a), (b) or (c), and

(e) establishing regions within which different limits, relationships or formulas may be prescribed.

Levy and collection of property taxes

19   (1) Subject to this Act and the Assessment Act, all of the provisions of the Community Charter, the Local Government Act and the Taxation (Rural Area) Act apply to the following in the same manner as taxes imposed under those Acts:

(a) the assessment, levy, collection and recovery of taxes imposed or prescribed under either of sections 14 and 15 of this Act in a municipality or rural area, as the case may be;

(b) the addition of penalties and interest on the taxes that are in arrears or are delinquent.

(2) The collector of each municipality or the Surveyor of Taxes, as the case may be, must prepare and mail a notice, setting out the tax payable, to each person named on the real property tax roll or assessment roll who is liable as the assessed owner for taxes under either of sections 14 and 15.

(3) A notice under subsection (2) must form part of the taxation notice for raising money for other purposes, and a separate notice must not be prepared and rendered solely in respect of taxes under this Act.

(4) A notice referred to in subsection (2) must set out a total amount of taxes levied under this Act in respect of each property on which they have been levied.

(5) Each taxation notice must conform with any applicable specifications prescribed under the Community Charter, the Local Government Act or the Taxation (Rural Area) Act and must provide the details and particulars of the taxes as required under those Acts.

(5.1) Despite subsection (2), the collector of each municipality or the Surveyor of Taxes, as the case may be, may provide a notice to a taxpayer other than by mail, in accordance with any applicable legislation.

(6) Sections 130, 131, 131.01 and 132 of the School Act apply for assessment and taxation under this Act.

Repealed

20   [Repealed 1998-30-62.]

Repealed

21   [Repealed 1998-30-63.]

Municipal borrowing authority

22   A municipality may, by bylaw, borrow money for the purpose of meeting its obligations under this Act for capital expenditures in respect of public passenger transportation services in the municipality in accordance with the Community Charter or the Local Government Act, as applicable.

Financial administration

23   (1) The authority must establish and maintain an accounting system satisfactory to the minister, and must, whenever required by the minister, render detailed accounts of the authority's revenues and expenditures for the period or to the day the minister may designate.

(2) All records of account and other financial records must at all times be open for inspection by the minister or other person the minister may designate.

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

(4) Unless the Auditor General is appointed in accordance with the Auditor General Act as the auditor of the authority, the authority must appoint, with the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, an auditor to audit the accounts of the authority at least once each year.

(4.1) The costs of the audit referred to in subsection (4) must be paid by the authority.

(5) As soon as possible, but within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year of the authority, the authority must prepare for the minister, in the form required by the minister,

(a) an annual report of the authority on its operations for the preceding fiscal year, and

(b) a financial statement showing the assets and liabilities of the authority and of a corporation incorporated or acquired as provided under this Act at the end of the preceding fiscal year.

(6) The report and financial statement referred to in subsection (5) must be laid before the Legislative Assembly within 15 days after its receipt by the minister if the Legislative Assembly is then sitting, otherwise within 15 days after the beginning of the next following sitting.

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

(8) The fiscal year end of the authority is March 31.

One fund

24   (1) All funds, including borrowings, income and revenue that come into the hands of the authority, whether as agent, trustee, owner or otherwise, form one fund out of which the authority must pay all expenditures necessary for its purposes, and the authority must account for the fund and all payments out of the fund in its annual report.

(2) The authority may invest or lend some or all of the funds not otherwise required for the purposes of the authority in investments or loans authorized by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

Establishment of transit service areas and commissions

25   (1) For the purposes of this Act, the authority may establish local and regional transit service areas that it considers necessary, each of which may contain all of, part of or more than one regional district.

(1.1) The authority may enter into transit service agreements with municipalities or regional districts for the establishment of public passenger transportation systems within a transit service area.

(1.2) If the authority has not established a transit commission under subsection (2) for a particular transit service area, a municipality or regional district, as the case may be, in that transit service area must review and make recommendations to the authority respecting the annual operating and capital budgets for each public passenger transportation system in that transit service area.

(2) The authority may establish local and regional transit commissions to represent transit service areas designated by the authority, and must provide clerical and technical employees necessary to enable a commission to carry out its purposes and objects.

(3) A local transit commission consists of not fewer than 5 members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council from among persons holding elected office on a municipal council or regional district board.

(4) A regional transit commission consists of not fewer than 7 members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council from among persons holding elected office on a municipal council or regional district board.

(5) The minister must designate the chair of each regional transit commission.

(6) [Repealed 1998-30-65.]

(7) The following persons must be appointed under subsection (4) as members of the regional transit commission for the greater Victoria metropolitan area:

(a) the Mayor of Victoria;

(b) a Victoria councillor;

(c) the Mayor of Esquimalt or Oak Bay;

(d) the Mayor of Saanich;

(e) a Saanich councillor;

(f) one of the following:

(i) the Mayor of Sidney;

(ii) the Mayor of North Saanich;

(iii) the Mayor of Central Saanich;

(g) one of the following:

(i) the Mayor of Colwood;

(ii) the Mayor of Metchosin;

(iii) the Mayor of View Royal;

(iv) the Mayor of Langford;

(v) the Mayor of the Highlands;

(vi) the Mayor of Sooke;

(vii) the electoral area director of the Juan de Fuca electoral area.

(8) Each member must be appointed during pleasure.

(9) If a person appointed under this section ceases to hold elected office on a municipal council or regional district board, the person's appointment under this section is terminated.

(10) Each member must be reimbursed by the authority for reasonable travelling and out of pocket expenses necessarily incurred by the member in discharging the member's duties, and may be paid a fee in an amount approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(11) A local transit commission must

(a) prepare plans and, consistent with operating and capital budgets set by the authority, determine service and performance standards for each public passenger transportation system in the transit service area for which it is designated in consultation with municipal officials, operators of public passenger transportation systems and the public in the local transit service area,

(b) review and make recommendations to the authority respecting the budget of the commission, the annual operating and capital budgets for and the annual operating agreements of each public passenger transportation system in the designated transit service area, and

(c) monitor the service provided by each public passenger transportation system in the local transit service area and report and make recommendations to the authority with respect to the standards of service and the performance of each public passenger transportation system.

(12) A regional transit commission must

(a) prepare plans and, consistent with the operating and capital budgets set by the authority, set fares and determine service and performance standards for each public passenger transportation system in the regional transit service area for which it is designated in consultation with municipal officials and the public in the regional transit service area,

(b) review and make recommendations to the authority respecting the budget of the commission and the annual operating and capital budgets for each public passenger transportation system in the designated regional transit service area, and

(c) exercise its powers and perform its duties under section 15.

Power to exempt

26   (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may exempt any corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by the government, in relation to its construction or acquisition of a rail transit system or its operation of a public passenger transportation system, from

(a) taxation and payment of fees under the Community Charter, the Local Government Act, the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District Act or the Vancouver Charter, except with respect to the taxation of real property, or

(b) provisions of the Passenger Transportation Act respecting the imposition of fees and requirements to be licensed.

(2) Despite subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may exempt a person the Lieutenant Governor in Council specifies from liability, under the Assessment Authority Act, the School Act, the Police Act, the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act, the Hospital District Act, the Municipal Finance Authority Act, the Community Charter, the Local Government Act, the Vancouver Charter and this Act, to taxation of land and improvements that the Lieutenant Governor in Council designates as owned or used by that person for the purpose of the construction, acquisition or operation of a commuter rail service or the Advanced Light Rapid Transit system.

Loans by the government

27   With the prior approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the Minister of Finance may, without an appropriation other than this section, lend money to the authority from the consolidated revenue fund on the terms and conditions and on the security the Lieutenant Governor in Council requires.

Borrowing powers

28   (1) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the authority, for the purpose of carrying out any of the objects or powers referred to in this Act or for the exercise of any power, right, function or duty conferred or imposed on it under this or any other Act, may borrow the sums of money it considers necessary or advisable and may, through the Minister of Finance, issue notes, bonds, debentures and other securities bearing interest at the rates and payable as to principal and interest in the currencies, at the places, at the times and in the manner the Lieutenant Governor in Council determines.

(2) The board of directors may, by resolution, delegate any of their powers or the powers of the authority under this section to any director or officer of the authority.

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

(4) The securities of the authority may be made redeemable in advance of maturity at the times and at the prices the Lieutenant Governor in Council determines at the time the securities are issued.

(5) A recital or a declaration in a resolution of the authority authorizing the issue of securities, to the effect that the issue of the securities authorized under subsection (1) is being made for the purposes of the authority and that the amount is necessary to realize the net sum required for those purposes, is conclusive evidence of the fact.

(6) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the authority, on terms considered necessary or advisable, may do any of the following:

(a) dispose of the securities of the authority, either at par value or at less or more than par value;

(b) charge, pledge, hypothecate, deposit or otherwise deal with the securities as collateral security.

(7) The securities of the authority must be in the form determined by the board of directors, subject to the approval of the Minister of Finance.

(8) The securities, other than notes, must bear the seal of the authority and, together with any coupons attached, must bear the signatures in writing of

(a) the chair and another director or officer, or

(b) other directors or officers as the authority may determine.

(9) The board may provide that the seal of the authority may be engraved, lithographed, printed or otherwise mechanically reproduced on any security to which it is to be affixed.

(10) The seal of the authority when so mechanically reproduced has the same effect as if manually affixed, and the mechanically reproduced signature is for all purposes valid and binding on the authority, even though the person whose signature is so reproduced has ceased to hold office before the date of the security or before its issue.

(11) The Minister of Finance is the fiscal agent of the authority and may arrange all details and do, transact and execute all deeds, matters and things that are required during the negotiation of a loan or for the purpose of placing a loan.

(12) Money raised under this section must be paid by the authority into the fund referred to in section 24.

Government guarantee

29   (1) The government may, on terms the Lieutenant Governor in Council approves, guarantee the payment of principal and interest on, and the performance of an obligation to pay money under, the securities issued by the authority.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize the Minister of Finance, or an officer of the Ministry of Finance, to sign the guarantee on behalf of the government.

(3) The signature of a person authorized under subsection (2) on a guarantee is conclusive proof that this section has been complied with.

(4) The guarantee, in the form the Lieutenant Governor in Council approves, may be endorsed on the securities issued by the authority and the signature of the person authorized to sign the guarantee may be reproduced by engraving, lithographing, printing or other means.

(5) The reproduced signature of a person referred to in subsection (4) is deemed, for all purposes, to be the signature of that person and is binding on the government even though

(a) the person whose signature is reproduced did not hold office at the date of the securities or at the date of their delivery, or

(b) the person who holds office at the date the signature is affixed is not the person who holds that office at the date of the securities or at the date of their delivery.

(6) Money required to be paid by the government under a guarantee given under this section must be paid out of the consolidated revenue fund without an appropriation other than this Act.

Guarantees respecting leases

30   (1) The government may, on terms approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, guarantee payments of the authority under a lease made by or to the authority.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may authorize the Minister of Finance, or an officer of the Ministry of Finance to sign the guarantee on behalf of the government.

(3) The signature of a person authorized under subsection (2) on a guarantee is conclusive proof that this section has been complied with.

(4) Money required to be paid by the government under a guarantee given under this section must be paid out of the consolidated revenue fund without an appropriation other than this Act.

Loan and guarantee limit

31   The amount of money lent to or borrowed by the authority or guaranteed by the government under this Act must not exceed $0.5 billion in total.

Power to make regulations

32   (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:

(a) for the safety, good order and convenience of the public in the operation, use and control of any property by the authority in respect of a public passenger transportation system or rail transit system;

(b) limiting and prohibiting access by any person to property occupied by the authority, or to any public passenger transportation system or rail transit system;

(c) designating transit tariff zones for any public passenger transportation system or rail transit system and the levying and collecting of tariffs or fares from persons using any of those systems;

(d) limiting and prohibiting the carriage of goods or animals on any public passenger transportation system or rail transit system;

(e) respecting the employment and conduct of the officers and employees of the authority;

(f) respecting the management of the affairs of the authority and any local or regional transit commission.

Retroactive bylaw

33   (1) A provision of a bylaw adopted for any of the purposes of this Act by the City of Colwood or by the District of Metchosin may be made retroactive to a date approved by the minister responsible for the administration of the Community Charter, and if it is made retroactive, it is deemed to have come into force on that date.

(2) The minister responsible for the administration of the Community Charter may not, under subsection (1), approve a retroactive date for a provision of a bylaw that is earlier than the date on which the municipality adopting the bylaw was incorporated.