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| This Act is current to December 31, 2024 | |||
| See the Tables of Legislative Changes for this Act’s legislative history, including any changes not in force. |
1 In this Act:
"board" and "regional hospital district board" mean a board of directors of a regional hospital district and, except in Division 2 of Part 2, include, if a municipal regional district is declared, by order under section 2, to be the regional hospital district, the municipal regional board;
"director" means a director of a board;
"district" and "regional hospital district" mean a regional hospital district incorporated under this Act and include a municipal regional district declared, by order under section 2, to be a regional hospital district;
"hospital" means a hospital as defined by any provision of the Hospital Act and includes an institution or facility in the health field designated by the minister under section 49 as a health facility for the purposes of this Act;
"hospital facilities" includes laboratories, laundries and things, services and premises used or supplied in conjunction with a hospital;
"hospital insurance fund" means the hospital insurance fund continued under the Hospital Insurance Act;
"hospital project" includes the establishment, acquisition, reconstruction, enlargement, operation and maintenance of a hospital or hospital facilities;
"improvement district" means an improvement district
(a) as defined in the Water Sustainability Act, or
(b) incorporated or reincorporated under the Local Government Act;
"member" means a municipality or an unorganized area that is included in a regional hospital district and designated as a member by letters patent;
"member municipality" means a municipality that is a member or, if the municipal regional district is the regional hospital district, a municipality or electoral area within that regional district;
"member treaty first nation", in relation to a regional hospital district, means a treaty first nation, the treaty lands of which are a member of the regional hospital district, and which treaty first nation
(a) is a member of the regional district that corresponds to the regional hospital district, or
(b) appoints a director for the purposes of section 8 (4);
"minister" includes a person designated in writing by the minister;
"municipality" includes an improvement district designated by letters patent constituting or pertaining to a regional hospital district;
"municipal regional board" and "regional board" mean a board as defined in the Local Government Act;
"municipal regional district" and "regional district" mean a regional district as defined in the Local Government Act;
"secretary" means the secretary of a board appointed under this Act;
"taxing treaty first nation" has the same meaning as in the Treaty First Nation Property Taxation Enabling Act.
Part 2 — Hospital Districts and Boards
2 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council must, by order, divide British Columbia into areas for the purposes of this Act, each area having the boundaries defined in the order, and,
(a) except for an area to which a declaration made under paragraph (b) applies, must, by letters patent, incorporate the area and its residents into a regional hospital district, and
(b) may, if the boundaries of the area are coextensive with the boundaries of a municipal regional district and the municipal regional board requests, declare the municipal regional district to be the regional hospital district for the area and the municipal regional board to be the board for the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, revoke and replace or amend an order made under this section, and if, in consequence of it, a municipal regional district becomes the regional hospital district for an area previously incorporated under this Act, the corporation created under this Act is dissolved.
(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2) but without limiting section 49 of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act, the Lieutenant Governor in Council, by order,
(a) may dissolve the Greater Vancouver Regional Hospital District so that there is no regional hospital district for that area, and
(b) may provide for the transfer of the assets and liabilities of the Greater Vancouver Regional Hospital District and, without limitation, may provide that some or all of those assets and liabilities become the assets and liabilities of the government.
(4) The Minister of Finance may make payments out of the consolidated revenue fund, without an appropriation other than this subsection, for the payment of liabilities transferred to the government under subsection (3) (b).
(5) If the Lieutenant Governor in Council makes an order under subsection (3) dissolving the Greater Vancouver Regional Hospital District,
(a) each of the directors of the district ceases to hold that office on the dissolution of the district, and
(b) the Lieutenant Governor in Council may order that any or all of the powers and duties of the district become the powers and duties of the government.
(6) Despite subsection (5), none of the powers and duties of the Greater Vancouver Regional Hospital District respecting taxation of real property under this Act may become the powers and duties of the government under subsection (5) except that, if the district is dissolved at a date other than the end of its fiscal year, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may
(a) order that, in relation to the taxes that the district might have been entitled to requisition and collect for that fiscal year, the government may requisition, collect and retain the proportion of those taxes that the number of days in the fiscal year during which the district remained undissolved bears to the total number of days in that fiscal year,
(b) order that the government may exercise any and all such powers and duties of the district as may be necessary to allow the government to requisition, collect and retain those taxes, and, for that purpose, those powers and duties are deemed to be exercisable in relation to that portion of the fiscal year, and
(c) make any other orders that may be necessary to give effect to paragraphs (a) and (b).
(7) Despite subsections (5) and (6), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, delegate any or all of the powers and duties referred to in subsection (5) (b) or (6) (b) to any person or body.
"letters patent", except in subsection (4), means the letters patent of a district amended as directed by the order;
"order" means Order in Council 1549/95;
"transitional board" means the board of a transitional district;
"transitional district" means a regional hospital district referred to in Schedule A of the order.
(2) The letters patent for each transitional district, and all measures taken as provided for under its letters patent, are valid and have the retroactive effect necessary to give them effect on or after December 31, 1995.
(3) A transitional board continues for the exercise of the powers and the discharge of the duties under its letters patent despite the existence of another regional hospital district covering all or part of its area of British Columbia or the fact that another board has similar powers or duties.
(4) If a regional hospital district is incorporated under section 2 (1) (a), or a municipal regional district is declared under section 2 (1) (b) to be a regional hospital district, for an area of British Columbia covered in whole or part by a transitional district, the transitional district and the regional hospital district or municipal regional district co-exist and all powers, functions and duties under the Act apply to each except insofar as these are limited by its letters patent.
3 (1) The letters patent incorporating a district under this Act must specify the following:
(a) the name and boundaries of the district;
(b) the members of the district;
(c) the population considered to be a voting unit;
(d) the date by which the municipalities and the Lieutenant Governor in Council must appoint directors to the first regional hospital district board;
(e) the boundaries of any rural area to be a member;
(e.1) the boundaries of treaty lands to be a member;
(f) the day, time and place of the first meeting of the board;
(g) the sums that may be borrowed to meet the current lawful expenditures of the district in the year of incorporation and, if considered expedient, for the following year;
(h) the powers, duties and obligations of the district in addition to those specified in this Act;
(i) the powers, duties and obligations of any municipality transferred to the exclusive jurisdiction of the district;
(j) the terms and conditions of arrangements, agreements or transactions between the district and
(iii) a municipal regional district or an improvement district not within the definition "municipality",
(iii.1) a treaty first nation,
(vi) the owner of a hospital or hospital facilities, or
(vii) any other person or entity;
(k) other provisions and conditions the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers proper and necessary.
(2) A regional hospital district incorporated under this Act is a corporation under the name of "Regional Hospital District of ............................................................" or "........................................... Regional Hospital District."
4 (1) If the Lieutenant Governor in Council makes a declaration, under section 2 (1) (b), that the municipal regional district is a regional hospital district, the powers conferred on that district by this Act include the power to provide a service, within the meaning of the Local Government Act, of the municipal regional district in which, subject to letters patent under this section, all the municipalities, electoral areas and treaty lands within the municipal regional district participate, and the Lieutenant Governor in Council may do the following:
(a) despite the Local Government Act, issue letters patent conferring powers and imposing duties on, and making other provisions for, the municipal regional district in relation to its function as the regional hospital district, and may exclude or restrict a provision of the Local Government Act in relation to that function;
(b) by letters patent applying to the municipal regional district, substitute for a provision of this Act in relation to the regional hospital district a provision of the Local Government Act.
(2) Except as varied under subsection (1), this Act, other than this Part, applies to a municipal regional district declared under section 2 (1) (b) to be a regional hospital district and to the municipal regional board, for their respective functions as the regional hospital district and the regional hospital district board as it applies to a regional hospital district incorporated under this Act and to its board.
5 The Lieutenant Governor in Council must, as the case requires, amend, recall and reissue, rescind, cancel or issue letters patent to give effect to any variation of an order made under section 2, or a declaration in it, and may
(a) at any time amend the letters patent of a district in any other respect or recall letters patent and reissue others in their place, and
(b) on the receipt of petitions from the board of any district to divide the district, or from the board of 2 or more districts to unite the districts, accept the surrender of letters patent, vary the order and issue new letters patent for new districts incorporated under this Act.
(a) the municipal regional district becomes the regional hospital district for an area, or
(b) a district incorporated under this Act is divided, or 2 or more such districts are united, or a new such district is created out of parts of other districts, or the effect of the alteration of boundaries of 2 or more districts is, in the opinion of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, to increase or decrease the obligations of the districts concerned,
the Lieutenant Governor in Council must, by letters patent, provide for the transfer and vesting of the assets, rights, claims and obligations of the pre-existing district or districts, or some of those districts the Lieutenant Governor in Council, having regard to the changes, considers just, to and in the new or continuing district or districts, and the assets, rights, claims and obligations are transferred, by the letters patent, and vest accordingly.
(2) Subject to subsection (1), the amendment, recall and reissue of letters patent or the rescission or cancellation and issue of new letters patent to a continuing district, whether or not of the same boundaries as the district formerly constituted, does not impair or prejudice the assets, rights, claims or obligations of the district.
7 If an addition is made to the area of a district, the bylaws and resolutions of that district extend to the additional area and continue in force until altered or repealed by the board.
8 (1) A regional hospital district board consists of the directors on the board of the regional district that corresponds to the regional hospital district.
(2) If a regional hospital district has the same boundaries as a coexisting regional district but the municipal regional district has not been declared to be the regional hospital district, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, in any letters patent for the district, provide that the directors and alternate directors of the regional district are the directors and alternate directors of the regional hospital district without further appointment under this Act.
(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2), a regional hospital district board consists of the directors or alternate directors of the regional district selected by the board of the regional hospital district with the consent of the municipalities within the regional hospital district area and member treaty first nations within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition of "member treaty first nation" in section 1.
(4) Despite subsections (1) to (3), if the final agreement of a treaty first nation provides
(a) that the treaty lands of the treaty first nation are a member of a regional hospital district before the treaty first nation becomes a member of a regional district, and
(b) for the appointment by the treaty first nation of a treaty first nation director to the board of the regional hospital district,
on and after the date the final agreement of the treaty first nation comes into effect until the date the treaty first nation becomes a member of a regional district, the board of the applicable regional hospital district includes a director appointed by that treaty first nation.
(5) A director appointed for the purposes of subsection (4) must be appointed by the treaty first nation from among the elected members of that treaty first nation's governing body.
(6) To be eligible for appointment for the purposes of subsection (4), a person must be qualified to hold office as a member of a local government in accordance with section 81 [who may hold office on a local government] of the Local Government Act.
(7) Before taking office, a person appointed for the purposes of subsection (4) must make an oath, by oath or solemn affirmation, and, for that purpose, section 202 [oath or affirmation of office for board members] of the Local Government Act applies.
(8) Section 82 [disqualification of local government employees] of the Local Government Act does not apply in relation to a person appointed for the purposes of subsection (4) of this section.
9 (1) Section 196 of the Local Government Act applies to a vote by a board on a budget, operating expense, capital, borrowing or contract matter.
(2) On a vote on any matter not described in subsection (1), each director serving on the board has one vote.
10 (1) Subject to a provision made under section 8 (2),
(a) each director appointed to a board on the incorporation of the district holds office until the first Monday after January 1 in the following year or until the appointment of the director's successor, whichever is later, and
(b) after the first appointment of directors under paragraph (a), each director must be appointed annually, on or before February 1, and each director holds office until the first Monday after January 1 in the following year or until the appointment of the director's successor, whichever is later.
(2) A director appointed for the purposes of section 8 (4) holds office in accordance with subsection (1) (b) of this section unless one of the following occurs during the director's tenure under that subsection:
(a) another director takes office in the original director's place;
(b) the director ceases to be an elected member of the governing body of the treaty first nation before the end of the director's term of office as a member of that body;
(c) the director's term of office as a member of the governing body of the treaty first nation ends;
(d) the director ceases to be qualified in accordance with section 8 (6);
(e) the treaty first nation becomes a member of a regional district the boundaries of which correspond, in whole or in part, to the boundaries of the hospital district.
11 (1) Unless alternate directors are provided for by letters patent under section 8 (2), the council or the trustees of a member municipality may appoint a member of the council or a trustee as an alternate director and each alternate director takes the place of and has the vote of a specified director in the case of any necessary absence from a meeting of the board, and notice of the appointment must be given to the secretary before the alternate director may vote on any matter before the board.
(1.1) Unless alternate directors are provided for by letters patent under section 8 (2), a treaty first nation that is authorized to appoint a director for the purposes of section 8 (4) may appoint as an alternate director an elected member of its governing body who is qualified to hold office under section 8 (6) and (7), and the alternate director takes the place of and has the vote of the director appointed by the treaty first nation in the case of any necessary absence from a meeting of the board.
(1.2) Notice of the appointment of an alternate director under subsection (1.1) must be given to the secretary before the alternate director may vote on any matter before the board.
(2) If the seat of a director representing a member municipality or member treaty first nation becomes vacant through death, resignation or disqualification, the alternate director must take the seat but, unless alternate directors are provided for by letters patent under section 8 (2), the council, trustees or governing body of the treaty first nation may subsequently appoint another director and alternate director in place of the alternate director who takes the vacant seat.
(3) The appointment of a director, other than an alternate director, is not revocable except for the consecutive absence from attendance at meetings of the board for a period of 3 months without leave of the council, trustees or governing body that appointed the director.
12 A quorum is a majority of all the directors, having among them a majority of all the votes.
13 (1) Where the directors hold office under section 8 (1), the board must elect a chair from among its directors at the first meeting held in each year.
(2) The board may elect from among its directors an acting chair, who, during the absence or disability of the chair, has all the powers and is subject to the same rules as the chair.
(3) Each director has only one vote for an election under this section.
14 All bylaws and resolutions of the board must be decided by the majority of the votes of directors who are at the meeting.
15 (1) A board may by bylaw provide for the remuneration of its directors, alternative directors, chair, acting chair and any officer of the board.
(2) The chair, acting chair, director or alternative director of a board is entitled to be reimbursed for reasonable expenses in the course of the work of the board or its committees.
(3) A person is not disqualified from holding office as a director, a member of council or a trustee merely because the person received remuneration or reimbursement under this section.
16 (1) The following provisions of the Local Government Act apply to the calling and conduct of meetings of a board:
(a) section 216 (2) (c) [chair to preside at board meetings];
(b) section 219 [regular and special board meetings];
(c) section 220 [calling of special board meetings];
(d) section 221 [electronic meetings];
(e) section 222 [special rules for dealing with urgent matter];
(f) section 223 (1) [minutes of board meetings];
(g) section 226 (1) and (3) [application of Community Charter provisions].
(2) Minutes of a board meeting, or a part of a board meeting, that is not closed under section 90 of the Community Charter, as that section applies under subsection (1), must be made available for public inspection.
16.1 If the majority of the members, entitled to vote, of a board, or of an executive committee or standing committee constituted under section 21, approve a bylaw or resolution or conduct an election, or inform the chair of the board of their approval or vote, by telephone or other means of telecommunication, the bylaw, resolution or election is as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the board, executive committee or standing committee properly called and constituted.
17 (1) The auditor and the officers and employees of the board of the regional district that corresponds to the regional hospital district board are the auditor and the corresponding officers and employees of the regional hospital district board, and the regional hospital district board may specify their duties.
(2) Despite the Local Government Act, the cost of administering the affairs of the regional hospital district must be provided for in the budget of the relevant regional district and must be paid out of that budget unless the regional hospital district authorizes by resolution that the cost of administering its affairs be provided for in the budget of the regional hospital district and be paid out of that budget.
(3) Despite subsection (1), the board may elect from its members a person other than the chair of the regional board, as the chair of the board.
(4) In the absence of its chair and acting chair, a board may elect a director to chair its meeting.
(5) If specified by the letters patent, the auditor and other officers and employees of a specified regional district appointed under the Local Government Act are the auditor and corresponding officers and employees of the regional hospital district board, with or without extra remuneration, and the regional hospital district board must specify their duties.
(6) If subsection (1) or (5) does not apply, the board must appoint
(a) a secretary and a treasurer and other officers, officials and employees as it considers necessary, and specify their duties and remuneration, and
(b) annually an auditor, who must be a professionally qualified accountant regularly employed in auditing, to audit the accounts and transactions of the district.
17.1 (1) Section 3 (1) (c) [voting unit] does not apply in relation to the letters patent of the Northern Rockies Regional Hospital District.
(2) Despite section 8 (1) [regional hospital board], the regional hospital district board of the Northern Rockies Regional Hospital District consists of the members of the council of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality.
(3) Despite section 9 [voting], each director serving on the board of the Northern Rockies Regional Hospital District has one vote.
(4) In applying section 13 (1) [election of chair] to the Northern Rockies Regional Hospital District, that section is to be read without reference to "Where the directors hold office under section 8 (1),".
(5) Despite section 16 (1) [calling of meetings], the following provisions of the Community Charter apply to the calling and conduct of meetings of the board of the Northern Rockies Regional Hospital District:
(a) Division 3 of Part 4 [Open Meetings];
(b) section 116 (2) (c) [mayor presides at council meetings];
(c) section 124 (2) (c) [minutes];
(d) section 125 (1), (3) and (4) [council meetings];
(e) section 126 [calling of special council meetings];
(f) sections 128 to 128.3 [electronic meetings and electronic participation];
(g) section 132 [authority of presiding member];
(h) section 133 [expulsion from meetings];
(i) section 282 (2) (c) [regulations relating to meeting rules].
(6) In applying section 17 (2) [cost of administering affairs of regional hospital district] to the Northern Rockies Regional Hospital District, that section is to be read as though
(a) the reference to "Local Government Act" were a reference to "Community Charter", and
(b) the reference to "relevant regional district" were a reference to "Northern Rockies Regional Municipality".
"board" means the board of the district;
"district" means the North West Regional Hospital District;
"Wilp Si'ayuuḵhl Nisg̱a'a" means Wilp Si'ayuuḵhl Nisg̱a'a referred to in section 31 (1) (a) of the Nisg̱a'a Constitution, as defined in the Nisg̱a'a Final Agreement.
(2) Subject to this section, this Act applies in relation to the membership of Nisg̱a'a Lands in the district.
(3) In addition to the matters set out in section 3 (1), the letters patent of the district must specify
(a) the boundaries of Nisg̱a'a Lands as a member of the district, and
(b) the terms and conditions of arrangements, agreements or transactions between the district and the Nisg̱a'a Nation.
(4) Despite section 8 (1), the board of the district includes a director who is a member of Wilp Si'ayuuḵhl Nisg̱a'a and appointed to the board by the Nisg̱a'a Nation.
(5) A person must not be appointed under subsection (4) unless the person
(a) is an elected member of Wilp Si'ayuuḵhl Nisg̱a'a, and
(b) is qualified to hold office as a member of a local government in accordance with section 81 [who may hold office on a local government] of the Local Government Act.
(6) Before taking office, a person appointed under subsection (4) must make an oath or solemn affirmation, and, for that purpose, section 202 [oath or affirmation of office for board members] of the Local Government Act applies.
(7) Section 82 [disqualification of local government employees] of the Local Government Act does not apply in relation to a director appointed under subsection (4) of this section.
(8) The director appointed under subsection (4) holds office in accordance with section 10 (b) unless one of the following occurs during the director's tenure under that section:
(a) another director takes office in the original director's place;
(b) the director ceases to be an elected member of Wilp Si'ayuuḵhl Nisg̱a'a before the director's term of office as a member of Wilp Si'ayuuḵhl Nisg̱a'a ends;
(c) the director's term of office as a member of Wilp Si'ayuuḵhl Nisg̱a'a ends;
(d) the director ceases to be qualified in accordance with subsection (5) (b) of this section.
(9) For the purposes of the application of section 11 (2) and (3) in relation to a director appointed under subsection (4) of this section,
(a) a reference in section 11 (2) to a member municipality is to be read as a reference to Nisg̱a'a Lands, and
(b) a reference in section 11 (2) or (3) to the council is to be read as a reference to the Nisg̱a'a Nation.
(10) For the purposes of the application of section 20 (1) to the Nisg̱a'a Nation, the purposes of the district are deemed to include
(a) the assumption, at the option of the Nisg̱a'a Nation, of obligations of the Nisg̱a'a Nation with respect to the repayment of
(i) money borrowed and provided for the financing of hospital projects, and
(ii) interest on that money, and
(b) the reimbursement, at the option of the Nisg̱a'a Nation, to the Nisg̱a'a Nation of
(i) money raised or obtained otherwise than by borrowing, and
(ii) money provided for financing hospital projects.
(11) Subsection (10) does not apply to any money borrowed, raised or otherwise obtained by the Nisg̱a'a Nation before Nisg̱a'a Lands became a member of the district.
(12) For the purposes of section 24, the secretary of the district must include Nisg̱a'a Lands as a member of the district in the apportionment among the members of amounts required under the district's budget, which apportionment must be on the basis of the net taxable values of land or improvements, determined in accordance with section 24 (1) (a), in Nisg̱a'a Lands.
(13) For certainty, section 24 (3) does not apply in relation to Nisg̱a'a Lands.
(a) for the purposes of and in the time specified in section 25 (1), the secretary of the district must send to the Nisg̱a'a Nation a requisition stating the amount required from the Nisg̱a'a Nation on or before August 1 of the current year and the rates applied to the net taxable value of land and improvements in Nisg̱a'a Lands to determine that amount,
(b) no requisition to the minister under section 25 (3) is required in relation to Nisg̱a'a Lands,
(c) amounts apportioned to the Nisg̱a'a Nation must be excluded from the notice under section 25 (4) (b),
(d) notice must be given under section 25 (4) (c) of the rates that, if applied to the net taxable value of Nisg̱a'a Lands, would generate the amount requisitioned from the Nisg̱a'a Nation under section 24 (1) as it applies under subsection (12) of this section, and
(e) for the purposes of section 25 (9), the information referred to in section 66 (4) of the Assessment Act is included in the information referred to in section 25 (1), (3) and (7) of this Act.
(15) Sections 26, 28 and 29 do not apply in relation to Nisg̱a'a Lands.
(16) Section 28.1 applies to Nisg̱a'a Lands as a member of the district and, for that purpose,
(a) a reference in that section to the treaty lands of a taxing treaty first nation is to be read as a reference to Nisg̱a'a Lands,
(b) a reference in that section to a taxing treaty first nation is to be read as a reference to the Nisg̱a'a Nation, and
(c) a reference in that section to a tax treatment agreement is to be read as a reference to the Taxation Agreement, as defined in section 6.1 of the Nisg̱a'a Final Agreement Act.
Part 3 — Functioning of Boards
18 A regional hospital district has, for the purpose of exercising its powers and duties, full power to acquire, hold and dispose of property and to contract for materials and services, both personal and otherwise.
19 (1) In this section, "real property" has the meaning ascribed to land and improvements in the Assessment Act.
(2) Real property owned or held by a district is not subject to real property taxation
(a) if the real property is used in connection with a hospital project undertaken by the board of the district or by a hospital corporation,
(b) if the board of the district declares that real property owned or held by it will be used as described in paragraph (a) at a future time, or
(c) if the real property is occupied or leased by a person for a purpose for which the property would be exempt from real property taxation under any other Act if that person were the owner.
(3) Real property owned or held by a district that is used for a purpose other than that referred to in subsection (2) is subject to assessment under the Assessment Act and taxation
(a) under section 229 [taxation of municipal land used by others] of the Community Charter as if the real property were owned by a municipality,
(b) under section 18 (4) of the Taxation (Rural Area) Act as if the real property belonged to the government, or
(c) under the Vancouver Charter as if the real property belonged to the government.
20 (1) The purposes of a regional hospital district are the following:
(a) to establish, acquire, construct, reconstruct, enlarge, operate and maintain hospitals and hospital facilities;
(b) to grant aid for the establishment, acquisition, reconstruction, enlargement, operation and maintenance of hospitals and hospital facilities;
(c) to assume obligations of any member municipality, or any improvement district not within the definition "municipality", or any hospital corporation, or any member treaty first nation, with respect to the repayment of money borrowed and provided for the financing of hospital projects and interest on it, or to provide reimbursement to a municipality, improvement district, hospital corporation or member treaty first nation for money provided for financing hospital projects that were raised or obtained otherwise than by borrowing;
(d) to act as the agent of the government in receiving and disbursing money granted out of the hospital insurance fund;
(e) to act as the agent of a hospital for receiving and applying all money paid to or for the hospital by the government of Canada;
(f) to exercise and perform the other powers and duties prescribed under this Act as and when required.
(2) The board of a district may carry out the purposes referred to in subsection (1) only in accordance with and to the extent authorized under this Act.
(3) In exercising the powers under subsection (1) or section 17 (2), the board must raise in any year, by making provision in its budget or by temporary borrowing, an amount which must not be greater in the aggregate than a prescribed amount.
(4) Money raised under subsection (3) but not spent during one year may be carried forward and spent in succeeding years and must be reported to the minister.
(5) Money for which provision has been made in the board's budget under subsection (4) may be raised by temporary borrowing pending receipt of money requisitioned and due to the board under section 25 (2) and (6).
(6) In addition to the money raised under subsection (3), the board may raise annually the money required for the payment of principal and interest on borrowings, other than the principal of a short term loan that is to be repaid out of the money raised by the sale of securities.
21 (1) The board may by resolution passed by the votes of not less than 2/3 of the votes of all the directors, establish an executive committee, comprised of members of the board elected by the board annually, and one or more standing committees, comprised of members of the board and other persons elected by the board annually, and the board may specify the items of business of the district with which each of those committees has power to deal.
(2) The chair of the board is the chair of the executive committee.
23 (1) The board must prepare and adopt, before a prescribed date in each year, a provisional budget for the following calendar year, in which the following must be set out:
(a) detailed estimates of expenses of the board for the following calendar year, including amounts required for the payment of principal of and interest on borrowings, other than principal of short term loans that are to be repaid out of the money raised by the sale of securities;
(a.1) a list of all capital expenditures with a description of each project for the following year;
(b) detailed estimates of revenue of the board for the following calendar year;
(c) the deficit, if any, expected to be incurred by the board in the current calendar year;
(d) the surplus, if any, expected to be accrued in the current calendar year.
(2) to (4) [Repealed 2003-20-5.]
(5) On or before March 31 in each year, the board must adopt, by bylaw, the annual budget of the board and the board must at once transmit to the minister a copy of the bylaw and budget certified by the secretary.
24 (1) Except as otherwise specified in the letters patent, the secretary must apportion the amount required under the annual budget among the member municipalities, treaty lands of taxing treaty first nations and the other rural area in the district on the basis of the net taxable values of land or improvements in each for the current year determined by
(a) excluding property taxable for school purposes only by special Act, and
(b) applying a uniform rate to each class of property throughout the district.
(2) The amount apportioned under subsection (1) must be raised by sending requisitions in accordance with section 25.
(3) Except as otherwise specified in the letters patent, the amount apportioned under subsection (1) to member municipalities and the rural area of the district, excluding the treaty lands of taxing treaty first nations, must be raised by taxation at a uniform rate for each class of property throughout those municipalities and that rural area.
25 (1) Annually, after the information described in subsection (9) is made available, the secretary of the district must, on or before April 20, send to
(a) each member municipality a requisition stating the amount required of that member municipality, and
(b) each taxing treaty first nation a requisition stating the amount required of that taxing treaty first nation and the rates applied to the net taxable value of land and improvements in the treaty lands or applicable portion of those treaty lands to determine that amount.
(2) All amounts requisitioned under subsection (1) are a debt due by the member municipality or the taxing treaty first nation to the district, and the council of that member municipality or the governing body of that taxing treaty first nation must provide for that debt and must pay that debt to the board on or before August 1 in the current year.
(3) In the case of each member of the district that is not a city, district, town, village or treaty lands of a taxing treaty first nation, the secretary of the district must, after the information described in subsection (9) is made available, transmit to the minister responsible for the Financial Administration Act, on or before April 20, a requisition stating the amount required of that member, and a copy of the requisition must be sent to the trustees of the improvement district or the directors representing the other rural area in the district, or both, as the case may be.
(4) On or before April 30, the secretary of each district must notify the minister in writing of the following:
(a) the total of the amounts being requisitioned under this section for the purposes of this Act;
(b) the uniform rates to be levied throughout the district to raise the amount referred to in paragraph (a), excluding amounts apportioned to a taxing treaty first nation;
(c) the rates that if applied to the net taxable value of land and improvements in the treaty lands, or applicable portion of those treaty lands, of a taxing treaty first nation would generate the amount requisitioned from the taxing treaty first nation under subsection (1).
(5) If there is a municipal regional district co-extensive with a district incorporated under this Act, the 2 districts must use their best endeavours to ensure that the taxation requisitions of each of them are sent to their respective member municipalities and the taxing treaty first nations in the regional district at the same time.
(6) The amounts requisitioned under subsection (3) must be paid from the consolidated revenue fund to the board on or before August 1 in the current year.
(7) If the net taxable values of land and improvements in a district as set out in the information made available under subsection (9) are adjusted, any resulting adjustment of grants, or of the amounts to be raised by taxation and to be requisitioned from each part of the district, by a sum in excess of $1 000 must be taken into account and adjusted by the minister in the next year, unless otherwise ordered by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(8) On or before February 1 in each year, the amount received by a municipality, or by the Surveyor of Taxes by way of a grant in place of taxes for hospital purposes in the district, under the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act (Canada) from the government of Canada or from a corporation included in Schedule III or IV of that Act in the immediately preceding calendar year must be paid to the board, and the amount paid must be included in the revenue of the board in its budget.
(9) The information referred to in subsections (1), (3) and (7) is the information made available annually to each board by the British Columbia Assessment Authority setting out the current year net taxable value of all land and improvements in each member municipality, the treaty lands of each taxing treaty first nation and the other rural area, in the district, on both the completed and the revised assessment rolls.
26 (1) For the purpose of this section, the definitions of "land" and "improvements" in the Assessment Act apply.
(2) All amounts requisitioned under section 25, other than from a taxing treaty first nation, must be raised by taxation at a uniform rate for each class of property throughout the district by the member municipality or municipalities and the Provincial Collector.
(2.1) The requirement under subsection (2) that rates be uniform for each class of property is not contravened solely because the Surveyor of Taxes has added an aggregate fee, as defined in section 21.1 of the Taxation (Rural Area) Act, to the amounts to be levied as taxes under section 25 of this Act.
(3) Despite any other Act relating to the assessment of values, in order to raise the amounts required under subsection (2), taxation must be levied on the net taxable value of land and improvements, but excluding property that is taxable for school purposes only by special Act.
"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 a council of a municipality raises a tax under section 26, the council must employ a variable tax rate system.
(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations in respect of the variable tax rate system
(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), and
(d) allowing the minister under prescribed circumstances to vary, by order, the limits, relationships or formulas prescribed under paragraph (a), (b) or (c).
28 Except in relation to the treaty lands of a taxing treaty first nation, sections 130, 131, 131.01 and 132 of the School Act apply for assessment and taxation under this Act, and wherever in those sections reference is made to the rural area of a school district, the reference is deemed to be to the part or parts of a regional hospital district not in a municipality.
28.1 (1) Subject to this section, property that is in the treaty lands of a taxing treaty first nation and exempt
(a) under the laws of the treaty first nation from property taxation imposed by the treaty first nation, or
(b) under a tax treatment agreement from property taxation imposed under this Act
must be treated as if it were exempt for the purposes of determining the amount of a requisition under section 25 (1) (b) and the rates under section 25 (4) (c).
(2) Subject to subsection (3), 50% of the assessed value of a parcel, or a portion of a parcel, of the treaty lands of a taxing treaty first nation must be treated as if it were exempt for the purposes of determining the amount of a requisition under section 25 (1) (b) and the rates under section 25 (4) (c), if
(a) the parcel or portion is classified as a farm under the Assessment Act, or
(b) the parcel or portion is in the agricultural land reserve within the meaning of the Agricultural Land Commission Act, is subject to sections 18 to 20.3 and 28 of that Act and satisfies one or more of the conditions set out in subsection (3) of this section.
(3) The parcel or portion of a parcel referred to in subsection (2) (b) must be
(b) used for a farm or residential purpose, or
(c) used for a purpose that is permitted by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under this Act.
(4) The treaty lands of a taxing treaty first nation must be treated as if they were exempt for the purposes of determining the amount of a requisition under section 25 (1) (b) and the rates under section 25 (4) (c) if the lands are included in a timber lease or timber licence issued under an enactment of British Columbia or of Canada
(a) for which a stumpage, as defined in the Forest Act, has not been reserved or not made available to the government, or
(b) which is held for the specific purpose of cutting and removing timber, and for no other purpose while so held.
(5) Property that would be exempt from taxation under laws of a taxing treaty first nation that have the same effect in respect of its treaty lands as a bylaw authorized under section 225 [partnering and other exemptions] of the Community Charter has in respect of land within a municipality in relation to
(a) a partnering agreement under the applicable law,
(c) a cemetery, mausoleum or columbarium,
must be treated as if it were taxable for the purposes of determining the amount of a requisition under section 25 (1) (b) and the rates under section 25 (4) (c) unless it can be treated as exempt under subsection (6) or (8) of this section.
(6) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations requiring that land and improvements that must be treated as taxable under subsection (5) must be treated as exempt.
(7) Regulations under subsection (6) may
(a) require that all or part of the property that is exempted under the law of the treaty first nation be treated as exempt,
(b) require the property be treated as exempt for all or part of the term of the exemption under the law of the treaty first nation, and
(c) be different for different classes or uses of property, different classes of owners and different classes of partnering agreements.
(8) The Lieutenant Governor in Council, by order in relation to property referred to in subsection (5) that is specified in the order, may require that
(a) all or part of the property be treated as exempt for the purposes of determining the amount of a requisition under section 25 (1) (b) and the rates under section 25 (4) (c), and
(b) the property be treated as exempt for those purposes for all or part of the term of the exemption under the law of the treaty first nation.
(9) Property must not be treated as exempt for the purposes of determining the amount of a requisition under section 25 (1) (b) and the rates under section 25 (4) (c) if the property is exempted from property tax under a law of a taxing treaty first nation that has the same effect in respect of its treaty lands as a bylaw has under section 226 [revitalization tax exemptions] of the Community Charter in respect of land within a municipality.
29 (1) Subject to this Act, the Taxation (Rural Area) Act applies to the assessment, levy, collection and recovery of taxes in each part of the district that
(ii) the treaty lands of a treaty first nation, or
(b) is an improvement district designated as a municipality for the purposes of this Act,
in a similar manner as to taxes imposed on land under the Taxation (Rural Area) Act, and despite the fact in any case that the lands taxed are entirely or partly located within the limits of a local district municipality.
(2) For all purposes of the Taxation (Rural Area) Act, all taxes on lands when so levied are deemed to be Provincial taxes imposed and levied under this Act, and on collection or recovery must be accounted for as such.
(3) The assessor must apply section 12 of the Assessment Act to the assessment of property for this Act in parts of districts that are not in a municipality or the treaty lands of a treaty first nation, and the Provincial Collector must tax the property on a supplementary taxation roll at the same rates of taxation as were charged against property assessed for this Act in the district for the corresponding period under this Act.
30 For the purposes of an appeal from an assessment under section 29, Parts 4 to 7 of the Assessment Act apply.
31 A board may, by resolution, either before or after the preparation of its annual budget, borrow for purposes other than capital expenditures, by way of temporary loan, sums the board may deem necessary to meet the current operating expenditures of the board for the year, including the amounts required for principal and interest falling due within the year on any debt of the board, but all money so borrowed must be repaid within 9 months of the date of the borrowing.
32 (1) A board that proposes to borrow or spend money to meet capital expenditures must prepare, in consultation with the minister, and enact, a capital bylaw permitting the borrowing or spending of that money.
(a) must be in a form required by the minister,
(b) must include provisions that the minister considers necessary or that are prescribed by the regulations, and
(c) may, subject to paragraphs (a) and (b), provide for the issue of securities to raise the net sums required, after payment of the expenses of the issue and sale of the securities, to pay the capital costs of projects approved under this Act if those costs are not to be paid from any other source.
33 A board must not borrow or spend money to meet capital expenditures unless the board has enacted a capital bylaw in accordance with section 32.
34 If a board enacts a capital bylaw under section 32, it may delegate to a director or officer of the board the authority to settle the terms and conditions of the loan.
35 (1) A bylaw of a board for borrowing money by the issue of securities may authorize the issue of securities payable on the sinking fund plan.
(2) If a board authorizes the issue of securities under subsection (1)
(a) the board must set aside in each year during the term of the securities a sum that, together with interest compounded annually on it, at a rate of yearly interest determined by the Minister of Finance or by any other person designated by that minister, would be sufficient to provide a sinking fund for
(i) the repayment in full of the securities at maturity, or
(ii) with the approval of the Minister of Finance or of any other person designated by that minister, the partial repayment of the securities at maturity, and
(b) the amount of interest payable in each year and the amount to be set aside in each year for the sinking fund must be set out in the bylaw.
(3) For the purposes of this Act, the amount to be set aside for the sinking fund in a year is deemed to be an amount or instalment of principal falling due or becoming payable in that year, and this Act must be construed accordingly.
(4) The amount to be set aside in each year for the sinking fund must be paid on or before the date specified in the bylaw to the Minister of Finance, or to any other person designated by that minister, who must
(a) act as trustee for the board,
(b) establish appropriate sinking fund trustee accounts, and
(c) invest the amount and interest earnings on that amount in investments permitted for a trust fund under section 40 (4) of the Financial Administration Act or as otherwise permitted by law.
36 If securities issued by a board are to be sold to a purchaser designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council as a purchaser to whom or which this section applies, the board may
(a) issue the securities in coupon form or in fully registered form and in denominations required by the purchaser, and
(b) exchange the securities for other securities of the same issue for an equal aggregate principal amount on terms and conditions determined by the board.
37 (1) Securities authorized by a bylaw may be issued all at one time, or if because it is anticipated that the proposed expenditures for the purposes set out in the bylaw will extend over a period of time and it is considered undesirable to have large portions of the money in hand unused and uninvested, or for other sufficient causes, the securities may be issued in instalments of amounts, not greater in the aggregate than the total principal amount authorized by the bylaw, and at times as the exigency of the case demands, and securities may be issued up to the principal amount authorized by any such bylaws, even if the net sum realized after payment of the discount, commission, brokerage, exchange and other expenses with respect to the issue and sale of the securities is greater or less than the amount required for the purposes specified in the bylaw.
(2) If the amount realized is greater than the amount required for the purposes set out in the bylaw, the excess may be spent by the board to meet other capital expenditures or be applied to the retirement of the debt created.
(3) If the amount realized is less than the amount required for the purpose set out in the bylaw, the deficiency may be raised by a further issue of securities.
38 (1) All securities issued under this Act by a board must be
(a) sealed with the corporate seal of the board, and
(b) signed by the chair and by the secretary of the board.
(2) All interest coupons, if any, attached to the securities must bear the signatures of the chair and secretary of the board.
(3) The signature of the chair on the securities and the signature of the chair and the secretary on the interest coupons may be printed or otherwise mechanically reproduced.
(4) The securities may be signed by the chair and the secretary of the board who holds office at the date of the passage of the bylaw authorizing the issue of the securities, at the date of the securities, or at any time after that.
(5) The securities are binding on the board despite a change in any of the persons holding those offices between the time when the signatures are respectively affixed and the date of delivery of the securities.
39 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may guarantee the payment of the principal and interest of any securities issued by a board.
(2) The form and manner of the guarantee must be as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may approve.
(3) A guarantee must be signed by the Minister of Finance or other officers that may be designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and, on being signed, the government becomes liable for the payment of the principal and interest of the securities, according to their tenor.
(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council is authorized to make arrangements for supplying the money necessary to fulfill the requirements of the guarantee, and to advance the amount necessary for that purpose out of the consolidated revenue fund.
(5) In the hands of a holder of any of those securities, a signed guarantee is conclusive evidence that the terms of this section have been complied with.
40 The board or other appointed person or agent may arrange all details and do, transact and execute all deeds, matters and things that may be required during the conduct of negotiations or for placing a loan authorized under this Act.
41 (1) A security issued by a board may contain or may have endorsed on it a provision to the following effect:
This security, or any interest in it, after a certificate of ownership has been endorsed on it by the secretary of the board, is not transferable, except by entry by the secretary or the secretary's deputy in the security registry book of the regional hospital board of ...........................................
(2) If a security issued by a board is endorsed under subsection (1), the secretary or an authorized deputy, on the application of the owner of the security or of an interest in it, must endorse on the security a certificate of ownership, and must enter in a book, to be called the security registry book, a copy of the certificate and of every certificate which is subsequently given, and must also enter in the book a memorandum of every transfer of the security.
(3) A certificate of ownership must not be endorsed on a security except by the written authority of
(a) the person last entered as the owner of the security,
(b) an executor or administrator of the person described in paragraph (a), or
(c) an attorney of a person described in paragraphs (a) or (b),
and the authority must be retained and filed by the secretary.
(4) After a certificate of ownership has been endorsed, the security is transferable only by entry by the secretary in the security registry book, as and when a transfer of the security is authorized by
(a) the then owner of the security,
(b) an executor or administrator of the person described in paragraph (a), or
(c) an attorney of a person described in paragraphs (a) or (b).
(a) the person named as owner in the certificate of ownership endorsed on a security,
(b) an executor or administrator of the person described in paragraph (a), or
(c) an attorney of a person described in paragraphs (a) or (b),
the secretary may cancel and remove the certificate of ownership and by that act constitute the security a security payable to bearer and transferable by delivery.
(6) When any securities issued by a board are held by the Minister of Finance, the board may by resolution authorize the security registrar in that ministry to act as deputy of the secretary of the board for the purpose of registering in the security registry book of the board the ownership of those securities by the Minister of Finance for the government or by that minister as trustee for any of the accounts administered by that minister and of endorsing on any of those securities a certificate of ownership, and any registration or endorsement is of the same effect as if made by the secretary of the board.
42 (1) Securities issued by a board under authority of a bylaw passed and registered under this Act are valid and binding on the board, despite an insufficiency in form or otherwise of the bylaw or security, or in the authority of the board in respect of it.
(2) When securities have been issued by a board under a bylaw and the interest fallen due has been paid for one year by the board, the bylaw and the securities issued under it, or as much of it as may be unpaid, are valid and binding on the board of the regional hospital district and on all parties concerned.
43 If a security is lost, stolen or destroyed, and if notice of the loss, theft or destruction is given to the board, the security or any of the annexed coupons not having been presented for payment, on application, accompanied by proof of the facts satisfactory to the board, and on delivery to the board of a bond or policy of an insurer or guarantor approved by the board and carrying on business in British Columbia, in the amount of the security together with all interest on it indemnifying the board and its paying agents against loss or damage, and on payment of all costs of printing, the board may by bylaw, after the expiration of 6 months after the receipt of the notice, cause to be issued a duplicate security, with coupons attached, the duplicate to be printed in a manner distinguishing it from the original security, and this section applies to securities lost, stolen or destroyed.
44 As long as any requirements specified by the minister have been complied with, a bylaw may be read 3 times and finally adopted by the board at one meeting, if the motion for adoption receives an affirmative vote of a majority of the directors having among them a majority of the votes.
45 (1) The books and records of a board must be open at all times to inspection by the minister or any person authorized by the minister.
(2) The board must forward to the minister returns or reports that may be requested by the minister in the form and manner, and at times, specified by the minister.
46 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may dissolve a hospital improvement district incorporated under section 675 of the Local Government Act and may transfer to a district in which or part of which the hospital improvement district lay, any or all of the assets, rights, claims, obligations and liabilities of the hospital improvement district under terms and conditions the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers advisable.
47 Nothing in this Act operates to require an owner or proprietor of a hospital to accept or receive any financial or other assistance from a district, or to have recourse to or approval from a district in order to claim or request financing or financial assistance from the government of Canada or from the minister's ministry, and the financing of any hospital may be continued on the same basis as if this Act had not been enacted.
48 (1) Despite this Act, if the cost of a capital project for a hospital is to be paid out of money provided by or through a corporation or society that owns or operates a hospital or a hospital facility, and the government, the government's share of the cost, as determined by the minister, may with the minister's consent be borrowed by the board, and the board must disburse the amount borrowed at a time and in a manner the minister directs in payment of the cost of the project.
(2) For an obligation undertaken by a board in accordance with this section, there must be paid in each year out of the hospital insurance fund to the board an amount sufficient to meet the liability of the board falling due in the same year.
49 The minister may designate an institution or facility in the health field as a health facility for the purposes of this Act.
50 The Vancouver Charter is amended to the extent necessary to provide for assessment and taxation for this Act.
51 (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) prescribing procedures to be followed in the exercise of the powers and duties of a board;
(b) prescribing the types of hospital projects which may be financed or for the financing of which assistance may be given by a district;
(c) prescribing terms and conditions to be fulfilled by districts prerequisite to the obtaining of any approval required under this Act;
(d) prescribing the calculations to be made for the purpose of equalizing the rates throughout each district for this Act and the factors and obligations to be taken into account in doing so;
(e) for the coordination of the exercise of the powers and duties of the minister's ministry with the exercise of the powers and duties of districts or of any particular district;
(f) prescribing any prior approvals required, other than those required by this Act, before any power conferred under this Act may be exercised;
(g) prescribing in detail the matters to be dealt with and properly provided for in any transaction or arrangement entered into or carried out for any of the purposes of this Act or any purpose, directly or indirectly, related to this Act;
(h) prescribing the manner in which obligations may be assumed by a district under section 20;
(i) incorporating any regulations made under the Hospital Insurance Act or the Hospital Act as a regulation made under this Act;
(j) regarding any matter relevant to the administration of this Act and which is authorized to be made under the Hospital Insurance Act or the Hospital Act;
(k) in special situations designating amounts that are deemed not to be received or due from the government of Canada for the purposes of this Act;
(n) regarding arrangements necessary to comply with the requirements of the government of Canada for securing financial assistance from it for hospital projects;
(o) prescribing different rates for different hospital districts under section 20 (3);
(p) despite section 9 (1), authorizing a member treaty first nation to participate in a vote under that section and establishing the number of votes, or the basis for determining the number of votes, to which the treaty first nation is entitled in such a vote.
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