Statutes of Newfoundland and Labrador 2008 Chapter 58

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

SNL2007 cH-10.1
as amended

1. (1) Paragraph 2(g) of the House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(g) "commissioner", unless the context indicates otherwise, means the Commissioner for Legislative Standards appointed under the House of Assembly Act;

(2) Paragraph 2(i) of the Act is amended by deleting the number "5" and substituting the number "6".

(3) Subparagraph 2(r)(v) of the Act is amended by deleting the word "Citizens" and substituting the word "Citizens ".

2. Paragraph 3(g) of the Act is amended by deleting the words "the responsibility of" and substituting the words "responsibility for the"

3. Section 6 of the Act is amended by deleting the word "following" and substituting the words "immediately before".

4. Paragraph 11(4)(b) of the Act is amended by deleting the word "or" and substituting the word "and".

5. (1) Paragraph 12(1)(g) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(g) leader of a third party, $18,367;

(2) Paragraph 12(1)(k) of the Act is amended by deleting the words and hyphen "chairperson-public" and substituting the words and comma "chairperson, public".

6. (1) Subsection 13(3) of the Act is amended by adding immediately after paragraph (a) the following:

(a.1) adoption, pregnancy or parental leave as established by directive;

(2) Paragraph 13(3)(e) of the Act is amended by deleting the figure "19.1" and substituting the figure "19.2".

(3) Section 13 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection (3) the following:

(3.1) Notwithstanding paragraph (3)(e), the speaker may, under paragraph (3)(g), approve the absence of a member to attend to constituency duties within his or her constituency where the speaker is of the opinion that the absence is necessary and in accordance with directives of the commission.

7. (1) Subsection 14(1) of the Act is amended by adding immediately after the words "until the" the words "day immediately before the".

(2) Subsection 14(2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a member shall not claim reimbursement of expenses under subsection 11(2) from the date an election is called until the date of his or her reelection as a member.

8. (1) Subsection 18(2) of the Act is amended by adding immediately after the word "commission" the words and comma "and when presiding, shall vote in the case of a tie".

(2) Subsection 18(4) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(4) Where there is no third party, the member chosen for the purposes of paragraph (3)(g) shall be an additional member from the official opposition caucus.

(3) Subsection 18(8) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(8) A quorum of the commission shall be 50% of its members, but

(a) one member representing the government;

(b) one member representing a party in opposition to the government; and

shall be present during a meeting of the commission.

(4) Section 18 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection (10) the following:

(11) Upon the dissolution of the House of Assembly, the commission members shall, until the members of the commission are replaced, be considered to remain in office as commission members as if there had been no dissolution.

9. (1) Subsection 20(3) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(c), where a financial or management policy has not been established by the commission for the House of Assembly and statutory offices, the financial and management policies of the government shall apply.

(2) Paragraphs 20(5)(b) and (c) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

(b) ensure that an annual financial audit is completed of the accounts of the House of Assembly and the statutory offices in accordance with section 43 before September 1 immediately following the fiscal year to which that audit relates;

(c) ensure that a compliance audit is completed of the accounts of the House of Assembly and the statutory offices in accordance with section 43 at least once every General Assembly and reported on before September 1 immediately following the last fiscal year to which that audit relates;

10. Paragraph 23(7)(d) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(d) review the financial statements, audit report and recommendations of the auditor and give advice about them to the commission, including, where the committee considers it appropriate, recommending that the commission approve and sign the financial statements;

11. (1) Subsection 24(1) of the Act is amended by deleting the comma immediately after the word "reimbursement".

(2) Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection (8) the following:

(9) Notwithstanding that an expense claim has been denied by an officer, staff member or the speaker, in accordance with the rules, where there is an appeal to the commission under this section and the commission determines that that claimed expense amount

(a) has been incurred by the member; and

(b) is a permitted expense under the Act and rules; and

and a denial of payment of the expense amount would, in the opinion of the commission, be unjust, the commission may approve the expenditure for the claimed expense to the extent that the commission considers to be just and the decision of the commission is final.

12. (1) Paragraph 32(2)(a) of the Act is amended by deleting the word "Citizens" and substituting the word "Citizens ".

(2) Paragraph 32(2)(d) of the Act is amended by deleting the number "5" and substituting the number "6".

13. Subsection 35(1) of the Act is amended by deleting the word "by" where it last occurs.

14. Subsection 37(3) of the Act is amended by deleting the words "decides to conduct" and substituting the word "conducts".

15. Subsection 45(7) of the Act is amended by adding immediately after the word "service" the words "and the statutory offices".

16. Subsection 48(2) of the Act is amended by adding immediately before the word "directive" the words "rule or".

17. Paragraph 51(e) of the Act is amended by adding a comma immediately after the word "salaries".

18. (1) Paragraph 54(1)(c) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) Subsection 54(2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(c), where a disclosure relates to the citizens representative, the commissioner shall be the investigator for the purposes of this Part.

Commencement

19. This Act, except subsection 8(1), shall be considered to have come into force on June 14, 2007.