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Revised Statutes of Newfoundland 1990


CHAPTER D-18

AN ACT RESPECTING THE DEPARTMENT OF MUNICIPAL AND PROVINCIAL AFFAIRS

Analysis

1. Short title

2. Definitions

3. Department constituted

4. Staff

5. Seal

6. Powers and duties of the minister

7. Registrar general

8. Consultation and conferences

9. Agreements with governments

10. Agreements generally

11. Agreements amended

12. Prior approval for agreements

13. Implementation of agreements

14. Other departments

15. Boards, committees, etc.

16. Minister's power over boards

17. Waterworks

18. Inspection of municipal records

19. Statement of accounts by banks

20. Procedure on irregularity

21. Inter-municipal questions

22. Plebiscites

23. Voters

24. Regulations re plebiscites

25. Expropriation

26. Power to install pipes, etc.

27. Audit

28. Municipalities Act

29. Regulations

30. Documents

31. Accounts

32. Security

33. Actions

34. Certified copies of documents

35. Property

36. Entry on land

37. Prohibition

38. Payments

39. Offences

40. Consent to prosecution

Schedule


Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs Act.

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Definitions

2. In this Act

(a) "department" means the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs constituted by this Act;

(b) "deputy minister" means the Deputy Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs appointed under this Act;

(c) "land" means real property and includes a right or interest in, to, over, under or affecting land, including rights-of-way, works, water, water rights, water powers and water privileges;

(d) "minister" means the Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs referred to in section 3;

(e) "municipal area" means the area in which a municipal authority has jurisdiction;

(f) "municipal authority" means

(i) the City of Corner Brook,

(ii) the City of Mount Pearl,

(iii) the City of St. John's,

(iv) the St. John's Metropolitan Area Board,

(v) a local service district committee or the council of a town, community or region constituted or continued under the Municipalities Act, and

(vi) a regional government established by or under an Act;

(g) "waterworks" means a public, commercial or industrial works for the collection, production, treatment, storage, supply and distribution of water, or a part of those waterworks; and

(h) "works" includes all property, buildings, erections, plant, machinery, installations, materials, dams, canals, devices, fittings, apparatus, appliances and equipment.

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Department constituted

3. (1) There shall be a department of the government called the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs over which the Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor by commission under the Great Seal of the province shall preside.

(2) The minister has the management and direction of the department and holds office during pleasure.

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Staff

4. (1) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may appoint an officer called the Deputy Minster of Municipal and Provincial Affairs.

(2) The deputy minister shall be the deputy head of the department and shall hold office during pleasure.

(3) Those other officers and employees that are necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the department shall be appointed or employed in the manner authorized by law, but the minister may temporarily employ those technical and other assistants that the minister considers necessary.

(4) Where there is no deputy minister or the deputy minister is absent, and unless otherwise provided by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, an officer named by the minister has the powers and shall perform the duties of the deputy minister.

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Seal

5. (1) The department shall have a seal which shall be officially and judicially noticed.

(2) Where the official seal of the department is used, it shall be authenticated by the signature of the minister or by the signature of the deputy minister, or, where there is no deputy minister or the deputy minister is absent, by the signature of the person who, under subsection 4(4), has the powers of the deputy minister.

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Powers and duties of the minister

6. The powers, functions and duties of the minister extend to and include

(a) the supervision, control and direction of all matters relating to

(i) municipal affairs,

(ii) local government,

(iii) housing,

(iv) urban and rural planning and development,

(v) the operation of waterworks as set out in section 17,

(vi) the provision, subject to the regulations, of water services to unincorporated communities,

(vii) the encouragement of cultural activities in the province, including the supervision of

(A) arts and culture centres,

(B) the arts and letters committee, and

(C) public libraries,

(viii) the historic resources of the province,

(ix) the provincial archives,

(x) all museums established and operated by the province,

(xi) the archaeology, ethnology, fauna and flora of the province,

(xii) the encouragement, promotion, establishment, development, co-ordination and implementation, subject to the regulations, of amateur sport, fitness and recreational activities for the benefit of all citizens of the province and those other services and programs that the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may by order prescribe,

(xiii) the encouragement, promotion, establishment, development, co-ordination and implementation, subject to the regulations, of services and activities relating to the youth of the province,

(xiv) the state correspondence and the keeping of all state records and papers not especially transferred to other departments,

(xv) standards generally,

(xvi) communications generally, including all matters relating to liaison with a government, agency, corporation, body or person to the end that the communications needs and interests of the province are fully provided and protected, including needs and interests respecting broadcasting of radio and television and telephone and telegraphs, and

(xvii) the administration, subject to the Public Service Rearrangements and Transfers of Duties Act, of the Acts set out in the Schedule and of all orders and regulations passed or made under those Acts and of those other Acts, orders and regulations that are designated by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council,

which are not, or in so far as they are not, by law or by order of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, assigned to another minister or department of the government;

(b) liaison and co-operation with

(i) the Government of Canada or a department, agency or body under the jurisdiction of that government,

(ii) the government of a province in Canada or a department, agency or body under the jurisdiction of the government of a province or under the jurisdiction of the government of this province, or

(iii) a development corporation or other corporation or other body or person

that may be necessary or desirable for carrying out the purpose of this Act;

(c) the undertaking, promotion or recommendation of measures for the development, control and direction of matters referred to in paragraph (a);

(d) the collection, compilation, analyzing and recording of statistical and other information relating to matters referred to in paragraph (a);

(e) the preparation and publication of statistics, reports, records, bulletins, pamphlets, circulars and other means of disseminating information in relation to matters referred to in paragraph (a);

(f) the study of, reporting on and advising upon the administration of matters referred to in paragraph (a);

(g) the consideration of and reporting upon a recommendation for a change in the laws of the province relating to matters referred to in paragraph (a) that is presented or made by an organization or person;

(h) the making of inquiries into and reports upon legislation respecting matters referred to in paragraph (a) in force in Canada and throughout the world and, on the basis of those inquiries and reports, making those recommendations that may be advisable with regard to the laws of the province;

(i) the doing of other things or the exercise of other powers that are necessary or desirable for carrying out the purpose of this Act; and

(j) the exercise and discharge of other powers, functions and duties that the Lieutenant-Governor in Council assigns to the minister.

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Registrar general

7. (1) There shall continue to be a Registrar General of Newfoundland who shall register

(a) all instruments of summons, proclamations, commissions, letters-patent, writs and other instruments and documents issued under the Great Seal; and

(b) all bonds, warrants and other instruments requiring registration.

(2) The minister shall perform the duties of the Registrar General of Newfoundland.

(3) The minister may appoint 1 or more Deputy Registrars General of Newfoundland from among the officials of the department and delegate to those officials those duties and functions that the minister considers appropriate.

(4) The registrar general or the deputy registrar may sign and certify the registration of all instruments and documents required to be registered and all those copies of them or of those records in the custody of the registrar general that are required to be certified or authenticated as being copies of those instruments, documents or records.

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Consultation and conferences

8. In exercising the minister's powers or carrying out the minister's duties and functions under this Act, the minister may consult with and inaugurate conferences of representatives of those bodies or persons that the minister considers advisable.

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Agreements with governments

9. (1) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, the minister may enter into agreements with the Government of Canada or a province of Canada or an agency or body of the Government of Canada or of the government of a province providing for

(a) the joint undertaking by the government of the province or an agency of the government with those governments, or an agency or body of those governments, of projects relating to an aspect of the powers, functions or duties of the minister; and

(b) the payment by or to the province of contributions in respect of the cost of projects referred to in paragraph (a).

(2) The minister may, for the purpose of this Act, and subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, prepare and undertake, alone or with Canada or with a province of Canada, programs of research and investigation, and may coordinate those programs with other similar programs being undertaken in the province or elsewhere in Canada.

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Agreements generally

10. Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, the minister may

(a) enter into agreements with universities, educational institutions, the municipal authority exercising jurisdiction in a municipal area in the province and agreements with another person; or

(b) enter into an agreement for the purpose of exercising or discharging the minister's powers, duties or functions.

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Agreements amended

11. Power to enter into an agreement shall include power to amend that agreement but, where the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council to the original agreement is required, that approval is also required for an amending agreement.

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Prior approval for agreements

12. (1) Notwithstanding that the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council is required for an agreement under section 9 or 10, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may approve terms, conditions and monetary limits subject to which the minister may, without prior approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, enter into agreements under section 9 or 10.

(2) Subject to the terms, conditions and monetary limits approved by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council under subsection (1), the minister may enter into an agreement without the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

(3) Where the minister enters into an agreement under subsection (2), the minister may enter into an amending agreement, subject to those same terms, conditions and limits.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), where an amendment to an agreement would result in the agreement, as amended, exceeding or violating the terms, conditions and monetary limits, the minister shall not enter into the amending agreement without first obtaining the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

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Implementation of agreements

13. The minister may implement an agreement made under this Act.

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Other departments

14. In carrying out a project or research program under this Act or under an agreement made under this Act, the minister shall, where possible, make use of the services and facilities of other departments of the government.

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Boards, committees, etc.

15. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may establish boards, committees and councils to assist and advise the minister in carrying out this Act and appoint the members of those boards, committees and councils.

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Minister's power over boards

16. The rights, duties, powers, liabilities and functions of the minister extend and apply to those boards and other public bodies, officials, subjects, services and properties of the Crown that the Lieutenant-Governor in Council designates and assigns to the minister and over which the minister is given the control, regulation, management and supervision.

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Waterworks

17. (1) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council and to the Department of Environment and Lands Act, and regulations and orders made under that Act, the minister may by himself or herself or through a body approved by the minister, construct, take over, operate or manage those waterworks that it may be in the public interest to construct, take over, operate or manage, and the minister or that body approved by the minister shall have all powers for or incidental to the construction, taking over, operation or management, including powers to set user charges that the minister or that body considers desirable and charge and collect from a municipal authority or person user charges.

(2) The user charges referred to in subsection (1) may be set at a uniform rate or at different rates for different types of use or for different municipal authorities or persons.

(3) The powers for or incidental to the operation or management referred to in subjection (1) apply to the assets and other property referred to in subparagraph 6(a)(vi).

(4) Section 25 shall, with the necessary changes, apply in respect of the minister or body referred to in subsection (1) as fully as it applies to a water supply and sewage disposal committee referred to in that section.

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Inspection of municipal records

18. (1) Inspectors shall be appointed in the manner authorized by law, and they shall, as required by the minister, examine and inspect all books of record and account, all bank books, assessment and collection rolls and all other papers and matters belonging to a municipal authority.

(2) The books and records of every municipal authority shall be inspected under subsection (1) at least once in every year, and the minister may order a special inspection in the case of a municipal authority whenever the minister considers it advisable or upon the request of the municipal authority setting out clearly the reason why in the opinion of the municipal authority the special inspection is considered necessary.

(3) An inspector has power to require the attendance of an officer of the municipal authority or of another person whose presence the inspector may consider necessary during the course of his or her inspection and the inspector has the same power that is exercisable by a judge or court in civil cases to compel the attendance of the officer or person before him or her, to compel the production of documents and to take evidence under oath or affirmation and to administer the oath or affirmation.

(4) Whenever required to do so by an inspector, an officer of a municipal authority shall produce for examination and inspection all books, records, papers, documents and other property of the municipal authority in his or her possession.

(5) After the completion of the inspection of the books and records of a municipal authority, the inspector shall make a report on the inspection to the minister and to the municipal authority in the form prescribed by the minister.

(6) An inspector shall see that the regulations made by the minister respecting the methods of bookkeeping, accounting, recording and auditing of municipal affairs are carried out by the officers of a municipal authority.

(7) A person summoned in accordance with subsection (3) or required to produce in accordance with subsection (4) who neglects or refuses to attend and be examined or to produce for examination and inspection a book, record, paper, document or other property which that person is required to produce is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a penalty of $200 and to a further penalty of $20 for every day during which that person neglects or refuses to do so.

(8) All officers of the department shall by virtue of their office have the powers of inspectors appointed under this section for the purpose of this Act.

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Statement of accounts by banks

19. A bank or agency of a bank or another similar institution carrying on business in the province shall, upon request of the minister, provide the minister with a statement showing the balance or condition of the account of a municipal authority having an account with that bank or agency, together with particulars of the account that the minister may require.

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Procedure on irregularity

20. (1) Where the minister is satisfied, upon the report of an inspector appointed under section 18 or in another manner, that the affairs of a municipal authority are managed in an irregular, improper or improvident manner, the minister may by order in writing

(a) direct the municipal authority or an officer of the municipal authority to take action that the minister considers necessary or advisable in the circumstances; or

(b) subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, dismiss the municipal authority or a member of the municipal authority.

(2) Where direction given by the minister under paragraph (1)(a) is not carried out to the minister's satisfaction, the minister may by order in writing

(a) dismiss an officer of the municipal authority; or

(b) subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, dismiss the municipal authority or a member of the municipal authority.

(3) In the case of the dismissal of a municipal authority or of a member of a municipal authority, the minister may by order in writing direct the election of a new municipal authority or of a member to take the place of the authority or member dismissed, and, where an officer is dismissed, the minister may appoint another officer in his or her place and prescribe the remuneration which shall be payable to him or her by the municipal authority.

(4) Notwithstanding anything which may be to the contrary in the Municipalities Act, where an election is held under subsection (3) a member of the dismissed municipal authority and a member dismissed from a municipal authority is not qualified to be elected as a member of the new municipal authority or as a member of the municipal authority from which he or she was dismissed or of a different municipal authority where the election is held within 2 years after the date of the dismissal.

(5) The minister may, upon the dismissal of a municipal authority, upon the failure to nominate and elect a municipal authority where the minister has ordered a new election under subsection (3), or where the number of members or councillors of a municipal authority are less than a quorum, appoint, by order in writing, an official administrator or a commission of administration of 3 persons.

(6) Where the minister appoints an administrator or commission under this section, sections 475 to 489 of the Municipalities Act apply with the necessary changes.

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Inter-municipal questions

21. The minister has power to settle, adjust and decide questions arising between different municipal authorities respecting the rights, powers or duties conferred upon them by an Act.

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Plebiscites

22. (1) The minister may order that a plebiscite be held in an area defined in the order to ascertain the views of the residents of that area on a matter related to local government.

(2) An order made under subsection (1) may

(a) set the date of the holding of the plebiscite;

(b) set the question to be voted on in the plebiscite; and

(c) appoint a returning officer and other persons to administer the holding of the plebiscite.

(3) The results of a plebiscite held under subsection (1) are not binding on the minister.

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Voters

23. (1) A person who

(a) is a Canadian citizen 18 years of age or over; and

(b) has resided in the area in which the plebiscite is to be held for a period of not less than 1 year immediately before the date of the plebiscite,

may vote in a plebiscite ordered under section 22.

(2) The minister may direct the taking of a list of voters to ascertain those persons entitled to vote in a plebiscite ordered under section 22.

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Regulations re plebiscites

24. The minister may make regulations

(a) prescribing the form of the ballots and other documents to be used in a plebiscite;

(b) prescribing the fees to be paid to a returning officer and other persons administering a plebiscite;

(c) prescribing the procedure for giving notice of a plebiscite; and

(d) for other purposes related to the holding of a plebiscite.

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Expropriation

25. (1) Subject to the approval of the minister, where a water supply and sewage disposal committee existing by virtue of the regulations desires to acquire, by expropriation, land, the expropriation may be made in the manner prescribed by the Public Utilities Acquisition of Lands Act, for the expropriation of land or an interest in land by a public utility, and compensation shall be assessed and paid in the manner provided by that Act.

(2) Subsection (1) does not restrict the operation of the Expropriation Act.

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Power to install pipes, etc.

26. Subject to the Waters Protection Act, the Department of Environment and Lands Act, the Department of Works, Services and Transportation Act and applicable provisions of the Public Utilities Act, as well as regulations and orders made under those Acts, and with the prior approval in writing of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, who may give that approval upon those terms that the Lieutenant-Governor in Council considers advisable, a water supply and sewage disposal committee existing by virtue of the regulations may install and maintain water pipes and all other necessary works for the use of the committee along the sides of, over, across or under Crown lands, public roads, streets and bridges in the community concerned as defined under the regulations.

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Audit

27. Where the Lieutenant-Governor in Council orders, the auditor general shall audit the accounts of a water supply and sewage disposal committee existing by virtue of the regulations and specified in the relevant order and has authority to call for, and the water supply and sewage disposal committee shall supply, the books and vouchers that the auditor considers necessary for his or her audit.

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Municipalities Act

28. (1) Paragraphs 29(1)(e) to (ff) and sections 25 to 27 apply only in relation to water supply and sewage disposal committees continued under subsection 639(2) of the Municipalities Act.

(2) Where a water supply and sewage disposal committee is replaced by a local service district committee under the Municipalities Act, paragraphs 29(1)(e) to (ff) and sections 25 to 27 cease to apply in relation to that local service district committee.

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Regulations

29. (1) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) necessary or desirable for the carrying out of the minister's powers, functions and duties under this Act;

(b) prescribing the system of bookkeeping, accounting, recording and auditing to be used by municipal authorities and officers or employees of municipal authorities;

(c) prescribing books and forms to be used by municipal authorities and officers or employees of municipal authorities in their bookkeeping, accounting, recording and auditing;

(d) respecting a matter or thing conducive to a thorough and systematic conduct of their affairs by municipal authorities and the officers and employees of municipal authorities;

(e) providing for the selection, by election or otherwise, of a water supply and sewage disposal committee for a community and respecting the number of and duration in office of the members of that committee;

(f) providing for the defining by order of the minister, for the purposes of paragraph (e), of a community, and defining a community to consist of 1 or more settlements or villages or a part of settlements or villages or a combination of whole settlements or villages and a part of settlements or villages;

(g) prescribing, for the purposes of elections under paragraph (e),

(i) the procedure for conducting,

(ii) the persons eligible to vote in,

(iii) the persons eligible to be elected by, and

(iv) the time of conducting

those elections, and providing for other matters relating to those elections that appear necessary or desirable to fully implement the purpose and intent of this Act;

(h) providing for the approval and issuance of a certificate by the minister in respect of a water supply and sewage disposal committee for a community and providing that upon the issuance of that certificate the water supply and sewage disposal committee shall be established and operate under this Act and the regulations;

(i) prescribing the powers, functions and duties of water supply and sewage disposal committees;

(j) providing that water supply and sewage disposal committees shall be considered to be corporations within the meaning of section 20 of the Interpretation Act;

(k) exempting a water supply and sewage disposal committee from some or all of the Public Utilities Act;

(l) to prevent the pollution of waters, within or outside the limits of a community, as defined under paragraph (f), for the purpose of providing wholesome water for the purposes of the community concerned;

(m) prohibiting the connecting of water supply pipes and sewage disposal pipes to a building by a person other than an employee of or other person engaged by the appropriate water supply and sewage disposal committee for the purpose;

(n) prescribing the conditions under which the appropriate water supply and sewage disposal committee will permit a person other than an employee of or other person engaged by that committee to connect water supply pipes and sewage disposal pipes to a building;

(o) prescribing the specifications and quality of materials to be used to connect water supply pipes and sewage disposal pipes serving a community as defined under paragraph (f) to a building;

(p) for the protection of water supply pipes and sewage disposal pipes serving a community as defined under paragraph (f) and for keeping them free from obstruction;

(q) requiring the owner or occupier or both the owner and occupier of a building or other premises or part of a building or premises which is within 60 metres, or a lesser distance that may be prescribed in the regulations, of a public water supply system and sewage disposal system serving a community as defined under paragraph (f) to connect the building or other premises or part of a building or premises to the system;

(r) providing that the connection of a building or other premises or part of a building or premises to a public water supply and sewage disposal system serving a community as defined under paragraph (f) in accordance with regulations made under paragraph (q) shall be done wholly at the expense of the appropriate water supply and sewage disposal committee or of the owner or occupier of the building or other premises or part of the building or premises or partly at the expense of the appropriate water supply and sewage disposal committee and partly at the expense of the owner or occupier;

(s) fixing and establishing rates to be charged for water supplied by a water supply and sewage disposal committee and different rates may be established with respect to different committees or with respect to the same committee under different circumstances and respecting

(i) the control and management of the system,

(ii) the fixing, collecting, holding and repayment, with or without interest, by the appropriate water supply and sewage disposal committee of deposits to be paid, in the discretion of the committee, by the owner or occupier of a building or premises or part of a building or premises to which water supply pipes and sewage disposal pipes are connected, and

(iii) the discontinuance of the supply of water to an occupier of a building or premises or part of a building or premises who fails to pay on the due date rates payable by him or her under this Act;

(t) fixing the charges which the appropriate water supply and sewage disposal committee may make for services it provides or performs for the purpose of connecting water supply pipes and sewage disposal pipes to a building or premises or part of a building or premises and fixing different charges in respect of different buildings or premises or classes of buildings or premises or in respect of different parts or the same part of an area serviced by the water supply pipes and sewage disposal pipes;

(u) fixing, by agreement with the owners of buildings or premises, the charges to be made for the services referred to in paragraph (t), in those cases and under those conditions that may be prescribed in the regulations;

(v) providing for officers for water supply and sewage disposal committees and prescribing their powers, functions and duties;

(w) prescribing annual and other meetings of water supply and sewage disposal committees;

(x) making rules for governing the proceedings of water supply and sewage disposal committees, the general conduct of their business and the use and custody of their seals;

(y) providing that water supply and sewage disposal committees shall serve without remuneration or with the remuneration that the regulations may prescribe;

(z) prescribing what books and records shall be kept by water supply and sewage disposal committees and what reports shall be made by those committees and when and to whom;

(aa) providing for annual and other meetings of householders in a community and prescribing for what purposes those meetings shall be held and the effect of those meetings;

(bb) defining householders for the purpose of this Act and the regulations;

(cc) prescribing contributions to be made by householders, in cash or in kind, or both, for the purpose of this Act and the regulations;

(dd) providing for grants to water supply and sewage disposal committees and the amount and time of payment of the grants, and prescribing the terms and conditions under which those grants may be made, including conditions respecting contributions to be made by householders under paragraph (cc);

(ee) providing for loans to water supply and sewage disposal committees and the amount and time of repayment of the loans, and prescribing the terms and conditions of and under which those loans may be made;

(ff) authorizing the minister to order the disallowance of works proposed by a water supply and sewage disposal committee or the discontinuance of works already commenced and prescribing how the order shall be made known to the water supply and sewage disposal committee concerned;

(gg) providing for the holding of inquiries into the operation of this Act and into a charge or complaint that a person who has contravened this Act or the regulations, or has made a false statement in a form, return, account or statement required to be completed or made under this Act or the regulations, or into other matters arising in the administration of this Act, and providing that the person holding the inquiry shall have all of the powers that are or may be conferred upon a commissioner by or under the Public Inquiries Act, including the power to take evidence under oath or affirmation;

(hh) providing for the management, maintenance, proper use and protection of real or personal property of which the minister has the management and control; and

(ii) generally, to give effect to the purpose of this Act.

(2) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, in regulations made under subsection (1), prescribe penalties for contravening those regulations.

(3) For the purposes of paragraphs (1)(b) and (c), the minister may furnish municipal authorities with sample sets of books and forms which the minister considers necessary or advisable for the proper carrying out of the regulations.

(4) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, with respect to paragraphs (1)(b) and (c), prescribe different systems, books and forms for the several classes of municipal authorities, may prescribe a specific system and specific books and forms for a specified municipal authority and may exempt a specified municipal authority from compliance with some or all of the regulations.

(5) The making of regulations under paragraphs (1)(e) to (ff) shall be subject to the Waters Protection Act, the Department of Environment and Lands Act, the Department of Works, Services and Transportation Act, and applicable provisions of the Public Utilities Act, as well as regulations and orders made under those Acts.

(6) Regulations made under this section may be limited as to time or place or both and different regulations may be made under paragraphs (1)(e) to (ff) with respect to different communities or with respect to the same community under different circumstances.

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Documents

30. (1) An agreement, deed or other writing made or executed under this Act shall not bind the government or the minister or be held to be the act of the government or the minister unless it is signed by the minister or by the deputy minister or 1 of the persons designated under subsection 4(4) to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the deputy minister in the circumstances specified.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to transaction in the ordinary course of administering the affairs of the department under this Act.

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Accounts

31. The minister, the deputy minister or an officer named by the minister under subsection 4(4) may require an account furnished by a person, whether in the employ of the department or not, to be attested on oath or affirmation, which oath or affirmation may be administered by the minister, the deputy minister or an officer referred to in subsection 4(4).

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Security

32. The minister, the deputy minister or an officer named by the minister under subsection 4(4) shall have power to require and take security by way of bond or deposit of money for the performance of work in accordance with an agreement entered into with the minister or the department or an employee of the department.

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Actions

33. Unless otherwise provided by law, all actions, suits and other proceedings taken by the minister or the department for the enforcement of an agreement or for the recovery of damages in tort or arising out of contract or for the trial of a right in respect of real or other property under the control of the minister shall be instituted in the name of the Attorney General.

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Certified copies of documents

34. A copy of a map, plan or other document in the custody of the department, certified by the deputy minister to be a true copy, is considered to be authentic and is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, evidence of the same legal effect as the original for the purpose of a proceeding in a court or for another purpose.

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Property

35. (1) The minister, for and in the name of the Crown, may acquire by purchase, lease or otherwise and hold, manage and control real or personal property which the minister considers necessary for the purpose of this Act.

(2) The minister may

(a) sell; or

(b) lease, rent, hire or otherwise dispose of for a period and subject to those terms and conditions that the minister may stipulate,

property of which the minister has the management and control.

(3) All money received by the minister in exercise of the powers conferred on the minister by subsection (2) shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

(4) Where the Crown acquires or disposes of property through the minister, the minister or the deputy minister may execute all deeds and documents on behalf of the Crown with his or her signature and official title and with the seal of the department.

1989 c30 s35

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Entry on land

36. (1) The minister, after giving

(a) to the owner of land, where the owner is known and available and can easily be contacted; or

(b) to the occupier of occupied land, whether or not the occupier is the owner of the land, where the occupier lives on a part of the land or is known and available and can easily be contacted,

reasonable notice, may authorize an engineer, agent, servant or worker employed by or under the minister to enter into and upon the land and survey the land and make those borings or sink those trial-pits and cut those trees that the minister considers necessary relative to the work under his or her control and where agreement cannot be reached between the minister and the party having ownership of the land as to compensation to be paid, the amount of compensation shall be ascertained in the manner provided by law for assessing the compensation payable where land is expropriated.

(2) The minister shall, by his or her engineers, agents, servants and workers,

(a) in doing anything authorized by subsection (1), exercise reasonable precautions to prevent fires; and

(b) fill in, as soon as practicable, the borings and trial-pits referred to in subsection (1), as nearly as reasonably possible to the condition existing before the borings were made and the trial-pits were sunk.

1989 c30 s36

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Prohibition

37. A person shall not

(a) obstruct or interfere with an engineer, agent, servant or worker of the minister engaged in exercising on behalf of the minister power under this Act; or

(b) interfere with an erection placed upon or work done on land under this Act.

1989 c30 s37

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Payments

38. Payments required to be made by or on behalf of the Crown under an agreement entered into under this Act or in carrying out this Act or the regulations shall be paid by the Minister of Finance, on the request of the minister, out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

1989 c30 s38

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Offences

39. (1) A person who contravenes this Act or the regulations is guilty of an offence and is, where no penalty is specifically provided in this Act or the regulations, liable on summary conviction in the case of a 1st conviction to a fine not exceeding $500 and in the case of a 2nd or subsequent conviction of or a similar offence to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and, in either case, in default of payment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), a conviction is not considered to be a 2nd or subsequent conviction unless it is in respect of an offence committed within 12 months after a prior offence, and all convictions that are not 2nd or subsequent convictions are considered 1st convictions.

(3) Every continuance for a day or part of a day of the contravention referred to in subsection (1) constitutes a separate offence.

1989 c30 s39

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Consent to prosecution

40. A prosecution under this Act or the regulations shall not be taken except with the written consent of the minister.

1989 c30 s40

 

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Schedule

1. Amateur Sports Federation Act

2. Archives Act

3. Arts Council Act

4. Assessment Act

5. Assessment (Validation) Act, 1959

6. Books Preservation of Copies Act

7. Botwood Water Corporation Act, 1952

8. Building Standards Act

9. Canada Games Park Commission Act

10. Carbonear Water Company Acts, 1884-1952

11. City of Corner Brook Act

12. City of Mount Pearl Act

13. City of St. John's Act

14. City of St. John's (Agreement) Act, 1952

15. City of St. John's (Development) Act, 1964

16. City of St. John's (Loan) Acts, 1956-1971

17. Coat of Arms Act

18. Colonial Building Historic Site Act

19. Commemoration Day Act

20. Condominium Act

21. Crown Corporations Local Taxation Act

22. Emergency Measures Act

23. Exhibition of Advertisements Act

24. Family Homes Expropriation Act

25. Fire Prevention Act

26. Floral Emblem Act

27. Harbour Grace Water Company Acts, 1863-1952

28. Historic Resources Act

29. Housing Act

30. Housing Association Loans Act

31. Housing Corporation Act

32. Labrador Act

33. Larkin's Pond Reservoir Act, 1956

34. Mineral Emblem Act

35. Municipal Grants Act

36. Municipalities Act

37. Newspapers and Books Act

38. Provincial Anthem Act

39. Provincial Flag Act

40. Public Libraries Act

41. Remembrance Day Act

42. Rural District of Placentia Act

43. St. John's Assessment Act

44. St. John's Fire Department Act

45. St. John's Metropolitan Area Act

46. St. John's Municipal Council Parks Act

47. St. John's Municipal Elections Act

48. Cap. XIV of 23 & 24 Geo. V (1933)

49. St. John's Municipal (Loan) Acts, 1944 and 1953

50. Senior Citizens Housing Act

51. Standard Time Act

52. Telephone Service Act

53. Town Council Bond Guarantee Act, 1951

54. Town of Jerseyside Boundaries Act, 1963

55. Urban and Rural Planning Act

56. Water and Sewerage Corporation of Greater Corner Brook Act, 1951

57. Youth Advisory Council Act

1989 c30 Sch

©Earl G. Tucker, Queen's Printer