Second Session, Thirty-Seventh Legislature

This version is based on the printed bill that was distributed in the Legislature after First Reading.
It is not the official version.   If accuracy is critical, you can obtain a copy of the printed bill from Statutory Publications.

Bill 7

THE MANITOBA HYDRO AMENDMENT ACT

(Assented to                                         )

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:

C.C.S.M. c. H190 amended

1

The Manitoba Hydro Act is amended by this Act.

2

Section 15.1 is replaced by the following:

Definitions

15.1(1)

In this section,

"joint enterprise" means

(a) a partnership, joint venture or similar arrangement, or

(b) a company, other than the corporation or a subsidiary,

in which the corporation or a subsidiary has an interest and which owns or operates a major facility or business; (« coentreprise »)

"major facility or business" means

(a) a major facility in Manitoba for generating, transmitting or distributing power, and

(b) the business of generating, transmitting or distributing power in Manitoba or of supplying fuel in Manitoba. (« installation ou entreprise importante »)

No sale by corporation or subsidiary

15.1(2)

Neither the corporation nor a subsidiary shall

(a) sell, lease or otherwise dispose of, except to the corporation or a subsidiary, all or any part of its interest in a major facility or business;

(b) sell or otherwise dispose of, except to the corporation or a subsidiary, any of its shares of a subsidiary that owns or operates a major facility or business or has acquired an interest in a joint enterprise pursuant to subsection 15(1.2); or

(c) sell or otherwise dispose of all or a substantial part of an interest acquired in a joint enterprise pursuant to subsection 15(1.2).

No issue of shares by subsidiary

15.1(3)

No subsidiary that owns or operates a major facility or business or has acquired an interest in a joint enterprise pursuant to subsection 15(1.2) shall issue, except to the corporation or another subsidiary, any shares of its capital stock.

No sale of major facility or business acquired under 1997 amendments

15.1(4)

No joint enterprise in which the corporation or a subsdiary has acquired an interest pursuant to subsection 15(1.2) shall sell, lease or otherwise dispose of, except to the corporation or a subsidiary, all or a substantial part of its interest in a major facility or business.

No guarantee by corporation or subsidiary

15.1(5)

Neither the corporation nor a subsidiary shall guarantee the borrowings or obligations of any person, except that the corporation or a subsidiary may, with the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, guarantee the borrowings or obligations of a subsidiary.

3

The following is added after section 15.2:

No privatization without referendum

15.3(1)

The government shall not present to the Legislative Assembly a bill to authorize or effect a privatization of the corporation unless the government first puts the question of the advisability of the privatization to the voters of Manitoba in a referendum, and the privatization is approved by a majority of the votes cast in the referendum.

Procedures for referendum

15.3(2)

A referendum under this section shall be conducted and managed by the Chief Electoral Officer in the same manner, to the extent possible, as a general election under The Elections Act, and the provisions of that Act apply with necessary modifications to such a referendum.

Question to be put to voters

15.3(3)

The question to be put to voters in a referendum under this section shall be determined by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council at the commencement of the referendum process.

Regulations re procedures

15.3(4)

The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make any regulations that the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers necessary respecting the referendum process to give effect to this section, including, without limitation, regulations

(a) governing the preparation of a voters list;

(b) governing the expenses that may be incurred and the contributions that may be made, and by whom, in connection with a referendum, including placing limits on such expenses and contributions and establishing registration and reporting requirements for persons or organizations who make such contributions or incur such expenses;

(c) where greater certainty is required, modifying to the extent necessary the provisions of The Elections Act to make them applicable to the requirements of a referendum.

Costs of referendum

15.3(5)

The costs of conducting a referendum under this section shall be paid from the Consolidated Fund.

Amendment or repeal

15.4(1)

Any bill introduced in the Legislative Assembly to amend, repeal, override or suspend the operation of this section or section 15.1 or 15.3 shall be referred at the committee stage to a standing committee of the Legislative Assembly which provides the opportunity for representations by members of the public.

Requirements re hearings

15.4(2)

The standing committee referred to in subsection (1) shall not meet to review the bill until seven days after the later of

(a) the day the bill is distributed in the Legislative Assembly; and

(b) the day the public is given notice of the date, time and place of the meeting.

Coming into force

4

This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.