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Third 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 41

THE MANITOBA HYDRO AMENDMENT ACT


Explanatory Note

(Assented to                          )

WHEREAS Manitoba Hydro has accumulated substantial retained earnings as a steward of a public resource;

AND WHEREAS the Province of Manitoba faces exceptional fiscal challenges in light of

(a) the economic slowdown that followed the acts of terrorism of September 11, 2001, and

(b) the significant impact of a federal accounting error on the province's revenue;

AND WHEREAS it is desirable to require Manitoba Hydro to apply up to $288,000,000. of its retained earnings to assist the province in maintaining fiscal stability;

THEREFORE 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(1)

Subsection 43(4) is amended by adding the following after subclause (b)(iii):

(iv) as a payment under subsection (5); or

2(2)

The following is added after subsection 43(4):

Distributions from retained earnings

43(5)

The corporation shall pay a portion of its retained earnings to the government for its general purposes as follows:

(a) as soon as practicable after this subsection comes into force, an amount equal to the lesser of

(i) $150,000,000., and

(ii)  75% of the corporation's net income for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2002;

(b) in accordance with subsection (6), 75% of the corporation's net income for the year ending on March 31, 2003, or any lesser amount determined by the Lieutenant Governor in Council; and

(c) in accordance with subsection (6), 75% of the corporation's net income for the year ending on March 31, 2004, or any lesser amount determined by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

But the total of the amounts paid under this subsection shall not exceed $288,000,000.

Timing of distributions

43(6)

Amounts payable under clauses (5)(b) and (c) shall be estimated and remitted to the government before the end of the fiscal year to which they relate.  As soon as practicable after the amount payable for the year is determined, the government shall refund any excess to the corporation and the corporation shall remit any shortfall to the government.

Coming into force

3

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

Explanatory Note

This Bill amends The Manitoba Hydro Act to require Manitoba Hydro to distribute up to $288,000,000. of its retained earnings to the government by the end of its 2003-04 fiscal year.