Miscellaneous statutes bill introduced
By Contributor
B.C.’s attorney general introduced a bill Monday that would create a new Family Law Act to replace the 1978 Family Relations Act, and better serve the interests of children.
Shirley Bond told the B.C. Legislature that the primary goal of the proposed act is to ensure the safety and well-being of children during and after the process of separation or divorce.
Bill 16’s recommendations follow from a discussion paper and draft legislation issued in July 2010. The white paper suggested, among other things, toning down the language in the law by removing terms such as “custody.”
The bill tries to reduce conflict by steering couples away form courts and towards mediation.
The proposed new law, if passed, would also curb family violence by replacing restraining orders issued by civil court with protection orders issued by criminal court.
Other measures
Bill 19, the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 3), 2011, was introduced in the legislature Monday. If passed, the amendments will affect the following provincial statutes.
Agricultural Land Commission Act – Changes strengthen the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) by giving it a greater ability to focus on preserving farmland, while expanding enforcement. Other changes will help evolve the ALC into a sustainable organization through additional funding and provisions for increased revenue generation by the ALC.
Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act – Proposed legislation will ensure that the Maa-nulth Forest Compensation Interim Regulation applies retroactively from April 1, 2011 and will continue until all compensation negotiations for former forestry tenures on what are now Maa-nulth treaty lands have been finalized.
Mines Act – Amendments will give the Province the power to introduce regulations that would exempt some lower-risk activities from the permitting process. This approach will reduce the regulatory burden on industry, allow it to grow the mining sector, save individual companies time and money and, ultimately, help create jobs. Regulations will be developed in consultation with First Nations, industry and the public. Higher-risk activities will continue to require permitting under British Columbia’s strict regulatory regime.
Motor Vehicle Act – The proposed amendment will facilitate British Columbia’s implementation of the Canadian Driver’s Licence Agreement. Without this change, all current B.C. licence holders would need to produce proof of citizenship upon licence renewal. The proposed legislation will enable government to exempt existing driver licence holders from the requirement to prove their Canadian citizenship or legal entitlement to be in Canada.
Protected Areas of British Columbia Act – Proposed amendments add 9.7 hectares to Stawamus Chief Park.
Public Service Labour Relations Act – The proposed amendment replaces the reference to the Public Affairs Bureau with that organization’s new name, Government Communications and Public Engagement. This will ensure references to organizations included in the act are current and accurate.
Public Sector Employers Act –The act currently indicates the chair of Treasury Board is the minister responsible for the act, but since 2008 responsibility has been assigned to other ministers under the authority of the Constitution Act. The proposed amendments simply remove the definition of minister so that the contradiction is removed.
Special Accounts Appropriation and Control Act – Proposed changes will expand the scope of the Environmental Remediation Sub-account to allow funding of environmental remediation of Crown land damaged by an activity that violates a statute under the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations’ mandate. The cost of performing a complex investigation as a result of such a violation could also be offset by funds in the sub-account.
Wildlife Act – Amendments will create new recreational opportunities for interested youth and adults, support the guide outfitting industry and provide conservation officers more enforcement to prevent human-wildlife conflicts and increase public safety. As being a guide outfitter is often a lifetime career, the changes extend the term for guide certificates to a maximum of 25 years (from 10 years) and will help provide greater business certainty. The requirement to submit a guide report after a hunt will be moved from the act to regulations and consideration will be given to extending the report submission deadline to give guide outfitters more flexibility and time. Other proposed amendments include: increasing the age limit of youth (junior) from 10 to 13 years to 10 to 17 years; the creation of a new mentorship initiation hunting licence for residents 18 years old and above, which will permit individuals to explore hunting under the close supervision of an experienced hunter; and a prohibition and $230 fine for the mismanagement of attractants (such as food, compost and garbage waste) that could invite dangerous wildlife, such as grizzly and black bears, cougars, coyotes and wolves.
