BILL 11 – 2004
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
AMENDMENT ACT, 2004

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

Financial Administration Act

1 Sections 32 to 35 of the Financial Administration Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 138, are repealed and the following substituted:

Expenditures from appropriations

32 An expenditure from an appropriation

(a) must be a lawful charge against the appropriation,

(b) must not result in an expenditure in excess of the appropriation, and

(c) must not reduce the balance available in the appropriation so that it would be insufficient to meet the commitments that are chargeable against it.

Expenditure authorization

32.1 (1) The following persons may authorize an expenditure from an appropriation:

(a) a minister or deputy minister;

(b) an officer of the Legislature within the meaning of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;

(c) a person to whom this authority is delegated by a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) in accordance with directives of the Treasury Board, subject to any limits and conditions established by the delegation;

(d) a person given this authority by a directive of the Treasury Board, subject to any limits and conditions established by the directive.

(2) The authority of a person referred to in subsection (1) (a) or (b) extends only to expenditures from an appropriation for that part of the public service of which the person has charge.

(3) Before giving an expenditure authorization under subsection (1), the person must be satisfied that the expenditure will not contravene section 32.

(4) An expenditure authorization under subsection (1) may be given by written or electronic signature.

Payment from an appropriation

33 (1) In this section:

"deliverable" includes any thing, service, interest or benefit provided or to be provided;

"payment condition" means a condition that must be met before a payment is made, regardless of whether the condition is established by an agreement, an enactment or some other means.

(2) A payment must not be made out of an appropriation unless

(a) the expenditure to which the payment relates is authorized under section 32.1,

(b) the payment complies with any applicable Treasury Board directives,

(c) in the case of a payment for which there is a payment condition, the payment condition has been met, and

(d) in the case of a payment relating to the provision of a deliverable, the requirements of either subsection (3) or (4) are met.

(3) Under this subsection, the payment may be made if

(a) the deliverable has been provided, and

(b) the price charged or amount to be paid

(i) is in accordance with an agreement under which the deliverable was provided, or

(ii) if this is not specified by agreement, is reasonable.

(4) Under this subsection, the payment may be made if

(a) the deliverable has not yet been provided,

(b) the deliverable is to be provided under an agreement, and

(c) the payment is in accordance with the agreement.

(5) This section does not apply to the allocation of a non-cash expense.

Trust fund expenditures and payments

33.1 (1) This section applies to expenditures and payments from trust funds to the extent that it is not in conflict with the trust, instrument or other authority by which the money is held as trust funds.

(2) The following persons may authorize an expenditure from a trust fund:

(a) the trustee;

(b) a person to whom this authority is delegated by the trustee, subject to any limits and conditions established by the delegation.

(3) Before giving an expenditure authorization under subsection (2), the person must be satisfied that the expenditure is in accordance with the trust.

(4) An expenditure authorization under subsection (2) may be given by written or electronic signature.

(5) Section 33 applies to a trust fund, subject to the following:

(a) the reference in section 33 (2) (a) to section 32.1 is to be read as a reference to this section;

(b) section 33 (2) (b) does not apply.

Obligation to report to Comptroller General

33.2 In addition to any other duty to report respecting such a matter, every person who is a member of the public service has an obligation to report to the Comptroller General if the person considers that

(a) an expenditure is or is about to be authorized in contravention of section 32.1 or 33.1, or

(b) a payment is or is about to be made in contravention of section 33 or 33.1.

Comptroller General authority

34 (1) If, after receiving information under section 33.2 or otherwise, the Comptroller General considers that an expenditure or proposed expenditure does not comply with this or any other enactment, he or she may order

(a) that the expenditure is not authorized, and

(b) that payments relating to the expenditure may not be made after the date of the order.

(2) If, after receiving information under section 33.2 or otherwise, the Comptroller General considers that a proposed payment does not comply with this or any other enactment, he or she may order that the payment may not be made.

(3) At the request of a person referred to in section 32.1 (1) (a) or (b) or section 33.1 (2) (a), the Comptroller General must

(a) give written reasons for an order under subsection (1) or (2), and

(b) send a copy of the reasons to the Treasury Board.

(4) At the request of a person referred to in subsection (3), the Treasury Board may

(a) review an order of the Comptroller General under this section that relates to an expenditure for which the person is responsible, and

(b) either

(i) confirm the Comptroller General's order, or

(ii) on the certificate of the Attorney General that the expenditure or payment would not contravene any enactment, direct that the expenditure be authorized or the payment be made, subject to conditions the Treasury Board specifies.

(5) On receiving a request from the Comptroller General for direction respecting the authority for an expenditure or payment, the Treasury Board may order

(a) that the expenditure is authorized or that it is not authorized, or

(b) that the payment may be made, that the payment may be made subject to conditions specified by the Treasury Board or that the payment may not be made.

Annual statement by Comptroller General

35 By August 31 in each year, the Comptroller General must deliver to the Treasury Board and to the Auditor General a summary statement respecting the previous fiscal year, indicating the circumstances in which

(a) he or she has been overruled by the Treasury Board under section 34 (4),

(b) more money has been spent than was appropriated,

(c) a payment has been made for a purpose not authorized by the appropriation, unless the payment was recovered before the end of the fiscal year,

(d) an expenditure or payment has been made without proper authorization under section 32.1, 33 or 33.1, or

(e) an expenditure or payment has been made that in his or her opinion is in any other way materially irregular or unlawful.

Transitional Provision

Transitional provision respecting
Comptroller General reports

2 Section 35 [annual statement by Comptroller General] of the Financial Administration Act, as it read before its repeal by this Act, applies to the 2003-2004 fiscal year, and the first application of the new section 35, as enacted by this Act, is to the 2004-2005 fiscal year.

Commencement

3 This Act comes into force on April 1, 2004.