Bill C-258 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act (qualification of auditor)

This bill was last introduced in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session, which ended in March 2011.

This bill was previously introduced in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session.

Sponsor

Pat Martin  NDP

Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)

Status

Outside the Order of Precedence (a private member's bill that hasn't yet won the draw that determines which private member's bills can be debated), as of Jan. 27, 2009
(This bill did not become law.)

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

This enactment provides that a person may not become the auditor of a corporation if the person has provided professional services to the corporation or any of its affiliates within two years of the person’s proposed appointment.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Canada Business Corporations ActRoutine Proceedings

January 27th, 2009 / 3:15 p.m.
See context

NDP

Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-258, An Act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act (qualification of auditor).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for Thunder Bay—Rainy River for being present to second this important legislation.

The bill is based on the premise that white-collar crime is, in fact, a blue-collar issue. Working people need to be able to trust the financial statements of the companies where their pension plans are invested. As it stands now, there is no independence of auditors. In fact, the auditor that reports on the financial statements of a company may be the same financial adviser that gives it advice on its income taxes. How can an auditor give advice for one financial service and then audit the veracity of that very same work?

The bill would make it such that a person might not become the auditor of a corporation if that person had provided other professional services to that corporation or any of its other spinoff corporations within two years of the person's proposed appointment as the auditor. This would ensure that working people could trust the integrity of the financial statements of the companies where they would be investing their hard-earned pension dollars.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)