The amendment motion is written with an (a) and a (b) part. This is only done because of the way we have drafted or amended the definition of “soliciting corporation”. It has to be moved out of the actual definitions and listed separately. What I will comment on is the (b) part of the motion, which is the substance.
What the Canadian Bar Association and a few others commented on was some concern about determining exactly at what moment a corporation became or ceased to be a soliciting corporation, and over what period you're looking at income to determine whether in a particular fiscal year they are over the $10,000.
What we have tried to do, again keeping as much as possible of the detail in the regulation, is add two new things that will be prescribed. The way this definition will now work, you will do a calculation to determine whether you were over the threshold on the last day of the financial year-end. It will work such that you are looking at a period of 36 months, from the financial year-end backwards. We cannot just count back three financial year-ends, because under the Income Tax Act you can have a financial year that is less than 12 months long. We're making it clear that this may include four or five financial year-ends, if they have been triggered by the Income Tax Act.
Second, if you are becoming “soliciting” or ceasing to be “soliciting”, that change will take place at an annual meeting. If your financial year-end is December 31 and you're holding your annual meeting May 1, you do the calculation of income based on December 31, but you would become “soliciting” at the annual meeting on May 1, since one of the criteria is the number of directors, and you make that change at the annual meeting.
It has to do with trying to keep track of how long you're “soliciting”, which will be based on your annual meetings. The calculation to determine whether you have the required amount of public funds will be based on your financial year-ends, which is the same moment as that for which an accountant has to put together the financial statements. If there is a public account, the review is done.
This should make very clear when you become and when you cease to be a soliciting company and for exactly what time period you are doing the calculations. That's what we have proposed in this amendment.