Robert Bouchard

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, May 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup for his excellent presentation. He spoke to a point that we argued for in committee, the classification of organizations.

In the hon. member's opinion, how would Bill C-4 have been improved if a classification of organizations had been accepted and made part of the bill?

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, May 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member for Repentigny on his brilliant speech about Bill C-4.

As he pointed out, Bill C-4 modernizes the existing act and makes the system more democratic.

I would also like him to comment on an element he did not mention, but that I am sure he can discuss: the elimination of the minister's discretionary power. I would like him to comment on the fact that the powers are now in the hands of members and organizations.

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, May 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I first want to congratulate the member for Berthier—Maskinongé for his speech. He gave us a good summary of Bill C-4. It is obvious that he is very well acquainted with the voluntary sector and the structure of not-for-profit organizations. This is very interesting and commendable. I also think that volunteers who work at the local and national levels deserve our admiration.

He talked about a lot of things but I want to ask him a question about financial statements. These have to be made available to members, to the director appointed under the act and to organizations collecting funds.

I would like the member to tell us why, in his opinion, financial statements are useful and should be made available to the public and to members.

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, May 5th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, the main purpose of Bill C-4 is not to propose funding, but to modernize regulations governing rights of incorporation in Canada.

One good reason to make that happen is transparency. When an organization raises funds from members of the public, it is accountable to those providing the funds. Financial reports have to be made available. Any member belonging to a national corporation should have access to the list of members and, as a member, should be able to review the organization's financial information and management policies. The current act does not allow for such things.

Bill C-4 introduces transparency and a modern approach. Organizations should be accountable to those who contribute financially.

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, May 5th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, we wanted a classification system. There are so many different kinds of organizations. Any organization that meets set criteria, whether it is charitable, political or social, is placed in the same category.

We think that it would have been easier to classify organizations according to type. For example, an organization involved in minor hockey in Canada would be in the sport category. It would be distinct. Sports-related organizations and charitable organizations would have different criteria.

Time will tell, but we think that this kind of classification would have been a good thing for organizations. Maybe there should be criteria enabling organizations to get recognition or to be granted a charter in their field.

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, May 5th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, Bill C-4 creates legislation regulating and governing organizations incorporated across Canada. In my opinion, what may discourage both volunteers and non-profit organizations is not Bill C-4 but this government, which is cutting programs indiscriminately. That is what will discourage the voluntary sector and stifle new corporations at the local and provincial levels.

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, May 5th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I think I would answer my colleague by saying that Bill C-4 regulates and governs organizations of a national character, that is organizations across Canada.

Obviously, we must help volunteers and make their task easier. However, local and provincial non-profit organizations are regulated by the Quebec government or other provincial governments. Having read and studied Bill C-4, I think it should be acknowledged that it brings improvement, modernization and more transparency and protection for volunteers.

I would like to get back to what my colleague said about the program to support volunteers that the Conservatives cancelled. They weakened a lot of programs helping disadvantaged people and the voluntary sector when they cut their financing by $1 billion. This is an aberration. Instead of cutting these funds, the Conservative government should have transferred the money to Quebec. I think Quebec and the other provinces are directly responsible for developing the voluntary sector at the local and provincial levels.

[Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, May 5th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, a number of NPOs will undoubtedly be very happy to see that Bill C-4 is moving ahead and that there is a common desire to modernize Quebec and Canadian corporation laws.

For some years, a number of stakeholders, including experts, public servants and not-for-profit organizations, have been asking the government to modernize the legislation. Starting early in this decade, some people have participated in consultation sessions, while others have sent briefs to Industry Canada calling for speedy modernization of the Canada Business Corporations Act. It does seem that after several vain attempts, Bill C-4 may finally pass. It would seem to be very obvious that there is a common desire on both sides of the House to modernize the Canada Corporations Act, particularly given that the bills introduced by previous governments have many similarities.

We will recall that the Liberal Party introduced a bill in 2004. Then, several years later, in 2008, the Conservative government also introduced a bill with a different number, but that contained essentially the same points and same clauses as were in the bill introduced at the time of the Liberal government. Had it not been for the election, I believe that the bill presented by the Conservative government in June 2008 would have been accepted. Today, we are at the third reading stage for Bill C-4. Even though this is third reading, I think it is important to provide a summary of this bill.

The primary objective of this bill is to propose a new Canadian not-for-profit corporations act that will provide those organizations with a more modern and transparent framework. To that end, the NPO operational framework will base its corporate governance model on the one in the Canada Business Corporations Act. The new act will gradually repeal the Canada Corporations Act and replace Parts II, III and IV of that act. This transition period will be spread over three years. Although the bill is complex, the new framework that will govern not-for-profit corporations should greatly simplify and clarify the role of NPOs in our society, both for their members and directors and for the general public.

During consideration of Bill C-4 in committee, a number of witnesses explained to us how important it was to enact it. Although some groups had suggestions to make regarding the document, the message from the witnesses was practically always the same.

We strongly support Parliament’s objective of providing a modern, transparent and accountable framework for governance in the not-for-profit sector in Quebec and Canada.

Recognizing the important role that not-for-profit organizations play in our society, the Bloc Québécois is convinced that Bill C-4 should pass. According to the testimony we heard at the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology and what the groups I met on the Hill had to say outside of the committee, this bill will be beneficial.

There are several reasons why the Bloc is in favour of this bill at third reading. As I said in a previous speech, Bill C-4 will considerably improve the efficiency and transparency of the process for incorporating not-for-profit organizations.

Not-for-profit organizations are currently required by law to keep itemized accounts of their activities, but they are not required to make the accounts public. These organizations are ultimately responsible, though, to the public. It is only natural for organizations which raise funds to be transparent and for the financial statements they submit to the government director—who supervises or collects all the information—to be available to the public and any citizens who want to know about the funds that were raised.

The legislation in Bill C-4 would require not-for-profit organizations to open their financial records to their members. That is very important. This information is often controlled by a particular member and is not available to other members because of procedures or obstruction. The government administrator and manager as well as the director—it is important that this should be the government—would make this information public. Above all, the information should be available to the grassroots of the organization. The effect will be to help directors and officers manage their organizations and agencies better and enable members to follow the financial situation of the organization between annual meetings to ensure that the funds really are being used for the stated purposes and objectives.

This framework is necessary for transparency and for the free flow of information within organizations outside of the annual meetings. These meetings are only once a year, of course, and information should naturally circulate the rest of the time as well.

When this bill was being studied in committee, one of the main points that kept returning, in addition to the objective of being modern and transparent, was improving the efficiency of not-for-profit organizations, especially by replacing the letters patent system by an as of right system of incorporation. This makes it much easier to establish not-for-profit organizations.

The current system of discretionary approval by the minister is eliminated and the process for granting incorporation is simplified, which helps organizations that could benefit from increased flexibility. In addition, the new process is less costly for both not-for-profit organizations and the government.

Another change that will facilitate the process for these organizations is the fact they will no longer be required to get their by-laws approved by the director or the government agency for not-for-profit organizations. As a result, they will have the flexibility they need to develop by-laws that reflect their particular needs. All this will increase public confidence in not-for-profit organizations and enhance their credibility.

During committee review of the bill, the Bloc Québécois felt that there were some minor flaws in the legislation that we would have liked to fix. However, none of the amendments that we proposed—and that were rejected by committee members—justifies rejecting Bill C-4. There is no classification system for NPOs in the existing act, and Bill C-4 still does not include a mechanism to change that. The need for such a mechanism was not recognized and was not supported by a majority on the committee, but I think that over time the importance of a NPO classification system will be recognized.

Government officials told us that the new legislation does not need a classification system because the framework is permissive and flexible, allowing organizations to choose how to apply many provisions.

As well, section 154 of the Canada Corporations Act currently stipulates that the federal minister may grant a charter of incorporation if the corporation thereby created pursues:

...objects to which the legislative authority of the Parliament of Canada extends, of a national, patriotic, religious, philanthropic, charitable, scientific, artistic, social, professional or sporting character, or the like objects.

This is like a big funnel, because if a corporation asks to be incorporated as a not-for-profit organization and fits in that broad range, it can be recognized as such and thus have the right to operate as a not-for-profit organization.

We would have liked to amend clause 3 of the new legislation, which does not require NPOs to state their purpose in their articles of incorporation, thus sidestepping the whole notion of specifying what action an organization can take in accordance with its objects.

This is an important issue, considering that the federal Parliament has jurisdiction over only those organizations that do not pursue provincial objects.

Finally, we proposed an amendment to clause 181, dealing with public accountants. Based on the testimony heard, public accountants already meet all the qualifications required under a provincial act or regulation, depending on the province, to perform their duties under clauses 189 to 192. Most provinces have regulations to monitor the accounting profession. That provision seemed a little redundant to the Bloc, particularly because a public accountant who provides accounting services must already meet the requirements imposed by his association, whether these requirements are related to a matter of law or practice. The required monitoring level is adequately covered by other clauses in Bill C-4.

Again, despite the fact that we proposed amendments to the committee, and that these amendments were not accepted, we feel that this does not justify rejecting Bill C-4. The issues that the Bloc Québécois raised in committee were legitimate. Public officials presented arguments that reassured committee members. As for us, we wanted to examine the matter thoroughly, so as to avoid any potential conflict between the provinces and the federal government.

Not-for-profit organizations have been waiting a long time for changes that will modernize the Canada Corporations Act. In the light of the testimony we heard, and in the interests of transparency, effectiveness and fairness, the Bloc continues to believe that these changes are legitimate and essential. Those involved with not-for-profit organizations deserve to be able to work with a Canada Corporations Act that will effectively meet their needs.

Since I have a little time left, I will summarize the objectives of Bill C-4. This bill will, in a concrete way, simplify the establishment of not-for-profit organizations. We live in the age of speed.

In my view, the general public, and all those who work as volunteers, do not wish to be overly burdened by nitpicking regulations or forms that have to be filled out. Now we have something that would make their lives simpler.

The bill clarifies the duties and responsibilities of directors. When they belong to not-for-profit organizations that raise their funds from the public, I feel that directors must be aware of the duties and responsibilities that the role requires. Bill C-4 specifies those responsibilities.

The bill would establish means by which directors and officers could defend themselves in liability cases. Sometimes, members of the organization or of the public decide to sue an organization. In a previous career, I was a community recreation director in the city of Chicoutimi and I had an experience like that. Of course, it was not a federal organization, it was local. A conflict arose between a group and the organization responsible for certain activities. The citizens hired a lawyer and launched a legal attack on other volunteers—it was volunteers against other volunteers—with prosecutors and lawyers.

Bill C-4 would allow some protection when complaints are unfounded or groundless. This means that, when a complaint is made, it will have to be well-founded and serious.

Furthermore, the bill will provide members with increased rights to participate in the governance of their corporation. If a member decides he or she wants to see a list of members, can he or she consult it? Bill C-4 allows such consultations. Can he or she consult the accounting records? Bill C-4 also allows a member or director the opportunity to do so.

The bill will establish a better mechanism to oversee the organization's accounts. When doing the accounting or auditing the books, it is important that public accountants audit the books, especially in the case of a Canadian national organization.

Presentations have been made on the matter. We did not see the need to give too many explanations or details. We felt that Bill C-4 clearly states that it is sufficient to be recognized by a professional corporation in order to audit the books. Bill C-4 already includes that, but with a much more detailed definition of a corporation.

Those are the objectives. If I still have a little time left, I would also like to remind the House of the Bloc Québécois' position. I believe I have one minute left?

The Bloc Québécois is in favour of the principle underlying the bill and the overall wording of the bill, considering how outdated the current Canada Corporations Act is. Bill C-4 will modernize the act, encourage transparency and ensure accountability among those who are responsible, both on the board of directors and among the members of a corporation.

[Forestry Industry, April 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, three wardens in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region, the Minister of State responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec's region, have expressed their concerns and insist that the matter is urgent. We need measures to help the forestry and manufacturing sectors. Job losses are mounting and the government is not doing anything about it.

If the government is looking for ideas, perhaps it should consider the Bloc's proposals to help the forestry industry, such as loan guarantees and refundable tax credits to stimulate investment in equipment.

[Forestry Industry, April 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the comments made by Conservative ministers from Quebec remind me of those of the Reform members, who used to leak information to Embraer to hurt Bombardier. Today, the Conservatives are using their Quebec members to weaken Canada's position in its dispute with the United States, before the London court.

Through their actions, these members are allies of the United States, against our forestry industry. Shame on them.