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REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE THURSDAY, March 25, 2004

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs

has the honour to present its

THIRD REPORT


Your Committee, to which was referred Bill S-15, An Act to amend the Act of incorporation of Queen's Theological College, has, in obedience to the Order of Reference of Thursday, March 11, 2004, examined the said Bill and now reports the same without amendment but with observations, which are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

GEORGE FUREY
Chair


OBSERVATIONS

Bill S-15 is a private bill that amends the 1912 Act of Parliament that incorporated Queen’s Theological College in Kingston.  In all that time, the College has not returned to Parliament to ask for amendments to that Act.  Meanwhile, much has changed.  The College was originally founded as a Presbyterian College, but when the union of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Churches took place in 1925 to produce the United Church of Canada, the Act was not changed to reflect this new relationship.  There are a number of other amendments to the Act that the College also wishes to see made, including changes in the composition and role of its Board of Management.

Your Committee is satisfied that the College has complied with all of the requirements for a private bill set out in the Rules of the Senate, and accepts the testimony of College representatives that the contents of Bill S-15 are reasonable and required. 

On the other hand, your Committee believes that the time has passed when private corporations incorporated by a Special Act of Parliament should be required to return to Parliament to modernize their governance structures.  Your Committee has previously recommended that the Canada Corporations Act should be amended to permit these corporations to regulate such matters internally, and we reiterate that recommendation in the context of Queen’s Theological College and all other Special Act corporations in the same situation. 


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