G-1 - Act respecting the guarantee of certain loans to publishers and booksellers

Replaced on 22 December 1978

This document has official status.

chapter G-1

Act respecting the guarantee of certain loans to publishers and booksellers

Chapter G-1 is replaced by the Act respecting the Société de développement des industries de la culture et des communications (chapter S-10.01).
However, the said Act continues to apply, as if it had not been replaced, in respect of guarantees granted under its authority and of the applications for guarantee presented to the Société de développement industriel du Québec before 22 December 1978. (1978, c. 24, s. 32).

1978, c. 24, s. 32.

DIVISION I DEFINITIONS

1. In this act and the regulations, unless the context indicates a different meaning,

(a)  “guarantee” means the guarantee or security provided for in this act;

(b)  “includible book” means, in the case of a publisher, a book published by him which is not a book published at the author’s expense and, in the case of an accredited bookseller, a new book owned by him;

(c)  “accredited bookseller” designates an accredited bookseller within the meaning of the Booksellers Accreditation Act (chapter A-11);

(d)  “Minister” designates the Minister of Cultural Affairs;

(e)  “regulation” means a regulation made under this act by the Gouvernement;

(f)  “Corporation” designates the Société de développement industriel du Québec.

1975, c. 15, s. 1; 1977, c. 5, s. 14.

DIVISION II NATURE AND LIMITS OF THE GUARANTEE

2. The guarantee provided for by this act shall be granted by the Corporation, on the Minister’s decision and, where required, with the authorization of the Gouvernement, to publishers and accredited booksellers who fulfil the conditions prescribed by this act.

1975, c. 15, s. 2.

3. Such guarantee insures persons granting loans to publishers or to accredited booksellers of repayment of the debt owed them to the extent provided for by this act and on the conditions established by the Minister in accordance with this act and the regulations.

Loans so guaranteed must be used by borrowers for the purposes of their publishing or bookselling businesses.

1975, c. 15, s. 3.

4. The guarantee granted by the Corporation shall not exceed the aggregate of:

(a)  75 per cent of the value of the includible books owned by the borrower; and

(b)  75 per cent of the value of the borrower’s accounts receivable in regard to book sales.

1975, c. 15, s. 4.

5. The value of includible books is established according to their cost price devalued in accordance with the regulations.

The value of accounts receivable established after devaluation in accordance with the regulations and deduction of bad debts.

1975, c. 15, s. 5.

DIVISION III ELIGIBILITY FOR A GUARANTEE

6. A person who counts publishing among his principal activities may benefit by a guarantee as a publisher.

1975, c. 15, s. 6.

7. Where such a person is an individual, he must be a Canadian citizen or a landed immigrant and must be domiciled in Québec.

1975, c. 15, s. 7.

8. In the case of a partnership, the majority of the partners must be Canadian citizens domiciled in Québec and more than half of the assets of the partnership must be owned by Canadian citizens domiciled in Québec.

1975, c. 15, s. 8.

9. To benefit by a guarantee as a publisher, a corporation must meet the following requirements:

(a)  it must have been either incorporated under Québec statutes or incorporated, before 1 June 1975, under the statutes of the Parliament of Canada;

(b)  the majority of its directors must be Canadian citizens domiciled in Québec;

(c)  the president, the secretary and the treasurer, or the persons serving in the equivalent capacities of management, must be Canadian citizens domiciled in Québec;

(d)  more than half of the shares of the corporation must be owned by Canadian citizens domiciled in Québec.

1975, c. 15, s. 9.

10. A cooperative is eligible for a guarantee as a publisher,

(a)  if it was incorporated under the Cooperative Associations Act (chapter A-24) or the Cooperative Syndicates Act (chapter S-38);

(b)  if the majority of the members and directors, as well as the president, the secretary, the treasurer, or the persons serving in the equivalent capacities of management, are Canadian citizens domiciled in Québec.

1975, c. 15, s. 10.

11. Persons accredited as booksellers under the Booksellers Accreditation Act (chapter A-11) are eligible for such a guarantee.

1975, c. 15, s. 11.

12. For the purposes of this act, only the following books are to be taken into consideration:

(a)  non-periodical printed publications having not less than 49 pages of text or illustrations or both, excluding covers, however collated;

(b)  non-periodical printed publications for children, having not less than 16 pages, bound in paper covers or in hard covers, with text or illustrations or both, or in the form of comic strips with or without text;

(c)  non-periodical printed publications in the form of comic strips for adults, having not less than 16 pages, with text, bound in paper covers or hard covers;

(d)  non-periodical printed publications dealing solely with music, bound in paper covers or hard covers, having any number of pages, as well as instrumental method and musical scores;

(e)  serial publications, namely publications complying with one of the above paragraphs a to d, comprising several parts or volumes published successively under a general title over an indeterminate period but not necessarily at regular intervals.

1975, c. 15, s. 12.

DIVISION IV GRANTING OF GUARANTEES

13. Every person who wishes to benefit by a guarantee must apply therefor to the Corporation in the form prescribed by the regulations; such application must be accompanied with the documents and contain the information prescribed by the regulations.

1975, c. 15, s. 13.

14. The borrower must accompany his application with:

(a)  the financial statements of his business for the last fiscal year, audited by a public accountant;

(b)  an exhaustive list, in accordance with the form determined by regulation, of the accounts receivable of the business, indicating the names and addresses of the debtors, the amount of each debt, the date when it originated and its value;

(c)  a detailed statement, in accordance with the form determined by regulation, of the accounts payable;

(d)  a detailed statement, in accordance with the form determined by regulation, of the inventory of the includible books offered as security, accompanied with a sworn declaration certifying that such books are free of any real security;

(e)  a detailed list of the accounts receivable of the business in regard to the sale of includible books;

(f)  in the case of a publisher, a detailed list of the copyrights paid for during the last fiscal year and the amount payable to each author;

(g)  in the case of a publisher, a list of the books that he intends to publish during the three-month period following the date of the application, accompanied with his estimates of the sales prices and the number of copies printed;

(h)  in the case of an accredited bookseller, a valuation, prepared by a public accountant based on the audited statements, of the inventory of includible books;

(i)  any other information of a financial nature required by regulation.

Subsequently, the documents contemplated in subparagraph a must be submitted annually and those contemplated in subparagraphs b to i must be submitted every three months in accordance with the form determined by regulation.

1975, c. 15, s. 14.

15. Upon receipt of the application, the Corporation shall send a copy of it to the Minister and shall investigate to determine whether the business for which the guarantee is applied for fulfils the conditions required by this act and the regulations.

1975, c. 15, s. 15.

16. Upon terminating its investigation, the Corporation shall report to the Minister and submit its recommendations to him.

1975, c. 15, s. 16.

17. The Corporation may recommend that the application be approved in part only, or approved for an amount other than that applied for. It may also recommend that the application be refused, or be approved only on the conditions which the Corporation indicates.

1975, c. 15, s. 17.

18. If the Corporation recommends that the guarantee be refused, and the Minister agrees with such recommendation, he shall return the application to the Corporation which shall immediately notify the applicant that his application is refused.

1975, c. 15, s. 18.

19. The application shall be granted only with the authorization of the Gouvernement on the recommendation of the Minister and on the conditions which the Gouvernement determines. Nevertheless, in the cases provided for by the regulations, the Minister may grant such applications without such authorization.

The Corporation is bound by the authorization of the Gouvernement or the decision of the Minister, as the case may be.

The Corporation must advise the applicant forthwith that his application has been granted or refused and of the conditions fixed by the Gouvernement, if any.

1975, c. 15, s. 19.

DIVISION V MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

20. The Corporation may at any time verify the accuracy of the information submitted by a borrower in accordance with this act.

1975, c. 15, s. 20.

21. When a person has obtained that a loan be guaranteed by the Corporation by a false declaration or fraud, or has used any part of the sums borrowed on the guarantee of the Corporation for purposes other than those for which the loan was granted, or if the amount of the loan exceeds the limits fixed by section 4, or if he is otherwise in default, the Corporation may declare that he has forfeited the benefit of the term granted and exercise the other civil recourses conferred on it by the act and the contractual documents.

1975, c. 15, s. 21.

22. The total amount of the guarantees granted under this act shall not exceed the sum of $5,000,000.

1975, c. 15, s. 22.

23. No guarantee given by the Corporation shall be valid unless the Minister of Finance declares over his signature on the document evidencing such guarantee that he has taken cognizance of it.

1975, c. 15, s. 23.

24. The sums payable as a consequence of the guarantees provided for by this act shall be paid out of the consolidated revenue fund.

1975, c. 15, s. 24 (part).

25. Every person who makes a false declaration or commits fraud or attempted fraud with the purpose of benefiting from this act is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of not less than five hundred dollars and not more than the amount of the guarantee concerned.

Any other offence against this act or the regulations renders the offender liable to a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars.

Proceedings instituted under this section are governed by the Summary Convictions Act (chapter P-15) and Part II of such act applies.

1975, c. 15, s. 25.

26. The Gouvernement may, by regulation, decide any question which may, under this act, be subject to regulation.

It may, in addition, by regulation, determine:

(a)  the qualifications required of any person who applies for the guarantee of a loan, the conditions he must meet and the information he must furnish in addition to that already required by this act;

(b)  the form and tenor of applications;

(c)  the maximum term for loans which may be guaranteed under this act, the maximum rate of interest payable according to the classes of loans and borrowers, the security which must be given and the manner in which it is to be protected and realized in case of default by the borrower, the portion of the capital necessary for the carrying out of a project which must be furnished by the borrower, the manner in which the loans must be used, the form and tenor of the deeds evidencing the loans and the other conditions which must be stipulated therein;

(d)  the standards and rules relating to the management of the borrower’s affairs and to the distribution of his profits;

(e)  the operating reports and financial statements which must be forwarded to the Minister by every borrower and the supervision which may be exercised over his affairs;

(f)  the authorizations which must be obtained before any transfer of property given as security under the deed of loan, any issue of bonds or transfer of shares of a company which has obtained a loan, or any amendment to the charter of such company;

(g)  the method of valuing inventories and accounts receivable to be used in determining the limits applicable to loans;

(h)  the form and tenor of the periodical reports which must be furnished by a borrower;

(i)  the cases in which the accounts receivable of companies associated or affiliated with the borrower may be used to establish the limit provided for by section 4.

Such regulations shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Gazette officielle du Québec or on any later date fixed therein.

1975, c. 15, s. 26.

27. The Minister of Cultural Affairs shall have charge of the carrying out of this act.

1975, c. 15, s. 27.