R-19 - Act to promote the regrouping of municipalities

Updated to 1 April 1999

This document has official status.

chapter R-19

Act to promote the regrouping of municipalities

Repealed, 1988, c. 19, s. 260.

1988, c. 19, s. 260.

1. In this act, the following words mean:

(a)  “Minister” : the Minister of Municipal Affairs;

(b)  “Commission” : the Commission municipale du Québec;

(c)  (paragraph repealed);

(d)  (paragraph repealed);

(e)  “joint petition” : a petition for amalgamation presented in accordance with section 3 or section 4 praying the Government to issue letters patent to amalgamate municipalities into a new town or country municipality.

1971, c. 53, s. 1; 1974, c. 47, s. 9; 1977, c. 5, s. 14; 1982, c. 63, s. 237.

2. The Minister, on the basis of data allowing him to believe it advantageous that municipalities amalgamate or that a study be made on the expediency of amalgamation by certain municipalities, may establish regrouping units comprising city, town, village or country municipalities and attach to them any part of an un-organized territory contiguous to any of them.

The Minister may alter the boundaries of the regrouping units and may amalgamate any of them with others if contiguous.

The Minister shall give notice in the Gazette officielle du Québec of the decisions he has made under this section and these decisions shall come into force from such publication.

Such notice shall also be published in a French newspaper and an English newspaper circulating in the territories of the municipalities contemplated by the decisions; if there is no English newspaper circulating in a territory, the Minister may be relieved of publishing the notice in an English newspaper there.

1971, c. 53, s. 2.

3. A joint petition may be presented by one-half of the councils of the municipalities comprised in a regrouping unit and representing at least one-half of the population of all the municipalities comprised in the regrouping unit.

1971, c. 53, s. 3.

4. Municipalities not included in a regrouping unit may, by whatever law governed, present a joint petition.

1971, c. 53, s. 4.

5. (1)  Each municipal council that wishes to present a petition contemplated in section 3 or 4 must pass a by-law for that purpose.

Every by-law passed under this section shall not be repealed after the publication provided for in section 6.

(2)  The joint petition shall:

(a)  state the name of the new municipality;

(b)  contain a technical description of the territory of the new municipality;

(c)  indicate whether the new municipality will be governed, as the case may be, by the Cities and Towns Act (chapter C-19), the Municipal Code (chapter C-27.1), or the charter of the city of Montréal or of Québec if either city is a party to the joint petition;

(d)  indicate, if any, the special legislative provisions governing the municipalities before their amalgamation which are to apply to the new municipality;

(e)  establish the composition of the council which will have power to administer the new municipality until the first general election;

(f)  fix the day when the first sitting of the council will be held after the coming into force of the letters patent and indicate the place where it will be held;

(g)  designate the secretary-treasurer of the new municipality if it is a country municipality, or the clerk of the new municipality to act until the end of the first sitting of the council, in the case of a town municipality;

(h)  establish the division of the new municipality into electoral districts or, as the case may be, the manner of doing so;

(i)  where the new municipality is not required to be divided into electoral districts, determine the number of its councillors;

(j)  indicate the regional county municipality of which the new municipality will form part, if the municipalities that are parties to the joint petition are not situated in the same regional county municipality;

(k)  fix the polling date for each of the first two general elections in the new municipality;

(l)  state the other conditions of amalgamation.

1971, c. 53, s. 5; 1972, c. 47, s. 1; 1985, c. 27, s. 109; 1987, c. 57, s. 806.

6. The petitioning municipality having the largest population shall cause to be published once during the same period of thirty consecutive days, in the Gazette officielle du Québec and in a newspaper circulated in the territories of the municipalities contemplated by the joint petition, the text of such petition with a notice indicating the place, in each municipality, where such text may be examined, and a copy obtained. Such notice must also state that any interested person may object to the principle of amalgamation or to the terms and conditions of the joint petition within the period and in the manner provided in section 9.

The clerk or secretary-treasurer who publishes the notice contemplated in the preceding paragraph shall forward a copy of the petition and the notice to the clerk or secretary-treasurer of each municipality contemplated in the joint petition.

For the purposes of the first paragraph, an interested person is any person who would be a qualified voter entitled to have his name entered on the referendum list of a municipality contemplated in the petition if the reference date, within the meaning of the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities (chapter E-2.2) were the date of passage of the by-law authorizing the petition of the municipality giving the notice.

The provisions of the said Act which concern the manner in which the rights of a legal person may be exercised and the manner in which qualified voters entitled to have their names entered on the referendum list and the applications demanding that a referendum poll be held are counted apply, adapted as required, to any objection referred to in the first paragraph.

1971, c. 53, s. 6; 1982, c. 63, s. 238; 1987, c. 57, s. 807.

7. The municipalities contemplated in section 6 shall keep a signed copy of the joint petition at their offices where any person may examine it.

1971, c. 53, s. 7; 1987, c. 57, s. 808.

8. As soon as possible after the publication provided for in section 6, a signed copy of the joint petition shall be forwarded to the Minister and the Commission by the clerk or secretary-treasurer of the municipality responsible for the publication provided for in section 6. A certificate of publication must accompany the joint petition.

1971, c. 53, s. 8.

9. Every interested person, within the meaning of section 6, who objects to the principle of amalgamation or to the terms and conditions of the joint petition may, within 30 days after the date the notice provided for in that section is last published, inform the Commission, in writing, of the grounds of his objection.

If an objection is forwarded to it in accordance with the first paragraph, or if the Minister requires it, the Commission must hold a public investigation to hear the parties concerned.

After the investigation, the Commission shall report to the Minister and forward a copy of its report to each municipality contemplated in the joint petition. It may also recommend that the Minister order, in accordance with section 12, consultation of the qualified voters of any of the municipalities contemplated in the joint petition.

1971, c. 53, s. 9; 1982, c. 63, s. 239; 1987, c. 57, s. 809.

10. (1)  If, in the case of section 3, no joint petition has been forwarded to the Minister or the Commission or if, in the case of section 4, the Commission, after the investigation mentioned in section 9, recommends it to him, the Minister must order all the municipalities of a regrouping unit or the petitioning municipalities under section 4, to make or cause to be made, within the delay he fixes, a joint study on the possible amalgamation of such municipalities, dealing with the subjects he indicates.

The order of the Minister must indicate a delay for the choice of the person to be entrusted with the joint study; if such choice has not been made within the delay prescribed, the Minister shall choose the person who will make the joint study at the expense of the municipalities. In all cases, the cost of the joint study shall be apportioned among the municipalities according to the total taxable values in accordance with the valuation roll of each of them.

For the purposes of the second paragraph, “total taxable values” means the total of the following assessments:

(1)  the standardized taxable assessment of all the immovables;

(2)  the standardized nontaxable assessment of all the immovables contemplated in the first paragraph of section 255 of the Act respecting municipal taxation (chapter F-2.1);

(3)  the percentage of the standardized nontaxable assessment of the immovables contemplated in the second, third or fourth paragraph of section 255 of the said Act corresponding to the percentage referred to in the said paragraph;

(4)  the standardized nontaxable assessment of all farmland;

(5)  any part of the standardized nontaxable assessment of all the immovables contemplated in paragraph 1.1 of section 204 of the said Act in respect of which amounts in lieu of taxes must be paid; that part of the standardized assessment is that corresponding to the proportion represented by the amounts paid for the reference fiscal period in relation to the total amount of the municipal real estate taxes which could have been imposed for that fiscal period in respect of those immovables if they had not been tax-exempt; for the purposes of this section, the reference fiscal period, in respect of an immovable, is the last municipal fiscal period for which the amounts in lieu of taxes in respect of the immovable are paid-up;

(6)  the standardized nontaxable assessment of all the immovables contemplated in the first paragraph of section 208 of the said Act;

(7)  the assessment equivalent to the capitalization, based on the standardized aggregate taxation rate of the municipality for the fiscal period preceding the fiscal period considered, of the revenues of the municipality derived from the application of section 222 of the said Act for the said preceding fiscal period and of its revenues derived from the application of the second paragraph of section 230 of the said Act for the period considered; for the purposes of this section, the standardized aggregate taxation rate is that which is computed in accordance with the regulation made under paragraph 7 of section 262 of the said Act on the basis of the data provided in the budget of the preceding fiscal period.

For the purposes of this section, “standardized assessment” means the product obtained by multiplying the values entered on the assessment roll of a municipality by the factor established for the roll under the Act respecting municipal taxation.

(2)  The Minister shall furnish the person chosen to make the joint study with all the relevant documents and information in his possession.

(3)  The person entrusted with making the joint study must, upon completing it, make known, in his report, whether he is of opinion that the amalgamation of the municipalities is desirable or not and if desirable, on what conditions it should be effected.

(4)  The report shall be sent to the Minister, the Commission and the municipalities. Each municipality shall keep a copy of such report in its office, at the disposal of any person who wishes to examine it.

1971, c. 53, s. 10; 1979, c. 72, s. 389; 1983, c. 57, s. 132; 1987, c. 3, s. 1; 1987, c. 68, s. 109.

11. (1)  If the report contemplated in section 10 concludes that it is desirable that the municipalities be amalgamated, the Commission must hold a public investigation on the expediency of amalgamation and on what the conditions of amalgamation should be.

(2)  The Commission must, at least fifteen days before the date of holding of its investigation, publish a notice in a French newspaper and in an English newspaper circulating in the territory of the municipalities concerned. Such notice must:

(a)  indicate the day, hour and place of the holding of the investigation;

(b)  invite every interested person to appear before it to state his opinion.

If it is established to the satisfaction of the Minister that there is no English newspaper circulating in the territory, he may relieve the Commission of publishing the notice in an English newspaper.

1971, c. 53, s. 11; 1982, c. 63, s. 240.

12. The Minister must, on the recommendation of the Commission, after a public investigation held under subsection 2 of section 11, order consultation of the qualified voters of every municipality contemplated in the report provided for in section 10 on the question of the expediency of the amalgamation of their municipality.

1971, c. 53, s. 12; 1982, c. 63, s. 241; 1987, c. 57, s. 810.

13. The consultation shall be effected by means of a referendum poll in accordance with the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities (chapter E-2.2). The said Act applies to the extent that it is not inconsistent with this section.

The referendum poll shall be presided over by the person designated by the Minister.

The question appearing on the ballot paper shall be stated as follows: “Are you in favour of the amalgamation of your municipality?”.

The results of the poll shall be transmitted to the Minister as soon as practicable.

The consultation of the qualified voters of several municipalities shall be held on the same day in all of them.

The expenses incurred for holding the poll are payable by the municipalities concerned and shall be shared among them in proportion to the total taxable value on each of their assessment rolls. The third paragraph of subsection 1 of section 10 applies to the case contemplated in this section.

1971, c. 53, s. 13; 1979, c. 72, s. 390; 1982, c. 63, s. 242; 1987, c. 57, s. 811.

14. The Government may order the issue of letters patent reproducing, in the cases contemplated in sections 3 and 4, the text of the joint petition, as amended, if it thinks fit, in the manner recommended by the Commission and, in the case of section 11, embodying the conditions recommended by the Commission.

1971, c. 53, s. 14.

15. The letters patent amalgamating the municipalities shall have effect notwithstanding any inconsistent legislative provision.

1971, c. 53, s. 15.

16. The Minister shall give notice of the issue of the letters patent by publishing them in the Gazette officielle du Québec; the letters patent shall come into force on the date of such publication or on any later date mentioned in the notice.

1971, c. 53, s. 16.

17. From the coming into force of the letters patent ordering the amalgamation of municipalities, the municipalities concerned shall cease to exist and are replaced by a new municipality; where any exist, special legislative provisions governing them shall be repealed with respect to each of them only, with the exception however of such particular legislative provisions as are expressly maintained in force by the letters patent.

1971, c. 53, s. 17.

18. The new municipality shall succeed to the rights, obligations and charges of the municipalities concerned; it shall, without continuance of suit, become a party to all proceedings in the place and stead of the municipalities concerned. The by-laws, resolutions, minutes, valuation rolls, collection rolls and other acts of each of such municipalities shall remain in force in the territory for which they were made until amended, quashed or repealed.

1971, c. 53, s. 18.

18.1. From the coming into force of the letters patent ordering the amalgamation of the municipalities, the values entered on the real estate assessment roll, or the roll of rental values then in force in those municipalities are multiplied by the factor established for the roll under the Act respecting municipal taxation (chapter F-2.1).

The first paragraph applies to the rolls for the fiscal period during which the letters patent come into force. It also applies to the rolls for the following fiscal period, if after the coming into force of the letters patent a real estate assessment roll or a roll of rental values taking into account the amalgamation, as the case may be, is not deposited according to law for the purposes of that period with the new municipality.

1982, c. 63, s. 243.

18.2. The aggregate of the rolls amended in accordance with section 18.1 constitutes the roll of new municipality for the relevant period.

The median proportion and the factor of such roll are one hundred per cent and one, respectively.

1982, c. 63, s. 243.

19. The officers and employees of the municipalities amalgamated shall be transferred to the new municipality, shall retain the same salary and shall remain in office there until their resignation or replacement.

1971, c. 53, s. 19.

20. Every convention under which any of the municipalities contemplated in a joint petition contemplated in section 3 or 4 or any of the municipalities to which the Minister ordered to make a joint study makes a financial commitment must, to be binding on the municipality, be approved by the Minister.

This section has effect, in the case of section 3 or 4, from the publication provided for in section 6; in the case of section 10, it has effect from the order of the Minister enjoining the municipalities to make or cause to be made a joint study. The Minister shall give notice in the Gazette officielle du Québec of the tenor of this section and of the municipalities affected by its carrying out.

This section ceases to apply from the issue of letters patent amalgamating the municipalities or from any earlier date a notice of which is given by the Minister in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

1971, c. 53, s. 20; 1984, c. 38, s. 161.

21. (1)  On a report by the Commission that it is necessary for the proper administration of the affairs of a municipality that the first general election be held earlier than the date fixed in the letters patent and that the municipality be subject to the control of the Commission, the Government may order that such first general election be held at the earlier date it fixes and that the municipality be subject to the control of the Commission.

(2)  The order in council provided for in subsection 1 shall be published in the Gazette officielle du Québec through the offices of the Minister. From the date of such publication, the municipality concerned becomes subject to the control of the Commission and the provisions of Division VIII of the Act respecting the Commission municipale (chapter C-35) applicable to municipalities apply mutatis mutandis to that municipality.

(3)  All proceedings of the council of the municipality concerned between the date of the order in council provided for in subsection 1 and the date of publication provided for in subsection 2 require the approval of the Commission.

1971, c. 53, s. 21; 1972, c. 47, s. 2.

22. The Québec Official Publisher shall publish in the compilation of the statutes of each year a table indicating the dates of the coming into force of the letters patent granted during the preceding year and the special legislative provisions, if any, governing the new municipalities, and those repealed.

1971, c. 53, s. 22.

23. The Government may, at the request of any municipality affected by a joint petition filed under section 3 or 4, defer by not more than six months the date of publication of the notice of any general election or by-election when the notice mentioned in section 6 has been published.

1971, c. 53, s. 23; 1974, c. 50, s. 1.

24. For the purposes of this act, the population of a municipality shall be that recognized as valid by the Government under the Cities and Towns Act (chapter C-19) and the Municipal Code (chapter C-27.1).

After the coming into force of the letters patent amalgamating the municipalities, the population of the new municipality shall consist, until the Government recognizes another, of the total population of all the municipalities amalgamated.

1971, c. 53, s. 24.

25. (Repealed).

1971, c. 53, s. 25 (part); 1979, c. 36, s. 103.

26. (Repealed).

1971, c. 53, s. 26; 1979, c. 36, s. 103.

27. (This section ceased to have effect on 17 April 1987).

1982, c. 21, s. 1; U. K., 1982, c. 11, Sch. B, Part I, s. 33.

REPEAL SCHEDULE

In accordance with section 17 of the Act respecting the consolidation of the statutes (chapter R-3), chapter 53 of the statutes of 1971, in force on 31 December 1977, is repealed, except sections 25 (part), 28 and 29, effective from the coming into force of chapter R-19 of the Revised Statutes.