m-24 - Act respecting the Ministère des Communications

Updated to 1 April 1999

This document has official status.

chapter M-24

Act respecting the Ministère des Communications

Repealed, 1994, c. 14, s. 14.

1994, c. 14, s. 14.

CHAPTER I ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT

1982, c. 62, s. 163.

1. The Minister of Communications, in this act called the “Minister”, shall have the direction and administration of the Ministère des Communications.

1969, c. 65, s. 1; 1977, c. 5, s. 14.

2. Upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister, the Government shall appoint a Deputy Minister of Communications, hereinafter called the “Deputy Minister”.

1969, c. 65, s. 4; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

3. Under the direction of the Minister, the Deputy Minister shall supervise the functionaries and employees of the department; he shall administer its day-to-day business and exercise the other powers assigned to him by the Government.

1969, c. 65, s. 5; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

4. The orders of the Deputy Minister shall be carried out in the same manner as those of the Minister; his authority shall be that of the incumbent minister of the department and his official signature shall give force and effect to any document within the jurisdiction of the department.

1969, c. 65, s. 6; 1978, c. 15, s. 140; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

5. The Deputy Minister may, in writing and to the extent he indicates, delegate the exercise of the functions conferred on him by this Act to a functionary or to the holder of a position.

He may, in the instrument of delegation, authorize the subdelegation of such functions as he indicates; where applicable, he shall identify the functionary or holder of a position to whom the subdelegation may be made.

1988, c. 63, s. 2, s. 14.

6. The other functionaries and employees necessary for the proper administration of the department shall be appointed and remunerated in accordance with the Public Service Act (chapter F-3.1.1).

1969, c. 65, s. 7; 1978, c. 15, s. 140; 1983, c. 55, s. 161; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

7. The respective duties of the functionaries and employees of the department not expressly defined by law or by the Government shall be determined by the Minister.

1969, c. 65, s. 8; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

8. No deed, document or writing binds the Minister or may be attributed to him unless it is signed by him, by the Deputy Minister, by a functionary of the department or by the holder of a position, and in these last two cases, only to the extent determined by the Government.

The Government, on such conditions as it may fix, may permit the signature of the Minister or the Deputy Minister to be affixed by means of an automatic device to such documents as it determines.

The Government may also permit a facsimile of the signature to be engraved, lithographed or printed on such documents as it determines. The facsimile must be authenticated by the countersignature of a person authorized by the Minister.

1969, c. 65, s. 9; 1978, c. 18, s. 18; 1988, c. 63, s. 3, s. 14.

9. Every document or copy of a document emanating from the department or forming part of its records, if signed or certified true by a person referred to in the first paragraph of section 8, is authentic.

1969, c. 65, s. 10; 1988, c. 63, s. 4, s. 14.

10. The Minister may, for the carrying out of his functions, enter, according to law, into an agreement consistent with the interests of Québec with a government other than that of Québec, any department of that government, an international organization or an agency of that government or organization.

1969, c. 65, s. 11; 1988, c. 63, s. 5, s. 14.

11. The Minister shall, for each fiscal year, table, within six months from the end of such year, a report of the activities of the Ministère des Communications in the National Assembly if the Assembly is in session or, if it is not sitting, within thirty days after the opening of the next session or resumption.

1969, c. 65, s. 12; 1988, c. 63, s. 6, s. 14.

CHAPTER II FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF THE MINISTER

1988, c. 63, s. 7.

12. The Minister is responsible for communications in Québec and for seeing to it that cultural, social and economic progress is achieved in that field.

1988, c. 63, s. 7, s. 14.

13. The Minister shall devise policies in matters of communications and propose them to the Government, shall use appropriate means to implement them and shall coordinate their implementation.

He shall see to it that the laws and regulations respecting communications are complied with.

1988, c. 63, s. 7, s. 14.

14. The Minister shall, more particularly, within the scope of his functions and powers,

(1)  facilitate relations between the State and the population, especially by promoting the diffusion of information concerning the services offered by the Government, departments and public bodies;

(2)  promote the diffusion of information and documents of public interest produced and held by departments and public bodies;

(3)  support the development of Québec expertise in the field of communications and foster its dissemination;

(4)  promote the development of original and diversified productions in the field of communications;

(5)  foster, in cooperation with the other interested departments and bodies, the development of communication enterprises in and outside Québec;

(6)  promote the implementation of communications technology susceptible of fostering cultural, social and economic progress;

(7)  participate in the development of communication systems in all regions of Québec;

(8)  coordinate, with the cooperation of the Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor, the activities of the Government and departments and of public bodies designated by the Government, particularly in matters of telecommunications, data processing, advertising and exhibitions;

(9)  offer to the departments, public bodies and other bodies designated by the Government communication services in related fields such as telecommunications and data processing, the printing, publication, distribution and marketing of documents produced by or for the departments and public bodies as well as media booking and audiovisual services;

(10)  see to the management of copyrights held by the Government, the departments and the public bodies designated by the Government in respect of documents and see to it that the standards established jointly with the Minister of Culture for the acquisition, use and management of copyrights are complied with;

(11)  submit to the Government proposals as regards the emblems of Québec and propose standards applicable to the signature of the Government and to the visual identification of departments and the public bodies designated by the Government, see to it that the standards are complied with, and coordinate their implementation;

(12)  conduct or commission research, studies, surveys and inventories in matters of communications;

(13)  advise the Government and, on request, departments and public bodies, with respect to the type of communications services or equipment required for their activities;

(14)  perform the other duties conferred on him by the Government.

The functions and powers assumed by the Minister under subparagraphs 3 and 5 of the first paragraph shall be exercised within the scope of the Canadian intergovernmental affairs policy and the international affairs policy.

Before proposing an emblem for Québec, the Minister shall cause a notice to be published in the Gazette officielle du Québec. The notice shall indicate, in particular, the date fixed for its presentation and the fact that any interested person may, before that date, submit observations to the person designated therein.

No emblem may be proposed before the expiry of a period of 45 days from the day of the publication in the Gazette officielle du Québec or before the expiry of the period mentioned in the notice.

1988, c. 63, s. 7, s. 14; 1992, c. 65, s. 43.

15. The functions assigned to the Minister under subparagraph 9 of the first paragraph of section 14 in respect of the printing, publication, distribution and marketing of documents and the functions assigned to him under section 19 shall be exercised under the name of “Les Publications du Québec”.

1988, c. 63, s. 7, s. 14.

CHAPTER III QUÉBEC OFFICIAL PUBLISHER

1982, c. 62, s. 163; 1988, c. 63, s. 8.

16. The Deputy Minister of Communications is the Québec Official Publisher exofficio.

The officers and employees of the Official Publisher are officers and employees of the Ministère des Communications.

1982, c. 62, s. 163; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

17. The Québec Official Publisher shall print and publish, or cause to be printed and published,

(1)  the statutes of Québec;

(2)  an official journal, known as the Gazette officielle du Québec;

(3)  such documents, notices and announcements as the Government, the Office of the National Assembly or an Act may require him to print or publish.

1982, c. 62, s. 163; 1988, c. 63, s. 9, s. 14.

18. All documents, notices and announcements the publication of which is required by law are published in the Gazette officielle du Québec, unless some other mode of publication is prescribed by law.

1982, c. 62, s. 163; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

19. The Minister is entrusted with the sale of the publications referred to in section 17.

1988, c. 63, s. 10, s. 14.

20. The Government may, by regulation,

(1)  (subparagraph repealed);

(2)  determine the conditions and modalities according to which the operations relating to the publications or other work for which the Official Publisher is responsible are to be effected, except publications of the National Assembly;

(3)  prescribe the conditions under which the Gazette officielle du Québec shall be published;

(4)  designate the public bodies, officers and other persons to whom or which the Official Publisher must send the Gazette officielle du Québec free of charge;

(5)  fix the subscription price of the Gazette officielle du Québec;

(6)  establish a tariff of the sums exigible for the notices, announcements and documents published in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

1982, c. 62, s. 163; 1988, c. 63, s. 11, s. 14.

21. All publications in the Gazette officielle du Québec and all copies of official documents, proclamations, notices and announcements printed by the Official Publisher are authentic.

1982, c. 62, s. 163; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

CHAPTER IV SPECIAL FUNDS

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 12.

22. Four special funds hereinafter called “Les Publications du Québec fund”, “computer services fund”, “communication services fund” and “telecommunications services fund” are hereby established at the department for the purpose of financing the goods and services to which they relate.

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 13, s. 14; 1990, c. 49, s. 1.

23. The Government shall determine assets and liabilities of each fund and the date on which it begins to operate. It shall also determine the nature of the goods and services to be financed by and the nature of the costs to be charged to each fund.

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

24. Each fund shall be constituted of the following sums, except interest:

(1)  the sums collected for the goods and services financed by the fund;

(2)  the advances granted by the Minister of Finance under the first paragraph of section 26;

(3)  the sums paid by the Minister of Communications out of the appropriations allocated for that purpose by Parliament.

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

25. The management of the sums paid into the funds shall be entrusted to the Minister of Finance. Such sums shall be paid to his order and deposited with the financial institutions he determines.

Notwithstanding section 13 of the Financial Administration Act (chapter A-6), the Minister of Communications shall keep the books of account for and record the financial commitments chargeable to the funds. He shall also certify that such commitments and the payments arising therefrom do not exceed the available balances and comply therewith.

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

26. The Minister of Finance may, with the authorization of the Government and subject to the conditions it determines, advance to the funds sums taken out of the consolidated revenue fund.

He may conversely advance to the consolidated revenue fund, on a short-term basis and subject to the conditions he determines, any part of the sums paid into the funds that is not required for their operations.

Any advance paid to a fund shall be repayable out of that fund.

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

27. The remuneration and expenses pertaining to social benefits and other conditions of employment of the persons assigned, in accordance with the Public Service Act (chapter F-3.1.1), to activities related to a fund shall be paid out of that fund.

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

28. All surpluses accumulated by a fund shall be paid into the consolidated revenue fund on the dates and to the extent determined by the Government.

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

29. Sections 22 to 27, 33, 35, 45, 47 to 49, 49.2, 51, 57 and 70 to 72 of the Financial Administration Act (chapter A-6), adapted as required, apply to the funds.

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 14; 1991, c. 73, s. 9.

30. The fiscal year of the funds shall end on 31 March each year.

1987, c. 45, s. 2; 1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

31. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the Minister of Finance shall, in the event of a deficiency in the consolidated revenue fund, pay out of the funds the sums required for the execution of a judgment against the Crown that has become res judicata.

1988, c. 31, s. 2; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

32. (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; 1988, c. 63, s. 14.

REPEAL SCHEDULE

In accordance with section 17 of the Act respecting the consolidation of the statutes (chapter R-3), chapter 65 of the statutes of 1969, in force on 31 december 1977, is repealed, except sections 34 to 38, effective from the coming into force of chapter M-24 of the Revised Statutes.