Cultural Foundation Act

Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Cultural Foundation Act. 1978, c. 5, s. 1.

Interpretation

2 In this Act,

(a) "Board" means the Board of Directors of the Foundation;

(b) "Committee" means the Advisory Committee;

(c) "financial assistance" means scholarships, grants, awards, loans and guarantees of loans for cultural purposes;

(d) "Foundation" means the Cultural Foundation;

(e) "Minister" means the Minister of Tourism and Culture or such other member of the Executive Council charged with the administration of this Act. 1978, c. 5, s. 2; 1988, c. 30, s. 28.

Supervision and management

3 The Minister shall have the general supervision and management of this Act. 1978, c. 5, s. 3.

Cultural Foundation

4 (1) There is hereby established a body corporate known as the Cultural Foundation.

Board

(2) The Cultural Foundation shall consist of a Board of Directors comprised of such number of persons as are appointed by the Governor in Council.

Objects and purposes

(3) The objects and purposes of the Foundation are to solicit, raise, establish, maintain and administer funds to be used for the promotion, preservation, development and encouragement of the cultural affairs in the Province. 1978, c. 5, s. 4.

Term of office

5 (1) A member of the Board shall hold office for the term prescribed in his appointment unless he sooner becomes unable in the opinion of the Governor in Council to carry out his duties or his appointment is sooner revoked by the Governor in Council.

Chairman and Vice-chairman

(2) The Governor in Council may designate one of the members of the Board to be Chairman and one of the members to be Vice-chairman. 1978, c. 5, s. 5.

Remuneration and expenses

6 (1) A member of the Board shall receive such remuneration, travelling and living expenses for the performance of his duties as the Governor in Council determines.

House of Assembly member as Board member

(2) The appointment of a member of the House of Assembly, including a member of the Executive Council, shall not render such member of the House or of the Executive Council ineligible or disqualified from sitting or voting in the House of Assembly by reason of being a member of the Board and receiving remuneration, travelling or living expenses in respect of duties pertaining to the Board or by reason of any dealing by the Board with the Province.

Public servant as a member

(3) Members of the Board may include persons in the public service and persons who hold an office or appointment under any enactment, including an enactment of the Province or Canada. 1978, c. 5, s. 6.

Effect of vacancy

7 (1) A vacancy on the Board does not impair the right of the remaining members to act.

Quorum

(2) A quorum of the Board shall consist of a majority of its members. 1978, c. 5, s. 7.

Advisory Committee

8 (1) The Governor in Council shall establish an Advisory Committee to receive and consider applications by persons and organizations for financial assistance from the Foundation for the purpose of promoting, preserving, developing or encouraging cultural affairs in the Province.

Composition

(2) The Committee shall be composed of such members as may be appointed by the Governor in Council from time to time.

Term of office

(3) A member of the Committee shall hold office for the term specified in his appointment unless he sooner becomes unable in the opinion of the Governor in Council to carry out his duties or his appointment is sooner revoked by the Governor in Council.

Regulations by Committee

(4) The conduct and holding of meetings of the Committee, the hearing of applications by the Committee, the quorum and officers of the Committee and the qualifications and remuneration of members of the Committee shall be as determined by the regulations. 1978, c. 5, s. 8.

Personnel

9 (1) The Foundation may employ a General Manager and such professional, technical, clerical and other staff as it considers necessary for the proper conduct of its activities and the carrying out of its objects and may determine their remuneration and terms of employment.

Secretary

(2) The General Manager shall act as the Secretary of the Board.

Duties of General Manager

(3) The General Manager shall, in accordance with the directions of the Board, administer the fund raising, investment and other administrative activities of the Foundation and perform such other duties as may be required by the Board. 1978, c. 5, s. 9.

Assistance from Province

10 Notwithstanding Section 9, the Governor in Council may provide at no cost to the Board or the Committee the services or employees of the Province for the purposes of this Act. 1978, c. 5, s. 10.

Direction by Minister

11 The Minister may, in order to avoid duplication of effort and expense, give directions to the Board and the Committee for the purpose of co-ordinating the work of the Board and the Committee with the work of the Government of the Province and public and private institutions in promoting, preserving, developing or encouraging cultural affairs in the Province. 1978, c. 5, s. 11.

Recognition program

12 (1) The Foundation, in accordance with its by-laws and in order to encourage future contributions, may develop and carry out a recognition program to appropriately honour persons who contribute services or property to the Foundation.

Costs

(2) The costs of such a recognition program shall be part of the costs of administering this Act. 1978, c. 5, s. 12.

Funds of Foundation

13 (1) The funds of the Foundation shall be derived from

(a) pledges or donations resulting from fund raising;

(b) gifts, bequests and devises;

(c) moneys resulting from the use, disposal or investment of property received;

(d) any other source.

Aquisition and alienation of property

(2) The Foundation may accept, receive and hold gifts, bequests and devises of real and personal property and subject to the terms of any trust may sell, lease, convey or otherwise dispose of and convert into money any such property.

Purpose of trust frustrated

(3) Notwithstanding the terms of any trust, where, in the opinion of the Board, the original intent of a gift, bequest or devise becomes impossible to carry out, such gift, bequest or devise may be used for carrying out the objects of the Foundation generally.

Creation of gifts

(4) Any form of words is sufficient to constitute a gift, bequest or devise to the Foundation so long as the person making the gift, bequest or devise indicates an intention to contribute to the Foundation.

Specific trust

(5) Real or personal property given, devised or bequeathed to the Foundation upon specific trust shall, subject to subsection (3), be held upon specific trust.

Non-specific trust

(6) Real or personal property received by the Foundation, not received upon specific trust, may be held in a general account.

Discretion to accept trust

(7) Notwithstanding anything contained herein, the Foundation is not required to receive any real or personal property given, devised or bequeathed to it upon trust if in the opinion of the Board the terms of the trust are not ones which it should administer.

Fee for administration

(8) The Foundation shall be entitled to receive by way of fee for administering any general or specific trust an amount not exceeding five per cent of the income derived from such trust or the investment of the assets of such trust and such fee shall form part of general operating revenue.

Determination of fee

(9) The Board shall annually determine the amount of the fee referred to in subsection (8). 1978, c. 5, s. 13.

Powers of Foundation

14 The Foundation may, subject to the provisions of this Act and the regulations,

(a) solicit funds, carry on fund raising activities and programs and donor recognition programs;

(b) acquire, hold, mortgage, dispose of, lease and otherwise deal with real and personal property in the name of and for the objects and purposes of the Foundation;

(c) borrow money for the general purposes of the Foundation and mortgage, hypothecate or pledge the property of the Foundation to secure sums so borrowed;

(d) draw, make, accept, endorse, execute and issue promissory notes, cheques, bills of exchange and other negotiable or transferable instruments;

(e) subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, make by-laws respecting the administration of its affairs, funds and property, and of any other matter which relates to the powers, objects and purposes of the Foundation or which is incidental thereto;

(f) do any other matter which relates to the powers, objects and purposes of the Foundation or which is incidental thereto. 1978, c. 5, s. 14.

Report by Board to Committee

15 The Board shall, in accordance with the regulations and at the times required by the regulations, inform the Committee of the amounts of funds available for financial assistance for the purpose of promoting, preserving, developing or encouraging cultural affairs in the Province. 1978, c. 5, s. 15.

Assistance by Board

16 Subject to the regulations and on the advice of the Committee, the Board may provide financial assistance to such persons or organizations as it may determine. 1978, c. 5, s. 16.

Use of funds

17 (1) All money received by the Foundation through the conduct of its operations or otherwise on behalf or to the credit of the Foundation shall be deposited to the credit of the Foundation and shall be invested, administered and expended by the Foundation exclusively in the exercise and performance of the powers, duties and objects of the Foundation.

Books of account

(2) The Foundation shall keep proper books of account and record.

Statement of account

(3) The Foundation shall prepare in relation to its operations in respect to each fiscal year of the Foundation statements of account which shall include a balance sheet, a statement of income and expense and a statement of surplus, containing such information as, in the case of a company incorporated under the Companies Act, is required to be laid before the company by the directors at an annual meeting. 1978, c. 5, s. 17.

Fiscal year

18 (1) The fiscal year of the Foundation shall be the period beginning on the first day of April and ending on the thirty-first day of March of the following year.

Annual report

(2) The Foundation shall before the first day of November in each year make an annual report to the Governor in Council containing

(a) an audited financial statement as outlined in subsection (3) of Section 17 for the last fiscal year; and

(b) such other matters as may appear to be of public interest in relation to the Foundation or the works of the Foundation that the Governor in Council may prescribe. 1978, c. 5, s. 18.

Tax exemption

19 The Foundation and its property are exempt from taxation under or pursuant to any Act of the Legislature. 1978, c. 5, s. 19.

Regulations

20 (1) The Governor in Council may make such regulations as he deems necessary or advisable for the more effective carrying out of the provisions of this Act and for dealing with matters for which no express provision has been made, or in respect of which only partial or imperfect provision has been made, and without restricting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

(a) prescribing the conduct and holding of meetings of the Committee, the quorum and officers of the Committee and the qualifications and remuneration of members of the Committee;

(b) restricting and regulating the exercise of the powers of the Board or Committee;

(c) conferring or imposing any additional functions, powers or duties on the Board or Committee for purposes related to this Act;

(d) requiring reports to be made by the Board or Committee to the Minister relating to the transaction of its affairs and to its revenues and expenditures;

(e) governing applications for financial assistance under this Act;

(f) prescribing the persons or organizations or classes of persons or organizations eligible for financial assistance;

(g) prescribing the purposes for which financial assistance may be given;

(h) specifying the conditions required to be met by any applicant for financial assistance;

(i) prescribing the terms and conditions upon which financial assistance is given and requiring the repayment thereof to the Foundation if the terms and conditions are not met;

(j) requiring any person receiving financial assistance to account for the way in which it is used;

(k) providing for inspection by the Foundation of premises, assets and property in respect of which financial assistance is given;

(l) defining any word or expression used in this Act but not defined in this Act;

(m) respecting any matter or thing, whether of any of the foregoing kinds or not, necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the intent and purpose of this Act.

Regulations Act

(2) Regulations made pursuant to subsection (1) shall be regulations within the meaning of the Regulations Act. 1978, c. 5, s. 20.