BILL NO. 274
(as introduced)
1st Session, 64th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
1 Charles III, 2023
Private Bill
Catholic Cemetery Company Act
The Honourable Brian Comer
Cape Breton East
First Reading: March 24, 2023
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
An Act to Continue the Corporation
Known as the Catholic Cemetery Company
AND WHEREAS the instrument of incorporation was recorded at the Registry of Deeds in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on November 18, 1964, in Book 729, at Page 415, under document number 4495;
AND WHEREAS the board of directors and members of the Catholic Cemetery Company wish to amend the terms of its incorporation;
THEREFORE be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:
1 This Act may be cited as the Catholic Cemetery Company Act.
(a) "board of directors" means the board of directors established under Section 10;
(b) "Cemetery" means the Resurrection Cemetery located in Sydney, Cape Breton;
(c) "Company" means the Catholic Cemetery Company;
(d) "director" means a member of the board of directors of the Company and includes an interim director under subsection 11(1) and a director chosen under Section 13;
(e) "member" means the owner of a lot who has complied with subsection 8(1).
3 Where there is a conflict between this Act or the regulations and any other enactment, this Act and the regulations prevail.
4 The Catholic Cemetery Company incorporated on September 23, 1964, under the Cemetery Companies Act, is continued and that Act no longer applies to the Company.
5 (1) The Company is authorized and empowered to
(a) receive, take, hold, manage and enjoy any real or personal property, that may from time to time be donated, devised or bequeathed to the Company in trust for the permanent or other improvement of the property of the Company or any part thereof, or any lot therein, in accordance with the conditions or provisions contained in any deed of trust, devise, bequest or donation made or given to the Company or executed in favour of the Company;
(b) assume and undertake the duty and obligation of preserving and maintaining in a proper manner for any time or forever any particular lot, monument or enclosure in the Cemetery; and
(c) enter into agreements binding the Company to preserve and maintain in a proper manner for any time or in perpetuity such lot, monument or enclosure in the Cemetery designated in a deed of trust, devise, bequest or donation.
(2) Executors, administrators or trustees may pay over and transfer to the Company, money or securities in their hands, that they are by will of their testator or other instrument directed to apply for or toward the purposes specified in this Section.
6 The Cemetery and the lots in the Cemetery conveyed by the Company to individual members for burial sites are exempt from taxation of any kind, and are not liable to be seized or sold on execution.
7 (1) The Company shall, subject to the approval of the Governor in Council and in accordance with the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act and regulations, make regulations to ensure all burials within the Cemetery are being conducted in a decent and proper manner.
(2) The Regulations Act does not apply to a regulation made under subsection (1).
8 (1) Every member who holds internment rights for a lot, of not less than 40 square feet, in the Cemetery maintained, conducted, managed or operated by the Company, who has paid not less than 75% of the purchase price of the lot is a voting member in the company.
(2) Where a member has not paid the full purchase price of a lot, the member shall pay any outstanding balance with respect to the lot in monthly instalments within one year of purchasing the lot.
9 No member of the Company is personally liable for any obligation of the Company beyond the amount unpaid on a lot owned by such member, together with any amount unpaid on any assessment made under this Act.
10 The affairs and property of the Company are managed by a board of directors composed of seven directors, and five directors form a quorum.
11 (1) The current directors elected under the Cemetery Companies Act are hereby continued and serve until replaced or confirmed at the first election of directors under Section 13.
(2) A vacancy in the office of director prior to the annual meeting in May of 2023 must be filled by the remaining directors appointing a member of the Company to fill the vacancy.
12 (1) A member of the Company who is 19 years of age or older is eligible to stand for election as a director and to hold office.
(2) A member who wishes to stand for election must apply with notice of such intent in the form and within the time set out in the bylaws.
(3) A member's application to stand for election must be approved by the board of directors who shall notify the applicant whether the application has been approved or not, as set out in the bylaws.
13 (1) Directors are chosen by ballot from among the members at the annual meeting of the Company for a term specified under subsection (2).
(2) The following term positions must be filled by an election to be held in accordance with the bylaws at the annual meeting in May of 2023:
(a) two directors for a one-year term;
(b) two directors for a two-year term;
(c) three directors for a three-year term.
(3) Elections to replace directors who have completed their terms must be held at each annual meeting.
(4) In the event of a tie vote for a director position, the directors in office immediately before the election may order a second round of voting for the position or permit both members to serve as directors.
(5) Newly elected directors must attend such training as is set out in the bylaws before attending a subsequent meeting.
14 (1) The board of directors shall, at the first meeting of the Company after an election, elect from among the directors
(2) Notwithstanding the term the director was elected to fill, a director who is elected as the chair shall serve a three-year term as chair.
(3) The chair shall preside at every meeting of the board of directors and shall not vote except in case of an equality of votes where the chair has the casting vote.
(4) Neither the treasurer nor the recording secretary may receive any compensation from the Company for the duration of their term in office.
15 The board of directors shall provide the treasurer with all books necessary for the keeping of proper accounts and records of the Company and shall also provide the treasurer with a plan of the Cemetery showing the size and location of the lots therein.
(a) supervise administrative office staff and ensure that all financial records, minutes of meetings and Cemetery bylaws, rules and regulations are properly stored at the Cemetery office;
(b) ensure that all records respecting the perpetual care fund, trust fund, burial records and Cemetery plan are in accordance with the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act and regulations and this Act;
(c) subject to subsection (2), ensure that all records are available to the directors for inspection upon reasonable notice;
(d) provide the members with a detailed account of all financial reports prepared by the accountant at the annual meeting; and
(e) perform such other duties as assigned by the board of directors and as set out in the bylaws.
(2) A director is not permitted to copy or remove records from the Cemetery office without the approval of the board of directors.
17 The recording secretary shall
(a) record, prepare and submit to the Cemetery office the minutes of all meetings;
(b) ensure that the minutes of meetings are given to the directors before all scheduled board of directors meetings;
(c) prepare such other documents in preparation for scheduled board of directors meetings as required by the board of directors; and
(d) perform such other duties as assigned by the board of directors and as set out in the bylaws.
18 In the absence of the chair, treasurer or recording secretary, the board of directors may choose one of their number as acting chair, acting treasurer or acting recording secretary.
19 (1) Where a vacancy occurs in the office of director by death, resignation, removal or otherwise, the remaining directors shall appoint a member of the Company to fill the vacancy at the first opportunity to appoint a director or at the next annual meeting provided always there is a quorum of five directors.
(2) A member appointed under subsection (1) holds office for the time remaining in the term of the director being replaced and is eligible for re-election.
20 (1) A director completing a one-year or two-year term may submit notice as set out in the bylaws of the director's intent to stand for election for one more year.
(2) A director completing a three-year term must wait one full year before submitting notice as set out in the bylaws of the director's intent to stand for election.
21 (1) The annual meeting is held on the second Saturday in May every year.
(2) Notice of the annual meeting must be given to each member as set out in the bylaws.
22 (1) Members and those persons permitted by the bylaws may attend the annual meeting.
(2) Persons attending the annual meeting must provide proof of identity as set out in the bylaws.
(3) The business to be transacted at the annual meeting is as set out in the bylaws.
(4) A majority of the members present at the annual meeting forms a quorum.
(5) The chair has a casting vote at the annual meeting if there is an equality of votes, in addition to the chair's vote as a member.
23 A member is entitled to one vote regardless of how many burial lots the member owns.
24 The bylaws, Cemetery plan, rules, regulations and death records, other than those containing a member's private information, and the financial records and minutes of meetings held by the board of directors, must be made available to any person at all reasonable times for the purpose of searching and taking extracts therefrom without payment of any fee.
25 The board of directors must comply with the terms of the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act and regulations with respect to
(b) providing trust-funded services and products; and
(c) providing members with a Cemetery pre-plan contract approved by the Department of Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services.
(b) prepare pre-cemetery contracts, subject to the approval of the Department of Service Nova Scotia and Internal Affairs; and
(c) improve, put in good order, repair, straighten, re-erect or alter in any way it deems desirable any burial site or monument at any time without the permission of the lot owner.
27 (1) The administrative staff shall execute deeds and conveyances of lots allocated pursuant to clause 26(a) or (b), and shall affix the corporate seal of the Company.
(2) The conveyance of a lot sold by the Company for a burial site need not be registered for any purpose, and is not affected by any Act respecting the registration of deeds, and no judgment, mortgage or encumbrance may attach on or against any lot so conveyed.
28 The board of directors may make such bylaws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, as it deems necessary and proper for the management of the affairs of the Company, including but not limited to bylaws respecting
(a) the form of notice a member must give to the board of directors when applying to stand for election and the time within which the application must be made;
(b) the time and manner in which the board of directors must notify a member whether the member's application to stand for election has been approved;
(c) the procedure for the election of directors;
(d) the training required for new directors;
(e) the procedure for a director to submit notice of the director's intent to stand for election for a subsequent term;
(f) the persons or classes of persons who may attend the annual meeting;
(g) the persons or classes of persons who may not attend the annual meeting;
(h) the advertising required for giving notice of the annual meeting;
(i) agenda items for the annual meeting;
(j) the requirements, including providing proof of identity, for attendance at the annual meeting;
(k) the procedure for holding a vote and voting at the annual or a general meeting;
(l) the procedure for calling a general meeting.
29 (1) A member wishing to dispose of the member's lot and release it to the Company shall give written notice to the Company.
(2) Upon receipt of a lot under subsection (1), the Company shall refund the member the money held in trust for that lot and the interest earned on that money.
30 (1) A member wishing to transfer the member's lot to another person shall give written notice to the Company of the member's intention to transfer the lot, money held in trust and interest earned to that other person.
(2) Upon receipt of notice under subsection (1), the treasurer shall make a transfer entry on the books of the Company respecting the lot number, the name of the new member and the money and interest to be credited.
31 (1) The Company may be wound up under the Companies Winding Up Act if no lot has been sold for the purpose of burial or, where lots have been sold for such purpose, with the consent in writing of the owner of every such lot.
(2) Where the Company has been wound up under subsection (1), the property must be freed and discharged from all trusts and the proceeds of any such property devised or conveyed by way of gift to the Company in trust for the purpose of a cemetery must be applied to such charitable or benevolent purpose as the Governor in Council directs.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2023 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created March 24, 2023. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.
