19 Suits
by and against the Commission
HER MAJESTY, by and with
the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as
follows:
Definitions
1 In this Act,
(a) “alcohol
and drug abuse” means the use of any substance by a person in quantities that
create a condition in the person that is characterized by physical,
psychological or social problems;
(b) “bylaws”
means the bylaws of the Commission;
(c) “Commission”
means the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission;
(d) “Crown”
means the Crown in right of Alberta;
(e) “Minister” means the Minister determined
under section 16 of the Government Organization Act as the Minister
responsible for this Act.
RSA 1980 cA‑38
s1;1985 c6 s3;1990 c8 s2
Incorporation of
Commission
2(1) The Alberta Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
Commission is continued as a corporation under the name “Alberta Alcohol and
Drug Abuse Commission”.
(2) The
Commission shall consist of the chair, the vice‑chair and not more than
10 other members.
(3) The
chair and vice‑chair must be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(4) The members of the Commission, other than the
chair and vice‑chair, shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in
Council for a term of not more than 3 years and may be appointed for not more
than 2 consecutive terms.
RSA 1980 cA‑38
2;1985 c6 s4
Status and functions of
Commission
3(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the
Commission
(a) is,
and is declared always to have been, an agent of the Crown,
(b) may
exercise its powers and shall perform its duties and functions only as an agent
of the Crown, and
(c) shall,
in the exercise and performance of its powers, duties and functions, comply
with directions given to it by the Minister.
(2) A member of the Commission shall not conduct
himself or herself in a manner that results in the Commission’s failing to
comply with subsection (1).
1990 c8 s3
Compensation
4(1) The chair of the Commission may receive from
the Commission the remuneration and shall perform the duties that the
Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe.
(2) The
Commission may pay to each member of the Commission, other than the chair, fees
for attending meetings of the Commission, at the rates prescribed by the
Minister.
(3) The Commission may pay travelling and living
expenses at the rates prescribed by the Minister to each member of the
Commission while the member is absent from the member’s ordinary place of
residence in the course of the member’s duties as a member of the Commission.
RSA 1980 cA‑38 s3
Meetings
5(1) At a meeting of the Commission the vice‑chair
shall preside in the absence of the chair and if the chair and the vice‑chair
are both absent, the members present may elect one of their number to preside
at that meeting.
(2) A
majority of the members of the Commission constitutes a quorum of the Commission.
(3) The
affirmative votes of a majority of the members present at any meeting of the
Commission at which a quorum is present are sufficient to pass a resolution or
bylaw to bind all the members.
(4) When
one or more vacancies occur on the Commission, the remaining members may
exercise all the powers of the Commission.
(5) At
its meetings, the Commission may exercise any of its powers by resolution
except where it is required by this Act to exercise a power by bylaw.
(6) A
copy of the minutes of each meeting of the Commission shall be furnished to the
Minister.
(7) The minutes of a meeting at which any amendment
is made to the Commission’s bylaws or new bylaws are made must set out or
incorporate as an attachment the exact words of the resolution effecting the
amendment or of the new bylaws.
RSA 1980 cA‑38
s4;1990 c8 s4
Bylaws re meetings
6 The Commission may make bylaws respecting the
calling of meetings of the Commission and the conduct of business at the
meetings, the duties and conduct of members and generally as to the conduct of
the business and affairs of the Commission.
RSA 1980 cA‑38 s5
Chief executive officer
7(1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council, on the
recommendation of the chair, may appoint a chief executive officer of the
Commission and may fix the chief executive officer’s remuneration.
(2) The
chief executive officer is an employee of the Commission, and is responsible
for the management of the work of the Commission.
(3) The chief executive officer may delegate to an
employee of the Commission any power or duty conferred or imposed on the chief
executive officer by the Commission.
RSA 1980 cA‑38
s6;1985 c6 s5;1990 c8 s5
Members not personally
liable
8 The members, officers and employees of the
Commission and persons acting under the instructions of any of them or under
the authority of this or any other Act or the bylaws are not personally liable
for any loss or damage suffered by any person by reason of anything in good
faith done or omitted to be done in the exercise or purported exercise of any
powers given by this or any other Act or the bylaws.
RSA 1980 cA‑38 s7
Secrecy of information
9(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section,
(a) a
person who is or has been a member or employee of the Commission or is or has been
employed or engaged in the administration of this Act shall not disclose or be
compelled to disclose any information obtained by the person that names or
identifies a client who has been provided with treatment, care or services by
the Commission, and
(b) any
file, record, document or paper in the custody of the Commission that names or
identifies a client who has been provided with treatment, care or services by
the Commission shall not be disclosed to any person or be admitted in evidence
in any proceedings.
(2) In
this section, “client” means a person who has been provided with treatment,
care or other services by the Commission or at a hospital, clinic or centre
operated by the Commission.
(3) Subsection
(1) does not apply
(a) when
the disclosure is necessarily made in the course of the administration of the
business and affairs of the Commission or in the course of the administration
of this Act,
(b) if
there are compelling circumstances affecting anyone’s health or safety and
notice of the disclosure is mailed to the client at the client’s last known
address,
(c) when
the disclosure is made at the request of or with the consent of the client
concerned or of a guardian or trustee of the client appointed under the Dependent Adults Act or the Public Trustee Act,
(d) in
any special case when permission is given by an order of the Lieutenant
Governor in Council, or
(e) when
the disclosure is made in respect of a deceased client to a medical examiner
appointed under the Fatality Inquiries
Act.
(4) A
provincial judge presiding at a public inquiry under Part 4 of the Fatality Inquiries Act may admit in
evidence any information or any file, record, document or paper pertaining to a
deceased client obtained by a medical examiner under subsection (3)(e), but any
proceedings related to that information, file, record, document or paper shall
be closed to the public.
(5) Information
in the hands of the Commission pertaining to clients and the treatment, care
and services provided to clients may be published by the Commission or the
Government in statistical form if the individual names of clients are not
revealed or made identifiable by those statistics.
(6) A
person who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and liable to a
fine of not more than $500 and in default of payment to imprisonment for a term
of not more than 90 days.
(7) If the Provincial Court issues a subpoena
pursuant to the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act, the Commission or an employee of the Commission shall
release, in accordance with that Act, any information, file, record, document
or paper in respect of the child to whom the proceedings before the Provincial
Court relate or with respect to a guardian of that child.
RSA 2000 cA‑38
s9;2003 c16 s117
Audit
10 The Auditor General is the auditor of the
Commission.
RSA 1980 cA‑38 s9
Fiscal year and budget
11(1) The fiscal year of the Commission is April 1 to
the following March 31.
(2) The Commission shall prepare a budget for each
fiscal year for approval by the Government and in a form approved by the
Minister and shall present it to the Minister in the manner and at the time
specified by the Minister.
RSA 1980 cA‑38
s10;1985 c6 s7;1990 c8 s6
Annual report
12 The Commission shall, after the end of each
fiscal year, prepare and submit to the Minister a general report summarizing
its transactions and affairs in that year and showing its revenues during that
period together with audited financial statements, and the Minister shall lay
the report before the Legislative Assembly if it is then sitting, and if it is
not then sitting, within 15 days after the commencement of the next sitting.
RSA 1980 cA‑38 s12
Advances to Commission
13 The Minister shall pay to the Commission money
voted by the Legislature for the purposes of the Commission in equal monthly
instalments or on any other basis agreed to by the Commission and the Minister.
RSA 2000 cA‑38
s13;2006 c23 s14
Borrowing powers
14 The Commission, with the approval of the
Lieutenant Governor in Council and to the extent permitted by the Lieutenant
Governor in Council,
(a) may
from time to time borrow money from any person or enter into overdraft
arrangements with a bank or a treasury branch, for the purpose of meeting its
obligations as they become due, and
(b) may give security for the repayment of that
money.
RSA 1980 cA‑38 s14
General powers
15 In addition to the powers vested in the
Commission by this and any other Act, the Commission may
(a) subject
to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, acquire and hold real
property required for its purposes, and sell or otherwise dispose of real
property no longer required for its purposes;
(b) accept
subscriptions, donations, devises and bequests of real or personal property;
(c) make
any banking arrangements necessary for the carrying out of its duties and
functions;
(d) draw,
make, accept, endorse, execute and issue promissory notes, bills of exchange
and other negotiable or transferable instruments;
(e) establish a tariff of fees payable to the
Commission for services, programs or materials provided by the Commission.
RSA 1980 cA‑38
s15;1990 c8 s7
Objects
16(1) The objects of the Commission are as follows:
(a) to
operate programs for the prevention or treatment of alcohol and drug abuse;
(b) to
conduct studies and research into and investigate alcohol and drug abuse or
matters relating to alcohol and drug abuse;
(c) to
provide financial and other assistance to persons conducting programs for the
prevention or treatment of alcohol and drug abuse;
(d) to
provide financial and other assistance to persons conducting studies and
research into and investigating alcohol and drug abuse or matters relating to
alcohol and drug abuse.
(2) The
Commission may carry out the objects referred to in subsection (1) as they
relate to other addictive behaviours designated by the Lieutenant Governor in
Council.
(3) The Commission’s objects are declared to be
public and governmental.
RSA 1980 cA‑38
s16;1985 c6 s10;1990 c8 s8;1994 c3 s2
Distributions and
surpluses
17(1) The Commission shall not
(a) pay
any dividends or similar distributions to its members, or
(b) pay
or otherwise make available any part of its assets to or for the personal
benefit of any of its members.
(2) Members
are not entitled to participate, on the liquidation, dissolution, winding‑up
or termination of the Corporation and after the payment of its debts, in the
distribution of its assets, but in such an event, all its remaining assets
belong to the Crown.
(3) Nothing in this section prohibits the payment
of remuneration or expenses to members pursuant to section 4.
1990 c8 s9
Regulations
18 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make
regulations providing for any matters considered necessary for the purpose of
carrying out this Act.
RSA 1980 cA‑38 s17
Suits by and against the
Commission
19 Notwithstanding any other law or that the
Commission acts in accordance with section 3, an action, suit or other legal
proceeding in respect of any right or obligation acquired or incurred by the
Commission on behalf of the Crown, whether in its name or in the name of the
Crown, may be brought or taken by or against the Commission in the name of the
Commission in any court that would have jurisdiction if the Commission were not
an agent of the Crown.
1990 c8 s10
