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Building Families and Communities Act


Published: 2014-01-01

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BUILDING FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES ACT BUILDING FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES ACT
Chapter B‑7.5
Table of Contents
                1      Definitions
                2      Establishment of Councils
                3      Purposes of a Council
                4      Co‑chairs meeting
                5      Aboriginal co‑chairs meeting
                6      Reports and advice
                7      Staff Related and Consequential Amendments, Repeal, Transitional Provisions and Coming into Force
          8‑11      Related and consequential amendments
              12      Repeal
              13      Transitional
              14      Coming into force
Preamble
WHEREAS all Albertans share the opportunity and responsibility to contribute to and benefit from Alberta’s prosperity and quality of life;
WHEREAS achieving desired quality of life outcomes requires the involvement and collaboration of Albertans and their families, communities, the private sector and their governments;
WHEREAS the engagement of communities, their partnership and their advice ensures that social‑based programs and services are effective, efficient and accessible to meet the diverse and changing needs of Albertans;
WHEREAS a co‑ordinated approach to the delivery of social‑based programs and services provides clarity among all partners on expected outcomes, roles and accountabilities; and
WHEREAS the Government of Alberta recognizes and affirms the importance of building our collective knowledge to assess progress in achieving outcomes for Albertans;
THEREFORE HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows:
Definitions
1   In this Act,
                           (a)    “Council” means a Family and Community Engagement Council established under section 2;
                           (b)    “Minister” means the Minister determined under section 16 of the Government Organization Act as the Minister responsible for this Act;
                           (c)    “region” means a region of Alberta within which a Family and Community Engagement Council engages.
 
Establishment of Councils
2(1)  The Minister may establish one or more Family and Community Engagement Councils to act in an advisory capacity and to carry out the purposes set out in section 3 with respect to the regions within which they engage.
(2)  The Minister may, with respect to each Council,
                           (a)    appoint or provide for the appointment of its members,
                           (b)    designate 2 members of the Council as co‑chairs, one of whom must be aboriginal, and
                           (c)    set out the region of Alberta within which the Council is to engage.
(3)  The Minister shall, when appointing members to a Council, have regard to
                           (a)    the desirability of achieving a diversity of qualifications, backgrounds and experience among members of the Council,
                           (b)    the desirability of achieving a reflection of the demographic make‑up of the region,
                           (c)    the aboriginal population of the region within which the Council is to engage, and
                           (d)    the desirability of having a Council comprised of members who reside in the region.
(4)  The Minister may authorize, fix and provide for the payment of remuneration and expenses to the members of a Council.
 
Purposes of a Council
3   The purposes of a Council are
                           (a)    to work with communities, identify social policy issues, opportunities and challenges and potential solutions involving a range of community partners including health advisory councils, school boards, municipalities, aboriginal agencies, social service agencies, the private sector and other agencies or groups,
                           (b)    to engage with communities on strategic and policy directions respecting social‑based programs and services that are under the mandate of the Minister,
                           (c)    to advise, report on and make recommendations to the community and to the Minister on the community’s needs and significant issues related to the social health of the community and Albertans and to social‑based programs and services,
                           (d)    to inform the Minister on how strategic policy directions are being achieved,
                           (e)    to demonstrate efforts made at the community level to achieve desired outcomes, and
                            (f)    to deal with any other matter as may be agreed on in the Mandate and Roles Document developed pursuant to the Alberta Public Agencies Governance Act or as directed by the Minister.
 
Co‑chairs meeting
4(1)  The co‑chairs of all Councils shall meet together at least once in each calendar year to identify similar social policy issues, opportunities and challenges throughout all regions and to develop and recommend potential solutions to those issues and challenges.
(2)  The Minister and all the co‑chairs of all Councils shall meet together annually.
Aboriginal co‑chairs meeting
5(1)  The aboriginal co‑chairs of all Councils shall meet together annually to identify similar social policy issues, opportunities and challenges throughout all regions and to develop and recommend potential solutions to those issues and challenges.
(2)  The Minister and all the aboriginal co‑chairs of all Councils shall meet together annually.
 
Reports and advice
6(1)  On a date to be set by the Minister, the co‑chairs of each Council shall submit to the Minister an annual report containing a general summary of the general activities undertaken by the Council during the previous calendar year and any additional information requested or required by the Minister.
(2)  The Minister may, at any time, request from any Council a report or information respecting any matter, or with respect to a meeting referred to in section 4(1) or 5(1), in a form specified by the Minister.
(3)  On receipt of a report under subsection (1), the Minister must lay a copy of it before the Legislative Assembly if it is then sitting, or if it is not then sitting, within 15 days after the commencement of the next sitting.
 
Staff
7(1)  The Minister may provide administrative and other support services to a Council.
(2)  The Minister may designate one or more employees involved in the delivery of social‑based programs and services under the administration of the Minister to liaise with the Councils.
Related and Consequential Amendments, Repeal, Transitional Provisions and Coming into Force
8 to 11   (These sections amend other Acts; the amendments have been incorporated into those Acts.)
Repeals RSA 2000 cC‑11
12   The Child and Family Services Authorities Act, RSA 2000 cC‑11, is repealed.
 
Transitional
13(1)  In this section, “entity” means
                           (a)    a Child and Family Services Authority under the Child and Family Services Authorities Act, RSA 2000 cC‑11, and
                           (b)    a Community Board under the Persons with Developmental Disabilities Community Governance Act, RSA 2000 cP‑8.
(2)  Every Child and Family Services Authority under the Child and Family Services Authorities Act, RSA 2000 cC‑11, is dissolved and the appointments of the board members of each Authority are terminated.
(3)  Every Community Board under the Persons with Developmental Disabilities Community Governance Act, RSA 2000 cP‑8, is dissolved and the appointments of the members of each Community Board are terminated.
(4)  The powers, duties and functions previously carried out by an entity are transferred to the Crown.
(5)  The assets, if any, of an entity are transferred to the Crown.
(6)  The funds, if any, of an entity are transferred to the Crown.
(7)  The obligations and liabilities, if any, of an entity are transferred to the Crown.
(8)  The records of every entity, including records containing personal information, are transferred to the Department of Human Services.
(9)  Any civil, criminal or administrative action or proceeding pending by or against an entity are deemed to be continued in the name of the Crown.
(10)  Any ruling, order or judgment in favour of or against an entity is to be enforced in favour of or against the Crown, as the case may be.
(11)  The Minister may make regulations
                           (a)    to remedy any confusion, difficulty, inconsistency or impossibility resulting from the dissolution of an entity, and
                           (b)    respecting the transition of any other matter relating to the dissolution of an entity.
(12)  A regulation made under subsection (11) may be made retroactive to the extent set out in the regulation.
 
Coming into force
14   This Act comes into force on January 1, 2014.