First Session, Forty-second Parliament,
64-65-66-67 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016-2017-2018

SENATE OF CANADA

BILL S-1003

An Act to amend The United Church of Canada Act

AS PASSED

BY THE SENATE

December 11, 2018

4211720

SUMMARY
This enactment amends the statute governing the corporation known as The United Church of Canada, The United Church of Canada Act, by amending a definition and by adding provisions necessary to effect a new governance structure.

Available on the Senate of Canada website at the following address:
www.sencanada.ca/en

1st Session, 42nd Parliament,
64-65-66-67 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016-2017-2018

SENATE OF CANADA

BILL S-1003

An Act to amend The United Church of Canada Act

Preamble
Whereas the corporation known as The United Church of Canada has, by its petition, represented that

(a) the corporation, having its head office in the City of Toronto, in the Province of Ontario, was incorporated by an Act of the Parliament of Canada, being chapter 100 of the Statutes of Canada, 1924, entitled An Act incorporating The United Church of Canada under the name The United Church of Canada;
(b) the Act of incorporation has since been amended from time to time; and
(c) the corporation wishes that The United Church of Canada Act be amended so that it may change its governance structure in accordance with the restructuring motion adopted by The United Church of Canada’s 42nd General Council on August 14, 2015, and the results of the remit process undertaken thereafter, as confirmed by The United Church of Canada’s 43rd General Council on July 22, 2018;

And whereas the petitioner has, by its petition, prayed that it be enacted as hereinafter set forth, and it is expedient to grant the prayer of the petition;

1924, c. 100; 1939, c. 65
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1 Paragraph 3(b) of The United Church of Canada Act is replaced by the following:

“The Basis of Union.”
(b) “The Basis of Union” means the Basis of Union set forth in Schedule A to this Act, as amended from time to time under paragraph 28(b) by The United Church of Canada;

2 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 30:

Denominational Council of The United Church of Canada
31 Any reference to the “General Council of The United Church of Canada” in this Act is also to be read, if the context requires, as a reference to the “Denominational Council of The United Church of Canada” or to any successor to that Council that is established in accordance with the process set out in the Basis of Union.

Regional Council
32 Any reference to the “Conference” or “Presbytery” in this Act is also to be read, if the context requires, as a reference to the “Regional Council” or to any successor to those entities that is established in accordance with the process set out in the Basis of Union.

Community of Faith
33 Any reference to “congregation” in this Act is also to be read, if the context requires, as a reference to “community of faith” or to any successor to those entities that is established in accordance with the process set out in the Basis of Union.

3 Schedule B to the Act, “TRUSTS OF MODEL DEED”, is amended, in Column Two, by replacing item 6 with the following:
6. The Trustees or a majority of them may, but only with the consent in writing of the Regional Council within the bounds of which the lands are situate (such consent to be under the hand of the presiding officer or secretary or clerk thereof), sell the said lands or any part thereof either by public sale or private contract, either for cash or upon credit, upon such terms as to price and for such price and upon such terms as to payment or otherwise as they may deem expedient; mortgage, hypothecate or exchange the said lands or any part thereof; let any church, chapel or meeting-house upon the same for such rent and upon such terms as they may deem expedient; and make all such conveyances, mortgages, leases and assurances as may be required to complete any such sale, mortgage, hypothecation, exchange or lease. The said Trustees after first paying or otherwise providing for all indebtedness of the Trustees shall apply the moneys arising from such sale, mortgage, hypothecation, lease or exchange for the purposes of such congregation as the Official Board thereof shall direct, but should such congregation cease to exist as an organized body, such proceeds, less any expense incurred in the execution of these trusts, shall be paid to The United Church of Canada to be applied for such purposes for the benefit of The United Church of Canada as the Regional Council within the bounds of which the said lands are situate may determine under the by-laws, rules and regulations of the Denominational Council. Every application by Trustees for the consent of a Regional Council as aforesaid shall be in writing and shall state the purpose for which the moneys arising from such intended sale, mortgage, hypothecation, lease or exchange will be applied. Any decision of a Regional Council with regard to the sale, mortgage, hypothecation, lease or exchange of the said lands or any part thereof shall be subject to appeal to the Denominational Council at the instance of not fewer than any five members of the congregation affected thereby. In every case where the consent of such Regional Council or the Denominational Council has been obtained as aforesaid it shall not be incumbent upon the purchaser, mortgagee or lessee of the said lands or of any part thereof to enquire into the necessity, expediency or propriety of any such sale, mortgage, hypothecation, lease or exchange, or to see to the application of the moneys paid to the Trustees. A certificate of the secretary or clerk of any Regional Council or the Denominational Council that any such consent has been given shall be sufficient and conclusive evidence of such consent.

Published under authority of the Senate of Canada