SHORT TITLE

Marginal note:Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT

Marginal note:Department established

• 2. (1) There is established a department of the Government of Canada, called the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, over which the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, appointed by commission under the Great Seal, presides.

• Marginal note:Minister

  (2) The Minister holds office during pleasure and has the management and direction of the Department.

Marginal note:Deputy head

3. The Governor in Council may appoint a Deputy Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to hold office during pleasure and to be the deputy head of the Department.

POWERS, DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE MINISTER

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions

• 4. (1) The powers, duties and functions of the Minister extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction — and that have not been assigned by law to another department, board or agency of the Government of Canada — relating to public safety and emergency preparedness.

• Marginal note:National leadership

  (2) The Minister shall, at the national level, exercise leadership relating to public safety and emergency preparedness.

Marginal note:Portfolio coordination and leadership

5. The Minister shall coordinate the activities of the entities for which the Minister is responsible, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Firearms Centre, the Correctional Service of Canada and the National Parole Board, and establish strategic priorities for those entities relating to public safety and emergency preparedness.

Marginal note:Functions

• 6. (1) In exercising his or her powers and in performing his or her duties and functions and with due regard to the powers conferred on the provinces and territories, the Minister may

  • (a) initiate, recommend, coordinate, implement or promote policies, programs or projects relating to public safety and emergency preparedness;

  • (b) cooperate with any province, foreign state, international organization or any other entity;

  • (c) make grants or contributions; and

  • (d) facilitate the sharing of information, where authorized, to promote public safety objectives.

• Marginal note:Committees

  (2) The Minister may establish advisory and other committees and provide for their membership, duties, functions and operation.

• Marginal note:Remuneration

  (3) Members of a committee shall be paid, in connection with their work for the committee, the remuneration that may be fixed by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Travel, living and other expenses

  (4) Members of a committee are entitled to be reimbursed, in accordance with Treasury Board directives, the travel, living and other expenses incurred in connection with their work for the committee while absent, in the case of full-time members, from their ordinary place of work or, in the case of part-time members, from their ordinary place of residence.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Marginal note:Appointments

• 7. (1) Any person who holds the office of Solicitor General of Canada or Deputy Solicitor General of Canada on the day on which this section comes into force is deemed to have been appointed under this Act as Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness or Deputy Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness respectively from and after that day.

• Marginal note:Employees

  (2) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the status of an employee who, immediately before the coming into force of this section, occupied a position in the Department of the Solicitor General, except that the employee, on the coming into force of this section, occupies that position in the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

• Meaning of “employee”

  (3) In subsection (2), “employee” has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Transfer of powers, duties and functions

• 8. (1) Any power, duty or function that, immediately before the coming into force of this section, was vested in or exercisable by the Solicitor General of Canada, the Deputy Solicitor General of Canada or any officer of the Department of the Solicitor General under any Act, order, rule or regulation, or any contract, lease, licence or other document, is, on the coming into force of this section, vested in and exercisable by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Deputy Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness or the appropriate officer of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, as the case may be, unless the Governor in Council by order designates another Minister, Deputy Minister or officer of the public service of Canada to exercise that power, duty or function.

• Marginal note:Transfer of appropriations

  (2) Any amount appropriated, for the fiscal year in which this section comes into force, by an appropriation Act based on the Estimates for that year for defraying the charges and expenses of the public service of Canada within the Department of the Solicitor General and that, on the day on which this section comes into force, is unexpended, is deemed, on that day, to be an amount appropriated for defraying the charges and expenses of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS

R.S., c. A-1Access to Information Act

9. Schedule I to the Access to Information Act is amended by striking out the following under the heading “Departments and Ministries of State”:

10. Schedule I to the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order under the heading “Departments and Ministries of State”:

R.S., c. 49 (4th Supp.)Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse Act

Marginal note:1996, c. 8, par. 33(a)

11. Section 15 of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse Act is replaced by the following:

1997, c. 31Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal Act

12. Subsection 7(2) of the Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal Act is replaced by the following:

R.S., c. C-23Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act

13. The definition “Deputy Minister” in section 2 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act is replaced by the following:

R.S., c. C-29Citizenship Act

Marginal note:1997, c. 22, s. 2

14. Section 19.3 of the Citizenship Act is replaced by the following:

1996, c. 19Controlled Drugs and Substances Act

• 15. (1) The portion of subsection 55(2) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Regulations pertaining to law enforcement

    (2) The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, may make regulations that pertain to investigations and other law enforcement activities conducted under this Act by a member of a police force and other persons acting under the direction and control of a member and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

    • (a) authorizing the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness or the provincial minister responsible for policing in a province, as the case may be, to designate a police force within their jurisdiction for the purposes of this subsection;

• Marginal note:2001, c. 32, s. 55

  (2) The portion of subsection 55(2.1) of the Act before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Regulations pertaining to law enforcement under other Acts of Parliament

    (2.1) The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, may, for the purpose of an investigation or other law enforcement activity conducted under another Act of Parliament, make regulations authorizing a member of a police force or other person under the direction and control of such a member to commit an act or omission — or authorizing a member of a police force to direct the commission of an act or omission — that would otherwise constitute an offence under Part I or the regulations and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations

    • (a) authorizing the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness or the provincial minister responsible for policing in a province, as the case may be, to designate a police force within their jurisdiction for the purposes of this subsection;