Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Prairie Grain Advance Payments Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2 (1) In this Act,

  advance payment

  avance

  advance payment means a payment for grain made to a producer under the authority of this Act; (avance)

  amount in default

  montant en défaut

  amount in default means the amount of an advance payment made pursuant to an undertaking, minus all amounts that were paid to the Board in discharge of the undertaking, and includes any amount outstanding in respect of interest referred to in paragraphs 5(1)(a) to (c); (montant en défaut)

  application

  demande

  application means an application made by a producer under this Act for an advance payment; (demande)

  appropriate prescribed rate

  appropriate prescribed rate[Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 2 (3rd Supp.), s. 1]

  Board

  Commission

  Board means The Canadian Wheat Board; (Commission)

  default

  défaut

  default means failure, as described in section 17, to discharge an undertaking; (défaut)

  general acreage quota

  contingent général de superficie

  general acreage quota means any permission given by the Board to deliver grain, either under a permit book or otherwise; (contingent général de superficie)

  grain

  grain

  grain means wheat and barley grown within the designated area, as defined in the Canadian Wheat Board Act; (grain)

  initial payment

  acompte à la livraison

  initial payment means the sum certain per tonne payable under the Canadian Wheat Board Act by the Board to a producer for grain sold and delivered by the producer to the Board; (acompte à la livraison)

  permit book

  carnet de livraison

  permit book means a delivery permit issued by the Board pursuant to the Canadian Wheat Board Act for a crop year; (carnet de livraison)

  prescribed

  Version anglaise seulement

  prescribed means prescribed by regulation; (Version anglaise seulement)

  producer

  producteur

  producer includes, as well as an actual producer, any person entitled as landlord, vendor or mortgagee to the grain grown by an actual producer or to any share therein; (producteur)

  quota acres

  acres du contingent

  quota acres means the acres specified with the approval of the Board in relation to any grain as the basis for the delivery of that grain under a permit book referring to the land described in the permit book; (acres du contingent)

  recipient

  bénéficiaire

  recipient means a producer to whom an advance payment has been made; (bénéficiaire)

  undertaking

  engagement

  undertaking means an undertaking given by a producer under section 5. (engagement)

• Marginal note:To be construed with Canadian Wheat Board Act

  (2) This Act shall be construed as one with the Canadian Wheat Board Act, and, unless a contrary intention appears, all words and expressions in this Act have the same meanings as in that Act.

Advance Payments for Threshed Grain

Authority to make Advance Payments

Marginal note:Board may make advance payments

• 3 (1) Subject to this Act, the Board may, on application therefor, make a payment to a producer in respect of a crop year, as an advance on the initial payment for threshed grain in storage otherwise than in an elevator, prior to delivery thereof to the Board.

• Marginal note:Cash purchase tickets

  (2) Notwithstanding the Canada Grain Act, the manager or operator of an elevator or other person authorized by the Board to make advance payments on its behalf may make advance payments by means of cash purchase tickets.

• Marginal note:Time, and approval of application, for advance

  (3) No advance payment shall be made to a producer in respect of a crop year unless the application therefor is made during the crop year and before June 1 in that crop year, or such later date in the crop year as may be prescribed, and is approved by the manager or operator of an elevator or other person authorized by the Board to make advance payments on its behalf.

• Marginal note:No advance until previous advances discharged

  (4) No person who has received an advance payment under this Act or an advance under the Advance Payments for Crops Act in any crop year and who is in default in respect thereof may, until the undertaking of that person in respect thereof has been fully discharged, receive an advance payment in the same or any subsequent crop year.

Marginal note:Eligibility

3.1 No advance payment shall be made to a producer unless

• (a) where the producer is an individual, the individual has attained the age of majority in the province where the producer’s farming operation is carried on and is principally occupied in that operation;

• (b) where the producer is a corporation with only one shareholder, the shareholder has attained the age of majority in the province where the producer’s farming operation is carried on, is principally occupied in that operation and undertakes to be personally liable for any amount in default;

• (c) where the producer is a corporation with two or more shareholders, a cooperative or a partnership,

  • (i) at least one of the shareholders, members or partners, as the case may be, has attained the age of majority in the province where the producer’s farming operation is carried on and is principally occupied in that operation, and

  • (ii) each of the shareholders, members or partners, as the case may be, undertakes to be jointly and severally liable to the Board for the repayment of any amount in default.

Application

Marginal note:Form, signature and contents of application

• 4 (1) An application for an advance payment shall be made in such form as may be specified by the Board, shall be signed by the producer and shall show

  • (a) the amount of the advance payment for which application is made;

  • (b) the kinds and quantities of threshed grain that are in storage at the time of the application and in respect of which the applicant is applying for the advance payment;

  • (c) the number of the permit book under which the applicant is entitled to deliver grain;

  • (d) whether the applicant has received a previous advance payment and, if so, particulars thereof and the amount of undelivered grain in respect of which the previous advance payment was made;

  • (e) whether the applicant has applied for, has received or is in default with respect to an advance under the Advance Payments for Crops Act, and, if so, particulars thereof; and

  • (f) such other particulars as may be specified by the Board.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) An application shall be verified by affidavit and shall include an authorization by the applicant stating that, where the applicant sells grain of any kind that he has delivered to an elevator the operator of which is authorized to purchase grain for the Board in a crop year under the permit book specified in the application or any permit book issued in substitution therefor or extension thereof, there may be deducted from the initial payment or payment for the grain, as the case may be, and paid to the Board for each tonne of that grain, until the undertaking of the applicant has been discharged, an amount per tonne equal to the lesser of

  • (a) the amount per tonne determined pursuant to subsection 7(5) as the advance payment rate per tonne in respect of a type of grain, plus such amount in respect of interest as may be determined by the Minister, and

  • (b) the amount remaining after the charges for freight and handling, and any other charge or levy prescribed or authorized by law and payable in respect of the grain on its delivery and sale, are deducted from the initial payment or payment for the grain, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Contents of affidavit

  (3) Where an applicant is a tenant and, according to the lease in force with the landlord, the amount of the advance payment is not to be shared with the landlord or the landlord has no title or interest in the grain in respect of which the applicant is applying for an advance payment, the affidavit referred to in subsection (2) may contain a statement by the applicant to this effect.

• Marginal note:Effect of statement

  (4) Where an affidavit contains the statement referred to in subsection (3), the landlord referred to in the affidavit shall be deemed not to be a producer for the purposes of this Act.

Undertaking

Marginal note:Undertaking by producer

• 5 (1) Before an advance payment is made to a producer, the producer shall execute an undertaking, in such form as may be specified by the Board, in favour of the Board to the effect that

  • (a) the producer will pay to the Board interest on the advance payment at the rate established by a formula approved by the Minister;

  • (b) as soon as general acreage quotas enable the producer to do so, the producer will, in addition to any deliveries described in subsection 15(2), deliver and sell grain to the Board until the aggregate of the deductions from the initial payments for the grain under subsection 4(2) in respect of those deliveries and sales of grain to the Board is equal to the advance payment together with all interest accrued thereon from the date of the making of the advance payment; and

  • (c) on default, the producer will pay to the Board the amount of the advance payment that is outstanding on the date of default together with all interest accrued to that date, with interest on the total amount from that date at the rate established by a formula approved by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Repayment in lieu of delivery

  (2) A recipient may at any time, by payment to the Board, discharge the recipient’s obligation to deliver grain to the Board.

• (3) and (4) [Repealed, 1989, c. 26, s. 14]

Joint Producers

Marginal note:Application and undertaking by joint producers

• 6 (1) Where two or more producers are entitled to deliver grain under one permit book, no advance payment shall be made unless all the producers named in the permit book jointly make the application and execute the undertaking.

• Marginal note:Advance payment to joint producers

  (2) Where an advance payment is made on an application described in subsection (1), the payment shall be made to all the producers jointly or as they direct in the application.

• Marginal note:Shares specifiable in application

  (3) An application by two or more producers may specify the shares of the advance payment to be paid to each of them.

• Marginal note:Repayment of share of advance

  (4) Where an application by two or more joint producers specifies the share of the advance payment to be paid to each of them and, subsequently, the undertaking is in default, a joint producer who pays to the Board an amount that is in the same proportion to the amount in default as that producer’s share of the advance payment is to the total advance payment, is, notwithstanding anything in this Act, relieved of the obligation to make any further payment to the Board in respect of the default.

Amount of Advance Payment

Marginal note:Computation of advance payment

• 7 (1) Subject to this section, the amount of an advance payment to a producer in respect of the grain of any kind deliverable under the permit book specified in the application for the payment shall be the quantity of threshed grain of that kind that the applicant has in storage otherwise than in an elevator and undertakes to deliver to the Board, less any undelivered grain of that kind in respect of which a previous advance payment was made, multiplied by the advance payment rate per tonne determined by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Maximum per year

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), the maximum amount of advance payments that may be made in respect of a grain of a particular kind, in a particular crop year, to one producer is an amount that is determined by the Minister in respect of that kind of grain for that crop year, but the maximum amount of advance payments that may be made in respect of all grains grown by that producer in that crop year shall not exceed $250,000.

• Marginal note:Reduction for other advances

  (3) The maximum amount of advance payments in any crop year, in respect of all grains grown by one producer, as determined by the Minister under subsection (2), shall be reduced by the total amount outstanding in respect of

  • (a) advance payments made to that producer under this Act; and

  • (b) advances guaranteed under the Advance Payments for Crops Act that are received by that producer.

• (4) [Repealed, 1989, c. 26, s. 16]

• Marginal note:Advance payment rate

  (5) The Minister shall determine, as the advance payment rate per tonne for a kind of grain in a crop year, a rate that does not exceed sixty-six and two-thirds per cent of the initial payment that will be payable in that crop year for a grade of that kind of grain.

8 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 2 (3rd Supp.), s. 7]

Emergency Advance Payments respecting Damp or Tough Grain

Marginal note:Authorizing emergency advance payments for drying grain

• 9 (1) Where the Minister is satisfied in any crop year that, by reason of unusual weather conditions, there are large quantities of damp or tough grain in the designated area, the Minister may authorize the Board to make advance payments in that crop year to enable producers of grain to better finance the drying of damp or tough grain.

• Marginal note:Emergency advance payments for drying grain

  (2) Where authorized, pursuant to subsection (1), the Board, on application therefor made before a date in the crop year established by the Minister, may, in addition to any advance payment authorized by this Act and notwithstanding section 7, make an advance payment to a producer in respect of the crop year for threshed grain in storage otherwise than in an elevator.

• Marginal note:Form of application

  (3) The application for an advance payment under this section shall be in such form as may be specified by the Board.

• Marginal note:Amount of emergency advance payment

  (4) The amount of an advance payment that may be made under this section to an applicant shall be

  • (a) an amount in money that is equal to the number of tonnes of damp, tough or dried grain that the applicant has in storage otherwise than in an elevator, multiplied by the amount per tonne charged or to be charged by a grain drier for drying that grain,

  • (b) an amount in money that is equal to the number of tonnes of grain in respect of which advance payments may be made to the applicant under the applicant’s current permit book, multiplied by nine dollars, if the grain is wheat, or eleven dollars, if the grain is barley, or

  • (c) three thousand dollars or such greater amount as may be fixed in an appropriation Act by Parliament,

  whichever is the smallest amount.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (5) In this section,

  damp grain

  grain humide

  damp grain means any grain within the meaning of this Act that has a moisture content that classifies it as damp grain in the Canada Grain Regulations made pursuant to the Canada Grain Act; (grain humide)

  dried grain

  grain séché

  dried grain means damp or tough grain that has been dried by a grain drier; (grain séché)

  grain drier

  sécheur de grain

  grain drier means any producer or other person who dries grain by artificial means; (sécheur de grain)

  tough grain

  grain gourd

  tough grain means any grain within the meaning of this Act that has a moisture content that classifies it as tough grain in the Canada Grain Regulations made pursuant to the Canada Grain Act. (grain gourd)

Emergency Advance Payments for Unthreshed Grain

Marginal note:Authorizing advance payments for unthreshed grain

• 10 (1) Where the Minister is satisfied after November 15 in any crop year that, by reason of unusual weather conditions, there are large quantities of unthreshed grain in the designated area, the Minister may authorize the Board to make advance payments in that crop year to producers in respect of unthreshed grain.

• Marginal note:Emergency advance payments for unthreshed grain

  (2) Where authorized, pursuant to subsection (1), the Board, on application therefor made before a date in the crop year established by the Minister, may, in addition to any advance payment authorized by this Act in respect of threshed grain, make an advance payment to a producer in respect of the crop year for unthreshed grain.

• Marginal note:Undertaking and form of application

  (3) The application for an advance payment under this section shall be in such form as may be specified by the Board and shall, in addition to the undertaking the applicant is required to execute under section 5, contain an undertaking by the applicant to thresh the unthreshed grain in respect of which the application is made.

• Marginal note:Amount of emergency advance payment

  (4) Subject to subsections 7(2) and (3), the amount of an advance payment to a producer in respect of unthreshed grain deliverable under the permit book specified in the application shall be the lesser of

  • (a) one-half of the amount of the advance payment that could be paid to the producer in respect of the grain if the grain were threshed and in storage otherwise than in an elevator, and

  • (b) fifteen thousand dollars or such greater amount as may be fixed in an appropriation Act by Parliament.

Marginal note:Application of other provisions of Act

11 Subject to section 10, all provisions of this Act that apply in respect of advance payments in regard of threshed grain apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of advance payments in regard of unthreshed grain.

Endorsement in Permit Book

Marginal note:Endorsement in permit book

• 12 (1) At the time an advance payment is made, the producer to whom it is made shall deliver to the person who approves of the application therefor, on behalf of the Board, the permit book described in the application and an endorsement shall be made therein in such form as may be specified by the Board, indicating that amounts in respect of all grain delivered under that permit book shall be deducted and paid to the Board, in accordance with the authorization given by the producer under subsection 4(2) until the producer’s undertaking is discharged.

• Marginal note:Where new advance in subsequent crop year

  (2) Where an advance payment is made and the permit book described in the application of the producer receiving that payment bears an endorsement for an advance payment received by the producer in a previous crop year in respect of which the undertaking of the producer, though not in default, has not been fully discharged, that endorsement shall be amended by adding thereto the amount of the new advance payment.

• Marginal note:Application of moneys

  (3) Where endorsements are consolidated as described in subsection (2), the Board shall apply moneys that it receives in respect of the undertakings of the recipient toward the discharge of those undertakings in the order in which they were given.

Powers of Board

Marginal note:Borrowing powers and guarantee

• 13 (1) For the purpose of making advance payments, the Board may borrow money, and the Minister of Finance may, on behalf of Her Majesty, guarantee, on such terms and conditions as the Governor in Council may approve, repayment of money so borrowed and interest thereon.

• Marginal note:Powers to make arrangements and agreements

  (2) The Board may make such arrangements and enter into such contracts or agreements as the Board considers necessary or advisable for the administration of this Act.

Lien for Advance Payments

Marginal note:Lien on grain

14 Where the Board has made an advance payment, the Board has a lien for the amount thereof on the grain in respect of which the advance payment was made.

Deliveries of Grain

Marginal note:Deductions on delivery

• 15 (1) Where a delivery of grain is made under a permit book bearing an endorsement under section 12 by any producer named in the permit book, the manager or operator of an elevator authorized to purchase grain for the Board or other person receiving delivery of the grain shall

  • (a) deduct and pay to the Board, in priority to all other persons, the portion of the initial payment or payment, as the case may be, for that grain authorized, pursuant to subsection 4(2), to be deducted from each initial payment or payment, as the case may be, for grain of that kind until the undertaking in respect of which the endorsement was made has been discharged; and

  • (b) make an appropriate entry of the deduction in the permit book.

• Marginal note:No deduction on delivery to obtain seed

  (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), no deduction shall be made in respect of grain delivered by a producer under any permission given by the Board authorizing delivery of grain in order to obtain seed.

• Marginal note:Moneys recoverable by Board

  (3) The Board may recover any of the moneys to which it is entitled under subsection (1) by action or proceedings against the person receiving delivery of the grain as if the grain were delivered and sold on behalf of the Board, and any such moneys received by the Board shall be deemed to be a repayment to the Board on account of the advance payment and any interest thereon.

• Marginal note:Cancellation of endorsement

  (4) When the undertaking of a recipient has been discharged, the Board shall cancel the endorsement in the recipient’s permit book by an appropriate entry therein.

Marginal note:Endorsements in permit books

16 Notwithstanding any other Act or law, a recipient whose permit book has been endorsed as required by section 12 is not, until discharge of the recipient’s undertaking, entitled to receive or use another permit book in substitution for that permit book for the same or any subsequent crop year unless an endorsement to the same effect is made therein.

Default in Undertaking

Marginal note:Default

• 17 (1) For the purposes of this Act, a recipient shall be deemed to be in default if the recipient’s undertaking has not been discharged

  • (a) within twenty days after the date on which the Board mails or delivers or causes to be mailed or delivered a written notice to the recipient stating that, in the opinion of the Board, the recipient has had adequate opportunity to discharge that undertaking or has, otherwise than by delivery to the Board, disposed of all or part of the grain in respect of which the advance was made, and requesting the recipient to discharge that undertaking by delivery of grain to the Board or otherwise;

  • (b) before September 15 in the new crop year immediately following the crop year in which the advance payment was made, and the recipient has not applied for a permit book for the new crop year in substitution for the permit book specified in the application for that payment;

  • (c) before December 31 in the new crop year immediately following the crop year in which the advance payment was made, or such later date as the Board may authorize in special cases; or

  • (d) on the day on which an assignment is filed under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act by, or a bankruptcy order under that Act is made against, the recipient.

• Marginal note:Waiver of default

  (2) The Board may, for any sufficient cause, waive any default, on such terms as it may specify.

Marginal note:Proceedings after default

18 All proceedings against a producer, where in default, to enforce the producer’s undertaking may be taken in the name of the Board or in the name of Her Majesty.

Marginal note:Payments to the Board out of C.R.F.

19 The Board shall, within six months after the end of a calendar year, advise the Minister of Finance of all undertakings in default in that calendar year and the Minister shall, as soon as practicable after being so advised, out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, pay to the Board the amounts of advance payments outstanding in respect of those defaults, including any interest guaranteed under subsection 13(1), to the extent that the Board has not been reimbursed therefor after default.

Marginal note:Credit and discharge on account of amount withheld

• 20 (1) Where a recipient has defaulted in an undertaking, the Board may, in addition to any other right or remedy under this Act, and notwithstanding the Canadian Wheat Board Act, withhold moneys that may, at any time thereafter other than at the time of the sale of grain by the recipient, become payable by the Board to the recipient, until the amount in default has been discharged.

• Marginal note:Credit and discharge on account of amount withheld

  (2) An amount withheld by the Board under subsection (1) shall be credited to the recipient in reduction of the amount in default and is a discharge of the liability of the Board under the Canadian Wheat Board Act to pay that amount to the recipient.

Marginal note:Return of money recovered

21 Where the Board has received payment from the Minister of Finance in respect of an amount in default and, subsequently, all or any part of the amount in default is recovered, the amount recovered shall be paid to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Finance may pay to the Board such portion thereof as is required to enable the Board to reimburse any manager or operator of an elevator or other person authorized by the Board to make advance payments on its behalf for any share of the loss sustained by the manager, operator or other person by reason of the default.

General

Marginal note:Expenditures of the Board

22 All expenditures made by the Board in the administration of this Act, other than those reimbursed to the Board by the Minister of Finance under section 19, shall be deemed to be expenses of the Board within the meaning of section 33 of the Canadian Wheat Board Act.

Marginal note:Payment

23 The Governor in Council may, by order, direct that the expenditures referred to in section 22 or such portion of them as the Governor in Council deems advisable shall be paid out of

• (a) funds received pursuant to this Act in respect of which there is no other provision in this Act as to the disposition of those funds; or

• (b) the separate account referred to in section 39 of the Canadian Wheat Board Act.

Marginal note:Offence and punishment

• 24 (1) Every person who

  • (a) knowingly makes any misrepresentation to the Board, or to a manager or operator of an elevator, or knowingly makes any misrepresentation for the purpose of obtaining an advance payment or of evading or aiding the evasion of compliance with the undertaking of any person, or wilfully furnishes to the Board any false or misleading information, or

  • (b) being a recipient whose undertaking has not been discharged, delivers grain, or causes grain to be delivered on behalf of that person by any other person, under a permit book that has not been endorsed as required by this Act,

  is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

• Marginal note:Limitation period

  (2) A prosecution under subsection (1) may be instituted at any time within but not later than two years after the time when the subject-matter of the complaint arose.

Marginal note:Regulations

• 25 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 2 (3rd Supp.), s. 14]

  • (b) prescribing the steps to be taken to effect collection of any amount in default in connection with advance payments;

  • (c) requiring reports to be made to or by the Board in connection with advance payments; and

  • (d) prescribing anything that is to be prescribed under this Act and, generally, for carrying the purposes and provisions of this Act into effect.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) [Repealed, 1989, c. 26, s. 22]

  • (b) before the beginning of any crop year, prescribing that the Act be extended to enable the making of advance payments during that crop year in respect of any or of all rye, flax seed and rapeseed that was grown within the designated area.

• Marginal note:Application of Act when extended

  (3) Where a regulation is made pursuant to paragraph (2)(b) in respect of any crop year, all provisions of this Act apply during that crop year and any subsequent crop year in respect of any advance payment made under this Act in that crop year.

• Marginal note:Forms

  (4) The Board may specify the form of any application, direction, endorsement, report or other document to be used in connection with advance payments or for the effective operation of this Act.

Marginal note:Annual report

26 The Board shall include in the annual report required to be made by it under the Canadian Wheat Board Act a report on the operation and administration of this Act for the calendar year immediately preceding the date on which the annual report is made or for such other period as the Governor in Council prescribes.