Contents



Ministry of Justice

Considering the ATA as an Option to the Inquiry Act Powers

Overview

As part of British Columbia's administrative justice reform initiative, the Administrative Tribunals Act (ATA) was enacted in 2004 to provide British Columbia tribunals with modern, consistent powers and authorities. Consideration is now being given to extending those powers and authorities to other entities.

The first aspect to be considered is whether to extend the ATA immunity protection and summons and contempt powers to the various entities that rely on the Inquiry Act as the basis for their authority in those areas. There are approximately 50 such entities and they include various ministers and statutory decision-makers, certain self-governing professional bodies, some local government entities and several officers of the legislature.

The following discussion papers were intended to prompt discussion about the needs of a particular entity and the possibility of replacing reliance on Inquiry Act provisions for immunity protection and summons and contempt powers with the ATA provisions.