Four Acts Amended

Nova Scotians have clearer and more efficient legislation after amendments were introduced to four acts today, Oct. 30, by Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations Minister Jamie Muir.

"Today's amendments for all four acts are fine examples of our commitment to continually review our legislation to make sure that it's as straight-forward as possible for Nova Scotians," said Mr. Muir. "The changes will contribute to the province's goal of improving the quality and efficiency of regulations through the Better Regulation Initiative."

Amendments are being made to: the Municipal Grants Act, the Partnership Act, the Partnership and Business Names Registration Act, and the Co-operative Associations Act.

Amendments to the Municipal Grants Act will eliminate the requirement for a separate claim for municipalities to receive the grants-in-lieu of taxes on provincially owned property. A grant-in-lieu is issued when the Crown is not required to pay property taxes and, instead, provides a grant that equals what would have been paid in taxes for eligible municipal property.

The changes will:

• make it easier and faster for municipalities to receive payment for grants-in-lieu
• improve the timeliness for payments to municipalities
• improve accountability for the grant
• improve forecasting of total grant payments

Amendments to the Partnership Act will correct wording that inadvertently prevented limited liability partnerships from being formed in Nova Scotia. These changes will also bring Nova Scotia more in line with other jurisdictions by offering full-shield liability protection for partners instead of the partial-shield protection, which is currently the case. This means that while assets of a partnership will be available for contractual claim, individual partner's assets will be protected.

Amendments to the Partnership and Business Names Registration Act will remove the need for cabinet approval if the words Royal or Imperial are to be used in a partnership or business name.

The change will streamline processes and make it easier to a register business or partnership name.

Finally, amendments to the Co-operative Associations Act will give co-operatives the option to offer preference shares. Investment options in co-operatives were restricted to members only. Preference shares are available to both members and non-members.