Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission By-law No. 2007-1

made under subsection 7(2) of the

Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission Act

S.N.S. 2005, c. 7

O.I.C. 2009-423 (effective October 6, 2009), N.S. Reg. 302/2009

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.
Click here to go to the text of the regulations.

Definitions

Part One - Governance

Meetings

Committees

Annual Budgets

Execution of Documents

General Manager and CEO

Issue of Authorizations and Permits

Recording of Proceedings

Books and Records; Seal

Protection and Indemnity

Part Two - Use of Commission Property

Definitions

1 In this By-law unless the context otherwise requires, words defined in the Act have the meaning therein given to them and:

“Act” means the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission Act, being Chapter 7 of the Statutes of Nova Scotia, 2005, as amended from time to time;

“authorized” means granted permission, either orally or in writing, to act in a manner contrary to a provision of Part Two of this By-law by the General Manager, a Traffic Officer or a person designated to do so by the General Manager, and for greater certainty a person to whom a Permit has been issued has been authorized to take the actions described in the Permit;

“Commission Property” means the real property and structures which from time to time are either owned by the Commission or by agreement with Halifax Regional Municipality or the Province are maintained or controlled by the Commission, including those located at the east and west end of each Bridge, and for greater certainty include:

(i) in respect of the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge:

(A) the bikeway entrance-exit ramp adjacent to the east-bound exit road leading to Barrington Street, and

(B) the Dartmouth-bound entrance ramp from Barrington Street, and

(ii) in respect of the A. Murray MacKay Bridge:

(A) in Halifax: the approach ramps from their respective junctions with Barrington, Robie and Windsor Streets, and

(B) in Dartmouth: Highway 111 to the eastern boundary of the Victoria Road interchange and the entire area occupied by the Victoria Road interchange as defined by the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal;

“Chair” means the Chair of the Commission appointed in accordance with the Act;

“Emergency Telecommunication Facility” means any telecommunication equipment installed by the Commission on a Bridge or other property of the Commission for the purpose of permitting users of the Bridge to report to and communicate with the Commission in the event that an accident or other emergency occurs;

“General Manager” means the employee of the Commission from time to time appointed by the Commission to be the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and includes a person designated to act as such in the absence or temporary inability to act of the General Manager;

“Member” means a member of the Commission appointed in accordance with the Act and includes the Chair and Vice-chair of the Commission;

“Officers” means the Chair, the Vice-chair and the General Manager of the Commission;

“Permit” means a written document concerning travel on a Bridge issued on behalf of the Commission by the General Manager or a person designated by him to do so;

“Roller Skates” includes traditional roller skates, in-line roller skates, Rollerblades, roller skis and similar devices, other than prosthetic devices, equipped with rollers, wheels or other friction reducing contrivance and intended to be worn or affixed to the person;

“Skateboard” includes any device, other than a wheelchair, a baby carriage or an infant stroller, equipped with rollers, wheels or other friction reducing contrivance and intended to be ridden upon without the same being worn or affixed to the person;

“telecommunication” means any transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images or sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, visual or other electromagnetic system;

“Traffic Officer” means a police officer of Halifax Regional Municipality, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or any person appointed by the Commission as a traffic officer; and

“Vice-chair” means the Vice-chair of the Commission appointed in accordance with the Act.

Part One - Governance

Meetings

2 The Commission shall meet from time to time as required for the transaction of business.

3 Whenever so directed by the Chair, the General Manager shall call a meeting of the Commission by giving to each Member written notice of the time and place of such meeting at least twenty-four hours before the meeting is to be held. The General Manager shall send [a] copy of the agenda of the meeting with such notice.

4 The General Manager shall call a meeting of the Commission in the manner prescribed in Section 3 of this By-law whenever requested to do so by at least five Members.

5 The Notice referred to in Section 3 of this By-law may be waived and the Commission may, with the consent of the Members, meet and exercise any of its powers or authority without the notice referred to in Section 3 having been given. Such waiver and consent may be given by a Member who does not attend such meeting. Such consent shall be recorded by the signature of each Member to one or more counterparts of the minutes of such meeting and such signature shall be conclusive evidence that each Member so signing has waived notice as herein provided and has consented to the transaction of the business and matters referred to in the minutes to which such signature is appended.

6 A Member may, if all the Members present consent, participate in a meeting of the Commission or of a committee of the Commission by means of a telephonic, electronic or other communication facility that permits all participants to communicate adequately with each other during the meeting. A Member participating in such a meeting by such means is deemed for the purposes of this By-law to be personally present at that meeting.

7 Five Members personally present shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at a meeting of the Commission.

8 A resolution in writing, signed by all the Members entitled to vote on that resolution at a meeting of the Commission or committee of the Commission, is as valid as if it had been passed at a meeting of the Commission or committee of the Commission. A copy of every resolution referred to in the preceding sentence shall be kept with the minutes of the proceedings of the Commission or committee of the Commission.

9 Except as provided by Section 10 of this By-law, the Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Commission.

10 If the Chair is ill, absent or for any other reason unable to act, the Vice-chair shall preside at meetings of the Commission; if both the Chair and Vice-chair are ill, absent or for any other reason unable to act, the Members present at any meeting may elect a temporary Chair for such meeting.

11 Except as otherwise provided by the Act or this By-law, the rules of order and procedure set out in the book Bourinot’s Rules of Order shall govern the conduct of meetings of the Commission and any committee established by the Commission, provided:

(a) that the Commission shall be considered as a committee of the whole; and

(b) at any meeting of the Commission only items of business shown on the agenda shall be dealt with unless otherwise resolved by a majority of all Members of the Commission.

12 In respect of any motion coming before a meeting of the Commission, each Member, except the Chair, shall have one vote.

13 In the event of a tie the Chair shall have the deciding vote.

14 Unless a ballot is demanded, an entry in the minutes of a meeting to the effect that the Chair of the meeting declared a resolution to be carried or defeated is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of the fact without proof of the number or proportion of the votes recorded in favour of or against the resolution.

Committees

15 (1) The Commission from time to time may by resolution establish committees, determine their respective mandates and number and terms of service of members thereof and appoint their respective chairs (or provide that a committee shall appoint its own chair), and may similarly terminate any committee so established by it.

(2) Where the Commission has established a committee and a vacancy exists in the membership, the Chair shall make a recommendation to the Commission as to the identities of the Members (and non-Members where the committee includes one or more persons who are not Members of the Commission) who should be appointed to such committee and the Commission shall have regard to the Chair’s recommendation in deciding who to appoint to the committee.

(3) The Chair and the Vice-chair shall each be, ex-officio, a member of all committees.

(4) The quorum for a meeting of any Committee shall be a simple majority of the members of that Committee.

(5) Meetings of any Committee shall be held at such times and places as may be decided by the chair of that Committee.

Annual Budgets

16 The Commission shall each year adopt an operating budget and a capital budget for the ensuing fiscal year, and may from time to time vary either of such budgets as circumstances may require. It is the responsibility of the General Manager to operate the activities of the Commission in accordance with each such budget and he shall have authority to do so.

Execution of Documents

17 (1) Except as otherwise provided in the Act, the Commission may by resolution from time to time determine who shall be entitled to sign on its behalf bills, notes, receipts, acceptances, endorsements, cheques, releases, contracts and documents.

(2) Such resolution may be general or may be restricted to certain of the documents mentioned in paragraph (a) hereof or may be restricted as to the period for which it will remain in force.

General Manager and CEO

18 The Commission shall from time to time appoint an employee of the Commission to be General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and may determine the period for which he is to hold office; the General Manager shall have general supervision of the activities of the Commission and shall perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the Commission from time to time.

19 (1) Whenever the General Manager anticipates that he will be absent from Nova Scotia or for any reason temporarily unable to perform the functions of his office, he shall, by notice to the Chair, designate a person to act as General Manager during such absence or inability.

(2) If the General Manager is absent from Nova Scotia or for any reason temporarily unable to perform the functions of his office, and he has not designated a person to act as General Manager during such absence or inability, or such designated person is also absent from Nova Scotia or for any reason unable to perform the functions of the office, the Chair shall designate a person to act as General Manager during such absence or inability. Within three months of any such designation, the Chair shall report such designation to the Commission, which shall confirm the designation, or designate another person as acting General Manager, or appoint a new General Manager.

Issue of Authorizations and Permits

20 The General Manager and persons from time to time designated by him to do so may

(a) authorize a person to act in a manner contrary to a provision of Part Two of these By-laws, or

(b) issue a Permit.

Recording of Proceedings

21 The General Manager shall arrange for recording of minutes of all meetings of the Commission and each committee established by the Commission; the person from time to time responsible for such recording shall report to and be under the authority of the Chair.

Books and Records; Seal

22 The General Manager shall arrange for the safe custody of the books and records of the Commission and of its corporate seal.

Protection and Indemnity

23 Every Member of the Commission and its duly appointed Officers shall be indemnified by the Commission against, and it shall be the duty of the Commission out of the funds of the Commission to pay, all costs, losses and expenses which any such Member or Officer may incur or become liable to by reason of any contract entered into, or act or thing done by such Member or Officer, or in any way in the discharge of their duties, including travelling expenses.

24 The Commission has authority to purchase insurance in respect of the indemnification of its Members and its duly appointed Officers as herein set out.

25 No Member or Officer of the Commission shall be liable for the acts, receipts, neglect or defaults of any other Member or for joining in any receipt or other act for conformity, or for any loss or expense happening to the Commission through the insufficiency or deficiency of title to any property acquired by order of the Members for or on behalf of the Commission or through the insufficiency or deficiency of any security in or upon which any of the monies of the Commission shall be invested or for any loss or damage arising from the bankruptcy, insolvency or tortious act of any person with whom any money, securities or effects shall be deposited, or for any loss occasioned by error of judgement or oversight on their part, or for any other loss, damage or misfortune whatever which shall happen in the execution of the duties of their office or in relation thereto unless same happened through their own dishonesty.

Part Two - Use of Commission Property

26 Except for a person authorized by the Commission:

(a) No person upon Roller Skates or a Skateboard shall use or enter upon any portion of a Bridge or any other Commission Property;

(b) No person shall park or leave a vehicle upon Commission Property;

(d) No person shall throw from or deposit or leave on Commission Property any material, substance or thing;

(e) No person shall throw or otherwise deposit or cause to be thrown or deposited into a fare hopper anything other than Canadian 25 cent, 50 cent, $1.00 or $2.00 coins;

(f) No person shall climb or travel upon any portion of Commission Property other than the vehicular roadbed, or the sidewalk for pedestrians or the bicycle lane for cyclists;

(g) Unless directed so to do by a Traffic Officer or by a traffic signal, no person shall wilfully drive or operate a vehicle upon a Bridge:

(i) at any time at a speed slower than twenty (20) kilometres per hour,

(ii) on any day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in Halifax Regional Municipality, between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., at a speed slower than thirty (30) kilometres per hour;

(h) No person shall ride a bicycle on a Bridge other than on the bike lane on the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge;

(i) No person shall walk a bicycle on the bike lane of the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge unless it is unsafe to do otherwise;

(j) No person shall operate a vehicle, other than a bicycle, on the bike lane of the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge;

(k) No pedestrian shall use or enter upon any portion of the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge other than the sidewalk;

(l) No person shall use or enter upon any portion of the A. Murray MacKay Bridge unless he or she is a driver of or a passenger in a motor vehicle;

(m) No person shall drive a motor truck or other vehicle designed to carry freight or merchandise that has a gross vehicle weight of more than 3200 kilograms on the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge;

(n) No person shall operate upon the A. Murray MacKay Bridge a vehicle or combination of vehicles, either unladen or with load that

(i) exceeds the (x) axle weight, (y) gross vehicle weight or (z) maximum weight for an axle assembly permitted on October 31, 2008 for vehicles operating on a Schedule “C” highway specified in Schedule “A” to the Weights and Dimensions of Vehicles Regulations (the “Regulations”) under Section 191 of the Motor Vehicle Act (Nova Scotia); or

(ii) otherwise does not comply with the Regulations.

For certainty, words which are defined in the Regulations shall have the same meaning in this section as they respectively are given in the Regulations; and

(o) No person shall use any Emergency Telecommunication Facility except for the purpose of reporting to the Commission the occurrence of an accident or the existence of an emergency or otherwise communicating with the Commission in respect of such an accident or emergency.

27 Without a Permit:

(a) No person shall ride a horse or other animal or drive a vehicle drawn by a horse or other animal upon a Bridge;

(b) No person shall drive a vehicle upon a Bridge which has a total outside width, including any load thereon, greater than 2.6 meters;

(d) No person shall bring upon a Bridge any dynamite or other explosive or dangerous material;

(e) No person shall

(i) at any time on the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge or

(ii) between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on the A. Murray MacKay Bridge,

drive a crane, backhoe, wheel loader, grader, asphalt spreader, forklift, tractor or other vehicle which is not a car or a truck, that the Commission in its discretion believes likely to impede the normal flow of traffic.

28 The Commission may determine the terms and conditions upon which a Permit may be issued other than those terms and conditions that in any manner relate to the Commission’s schedule of rates, tolls and charges, and may designate the Officers or employees of the Commission who may issue a Permit. The Commission may prescribe the form of Permit to be used by the Commission.

29 The Commission has authority to establish policies for the guidance of its staff in exercising the authority of the Commission under Section 26 of the Act to suspend all traffic or restrict traffic or classes of traffic upon a Bridge and stop or prevent violations of the rules, regulations and By-laws of the Commission.

30 This By-law comes into force on the date that it is approved by the Governor in Council, whereupon all By-laws heretofore adopted by the Commission and approved by the Governor in Council are repealed.

The current consolidation of the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission By-law No. 2007-1 made under the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission Act includes all of the following regulations:

The following regulations are not yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation:

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for rules about in force dates of regulations.

	Note	Effective date
1	The reference to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal in s. 1(ii) should be read as a reference to the Department of Transportation and Active Transit in accordance with O.I.C. 2021-56 under the Public Service Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.	Feb 23, 2021
2	The reference to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal in s. 1(ii) should be read as a reference to the Department of Public Works in accordance with O.I.C. 2021-209 under the Public Service Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.	Aug 31, 2021
3	The provisions in Section 15 of the original text that were lettered as clauses (a) to (e) have been redesignated as subsections (1) to (5) to correct the structure of the Section for the purposes of the consolidation.
4	The provisions in Section 17 of the original text that were lettered as clauses (a) and (b) have been redesignated as subsections (1) and (2) to correct the structure of the Section for the purposes of the consolidation.
5	The provisions in Section 19 of the original text that were lettered as clauses (a) and (b) have been redesignated as subsections (1) and (2) to correct the structure of the Section for the purposes of the consolidation.
6	The provisions in clause 26(g) of the original text that were lettered as paragraphs (A) and (B) have been redesignated as subclauses (i) and (ii) to correct the structure of the clause for the purposes of the consolidation.

Note: Only regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this table. It may not reflect the entire history of regulations on this subject matter.

N.S. Regulation	In force date*	How in force	Royal Gazette Part II Issue
302/2009	Oct 6, 2009	date specified	Oct 23, 2009

N.S. Regulation	In force date*	How in force	Royal Gazette Part II Issue

ad. = added am. = amended	fc. = fee change ra. = reassigned		rep. = repealed rs. = repealed and substituted
Provision affected		How affected
..........................................................

N.S. Regulation	Title	In force date	Repealed date

Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission By-law No. 2007-1	N.S. Reg. 302/2009
Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission Act
Note: The information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.