Legislation
British Columbia provincial parks and protected areas are governed by the following Consolidated Acts and Regulations:
- Protected Areas of British Columbia Act
- Park Act and Park and Recreation Area Regulations
- Ecological Reserve Act
- Drinking Water Protected Act and Drinking Water Protection Regulations
- Bill 15 - Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2006
(See section 31, Protected Areas of British Columbia Act) - Bill 28 - Park (Conservancy Enabling) Amendment Act, 2006
Here is the link to the BC Provincial Government Statutes and Regulations website providing details about all Acts, Regulations and Bills. Please note the out-of-date warning at the top of the page.
Legislation Process: The legislation process consists of staff and others developing an approved Request which is sent to Legislative Counsel, who provides the language that gives legal effect to the intended policy. After a series of approvals involving many different people clarifying appropriate information, the new bill is reviewed and forwarded to Queen’s Printer for distribution in hard copy when introduced for first reading.
First reading parachutes the Bill into the public domain.
Moving to second reading, the Bill is debated in principle. Next the Legislative Assembly, sitting as committee of the whole house, dissects the Bill clause by clause. Then the committee reports the Bill back to the house, with or without amendments.
At third reading, the Bill is then passed usually without further debate.
The Bill is then ready to become an Act when the speaker of the house declares it an Act and invites the Lieutenant Governor to give Royal Assent. It then is indexed as a Chapter of the Statutes of British Columbia.
