WHEREAS BC Hydro pays a Grant in Lieu of property taxes; AND WHEREAS the Grant in Lieu of property taxes does not compensate municipalities fairly for BC Hydro facilities within their communities; AND WHEREAS the Supreme Court of Canada unanimous ruling on the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Act 15062012 signals that the Government of Canada cannot arbitrarily set a value on its properties and must pay their taxes like any property owner: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Minister of Finance undertakes a detailed review of the Supreme Court decision with a view towards its applicability with respect to the current BC Hydro Grant in Lieu policy.
Ministry of Finance Under the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada has the discretion to determine what value, in his opinion, an assessment authority would attribute to a property as the basis for computing the amount of any real property tax that would be applicable to that property if it were taxable. This value is the basis for payments in lieu of taxes made by the federal government. In Halifax Regional Municipality v. Canada Public Works and Government Services the Supreme Court of Canada held that the Minister of Public Works and Government Services exercise of his discretion in determining the value of specific land within the Halifax Regional Municipality was unreasonable in the circumstances of the case. This decision has no applicability to the provincial government policy under which BC Hydro pays grants in lieu of property taxes. Where BC Hydro is required to pay grants based on the value of land i.e. with respect to its office and commercial assets the grants must be paid based on the assessed value of the land established by the independent British Columbia Assessment Authority.