Statistics Act amendment designates director

Summary#

Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Statistics Act, would amend New Brunswick’s existing Statistics Act; it would not create a new law or program. It would move the duty to designate a person employed under the Minister as Director of the New Brunswick Statistics Agency from the Lieutenant-Governor in Council to the Minister. The bill states no goal. It is at first reading, so it is not law and may not pass.

  • The Minister would have to designate the Director.
  • The current Director would be deemed to have been designated by the Minister, subject to a cross-reference issue in the bill noted below.
  • The French version’s definition of “director” would be changed to use wording that means “designated under” rather than “appointed under.”

What it means for you#

  • Minister: The Minister would take on the legal duty to designate the Director. The person designated must be employed under the Minister.
  • Current Director: The bill intends to treat the incumbent as designated by the Minister when the change takes effect.
  • Public: The bill does not directly change statistical data collection, services, or public access to statistics. The parent Act was not supplied, so I could not verify how the bill’s changes interact with the rest of current law.

Money#

No cost information is in the available material.

  • The bill requires the Minister to designate an employee, but gives no estimate for staff time or other costs.
  • It does not set out spending, fees, fines, or a new funding program.

What is unclear#

  • The transition provision says the current Director is deemed designated under subsection 4(1) “as amended by section 1.” But the bill changes subsection 4(1) in section 2; section 1 changes wording in the French version. It is unclear whether this cross-reference error could affect the transition.
  • The bill gives no start date or selection criteria for the designation.
  • The parent Act was not supplied, so the full current rules for the Statistics Agency and its Director could not be checked.

Case for#

  • A possible argument for the change is that it gives the Minister direct responsibility for choosing the Director, rather than leaving the designation to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.
  • The transition clause appears intended to avoid requiring a new designation for the incumbent Director.
  • The French wording change appears intended to match the wording of the English amendment.

Case against#

  • The bill gives the Minister the designation duty but does not set out selection criteria or other safeguards in its text.
  • The cross-reference error could create uncertainty about whether the transition clause works as intended.
  • It is unclear whether shifting the designation to the Minister would change how the Statistics Agency operates or how independent its Director is.