Registration

SOR/2008-281 September 5, 2008

ROYAL CANADIAN MINT ACT

Order Authorizing the Issue and Determining the Composition, Dimensions and Designs of a Twenty-five Cent Circulation Coin

P.C. 2008-1673 September 5, 2008

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport, pursuant to sections 6.4 (see footnote a) and 6.5(see footnote b) of the Royal Canadian Mint Act (see footnote c), hereby

(a) authorizes the issue of a twenty-five cent circulation coin, the characteristics of which shall be as specified in item 4.1 (see footnote d) of Part 2 of the schedule to that Act and the diameter of which shall be 23.88 mm; and

(b) determines the design of that coin to be as follows, namely,

(i) the obverse impression shall depict the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt, with the initials “SB” on the bottom left-hand corner of the neckline, the inscriptions “ELIZABETH II”, “CANADA” and “D•G•REGINA” to the left, top and right of the design, respectively, and the Mint Mark below the neckline, and

(ii) the reverse impression shall depict a design of a coloured poppy blossom against a maple leaf above a ribbon with the words “REMEMBER” and “SOUVENIR”, the artist’s initials “CS” at the bottom right of the design, the words “25 cents” within the top half of the maple leaf above the poppy blossom and the words “1918 ARMISTICE 2008” at the top of the coin.

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Order.)

Description

The Royal Canadian Mint wishes to produce a coin of a twentyfive cent denomination to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of Armistice, bearing the official symbol of Remembrance, the red Poppy. However, at present the Royal Canadian Mint is not authorized to produce coins with the proposed new design. Pursuant to sections 6.4 and 6.5 of the Royal Canadian Mint Act, the Governor in Council may, by order, authorize the issue of circulation coins of a denomination listed in Part 2 of the schedule and determine the design of any circulation coin to be issued. Thus, the purpose of this Order is to obtain Governor in Council approval to issue a coloured twenty-five cent coin bearing a commemorative design for the 90th Anniversary Armistice.

This Commemorative Circulation Coin Program is in direct support of the official celebrations of the 90th Anniversary of Armistice, the end of the First World War, led by the Royal Canadian Legion and Veterans Affairs Canada.

The launch of the coin will be at the end of October 2008. The coins would be distributed across Canada through a special arrangement with Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix as well as through financial institutions.

The objectives of the program include providing Canadians with an exciting program to celebrate our history, values and culture and heighten their interest in circulation coins. The use of circulation coinage to commemorate, celebrate or promote events of national significance or interest has proven to be very popular with the general public. Because these coins are available at face value and circulate widely, public demand is high with many coins being collected and taken out of circulation. Commemorative circulation coin programs create important benefits by contributing to the overall success of the event being celebrated as well as generating additional seigniorage (revenues for the government).

Alternatives

Using the traditional twenty-five cent coin design would not meet the objectives of the Commemorative Circulation Coin Program. Therefore, there is no other alternative to the proposed order-in-council.

Consultation

There was no formal consultation held. Shoppers Drug Mart/ Pharmaprix were selected as a result of a competitive process in 2005 which entailed an invitation to qualify to become a distributor of coins for the Mint. The invitation to qualify was posted on MERX, Canada’s electronic tendering service for government contracts.

Based on the success of previous circulation coins that have been issued, i.e., 2004 Poppy, Year of the Veteran and Breast Cancer, the design change is anticipated to be well received and will have no impact on day-to-day transactions.

Contact

Marguerite F. Nadeau, Q.C.
Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Corporate and Legal Affairs
Royal Canadian Mint
320 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G8
Telephone: 613-993-1732
Fax: 613-990-4665
Email: nadeau@mint.ca

Footnote a
S.C. 1999, c. 4, s. 3

Footnote b
S.C. 1999, c. 4, s. 3

Footnote c
R.S., c. R-9

Footnote d
SOR/2000-161

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML 1.0 Strict).