Bill C-69

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Third Reading

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	COMPLETION OF REPORT
Time within which report to be completed	22. (1) Each commission shall, not later than twelve months after receipt by the chairperson of that commission of the copy of the return referred to in section 16, complete its report and, on the completion of the report, shall cause two certified copies thereof to be sent to the Chief Electoral Officer.
Extension	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may, on request by a commission, extend the time for the completion of its report for a further period or periods not exceeding six months in the aggregate.
	REPRESENTATION ORDER
Preparation of draft representation order	23. (1) As soon as possible after receipt from each commission of a report sent to the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection 22(1), the Chief Electoral Officer shall prepare and send to the Minister a draft representation order in accordance with this section.
Contents of order	(2) The draft representation order shall
	(a) specify the number of members of the House of Commons who shall be elected for each of the provinces based on the calculation made by the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection 16(2); and
	(b) divide each of the provinces into electoral districts, describe the boundaries of each such district and specify the population thereof and name to be given thereto, in accordance with the recommendations contained in the reports sent to the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection 22(1).
Order in force	24. (1) Within five days after receipt by the Minister of the draft representation order, the Governor in Council shall by regulation declare the draft representation order to be in force, effective on the first dissolution of Parliament that occurs at least seven months after the day on which that regulation is registered, and on the registration of the regulation the order has the force of law accordingly.
Returning officers	(2) For the purpose only of authorizing and enabling the appointment under section 14 of the Canada Elections Act of returning officers whenever required, the representation order shall be deemed to be in force effective on the day on which the regulation declaring it in force is registered.
1996 quinquennial census	(3) For the purpose only of
	(a) applying subsection 3(2) to determine whether an electoral boundaries commission is to be established for a province after the 1996 quinquennial census, and
	(b) calculating, in the manner described in subparagraph 19(2)(a)(i), the electoral quota for a province following the 1996 quinquennial census,
	the representation order next following the draft representation order that was declared in force by a proclamation issued on July 13, 1987 and registered as SI/87-147 shall be deemed to be in force effective on the day on which the regulation declaring it in force is registered.
Construction of order	25. (1) The whole of that part of the representation order relating to any province shall be read together and, in so far as possible, be construed as including the whole of the province in one or another of the electoral districts described therein, the description of each electoral district being accordingly construed as intended, unless the contrary intention appears, to include the whole of the contained area, whether particularly mentioned or not, and any area partly surrounded by the areas expressly described that appears to have been intended to be included.
Doubtful cases	(2) In any doubtful case under subsection (1), the Chief Electoral Officer shall finally determine the electoral district, if any, of which any area not expressly referred to in the representation order was intended to form part and shall, within the first fifteen days of the session of Parliament next following any such determination, report the determination, with the reasons therefor, to the Speaker of the House of Commons.
References to territorial divisions	(3) Wherever in the representation order any word or expression is used to denote the name of any territorial division, that word or expression shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as indicating the territorial division as it existed or was bounded immediately before the establishment of the commissions.
Incorrect references	(4) Wherever in the representation order any municipality or other place is incorrectly referred to as a city, town or village, but there is within the territorial limits of the electoral district in the description of which the reference occurs, a municipality or other place of the same name that is a city, town or village but is not of the class, namely, city, town or village, specified in the representation order, the reference shall be taken to be to that municipality or other place.
Maps to be prepared and printed	26. As soon as possible after the registration of the regulation declaring the draft representation order to be in force, the Chief Electoral Officer shall, in accordance with the descriptions and definitions set out in the order, prepare and print
	(a) individual maps of each electoral district illustrating the boundaries of each district;
	(b) individual maps of each province showing the boundaries of the electoral districts established therein; and
	(c) individual maps of all cities and metropolitan municipalities, portions of which are in more than one electoral district.
	MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Provision for expenses	27. (1) All amounts required for the payment of salaries and expenses fixed under this Act and any other expenses necessary for the implementation of this Act, including expenses of administration, shall be taxed by the Chief Electoral Officer and paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund under the authority of this section.
Casual or temporary employees	(2) Such additional officers, clerks and employees as the Chief Electoral Officer considers necessary for the purpose of enabling the Chief Electoral Officer to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Chief Electoral Officer under this Act may be employed, in the manner authorized by the Public Service Employment Act, on a casual or temporary basis.
Electoral district of Yukon	28. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, there shall be in the Yukon Territory one electoral district named and described as follows, which shall return one member:
	Yukon, consisting of the Yukon Territory as bounded and described in the schedule to the Yukon Act.
Electoral districts of Northwest Territories	29. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, there shall be in the Northwest Territories two electoral districts named and described as follows, which shall return one member each:
	(a) Western Arctic, consisting of all that part of Canada north of the sixtieth parallel of north latitude and west of the boundary described in Schedule I to the Nunavut Act that is not within the Yukon Territory; and
	(b) Nunavut, consisting of
	(i) all that part of Canada north of the sixtieth parallel of north latitude and east of the boundary described in Schedule I to the Nunavut Act that is not within Quebec or Newfoundland, and
	(ii) the islands in Hudson Bay, James Bay and Ungava Bay that are not within Manitoba, Ontario or Quebec.
	RELATED AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS, REPEALS AND COMING INTO FORCE
	Related Provisions
Suspension	30. Where writs of election are issued under the Canada Elections Act for a general election, the operation of this Act is suspended from the time the writs are issued until after the expiration of the fifth day on which the House of Commons sits following the general election ordered by those writs.
Transitional provision re suspension	31. Notwithstanding section 30, subsection 27(1) continues to apply in respect of salaries and other expenses under this Act incurred before writs of election are issued under the Canada Elections Act for a general election.
Certain provisions of representation order to remain in force	32. Where no electoral boundaries commission is established for a province by virtue of subsection 3(2) or 4(2) after a determination referred to in subsection 16(3) is made by the Chief Electoral Officer under that subsection, the provisions respecting that province that appear in the representation order in force at the time of the determination shall remain in force until such time as a commission is established for that province and a draft representation order that sets out new provisions in respect of that province is declared in force by a regulation made under this Act.
	Transitional Provisions
Deemed compliance	33. The Chief Statistician is, in respect of the decennial census of 1991, deemed to have prepared, certified and sent to the Minister and Chief Electoral Officer a return referred to in section 16 on the coming into force of that section.
Transitional provision re s. 8	34. Notwithstanding subsection 8(1), the chief justice of a province or, in the circumstances referred to in subsection 8(2), a judge referred to in that subsection shall, not later than thirty days after receiving the notice referred to in subsection 16(3) or paragraph 16(4)(a) in respect of the decennial census of 1991, appoint the chairperson of the electoral boundaries commission for that province in accordance with section 8.
Representatio n order of 1987	35. (1) Subject to section 32, the draft representation order that was declared in force by a proclamation issued on July 13, 1987 under the former Act and registered as SI/87-147 shall continue in force until it is replaced by a draft representation order declared in force by a regulation made under this Act.
Definition of ``former Act''	(2) In this section, ``former Act'' means the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act as it read immediately before the coming into force of this section.
Interpretation of subsection 9(3)	36. Where the Speaker of the House of Commons first invites written applications from interested persons under section 9 after the coming into force of that section, the period described in subsection 9(3) shall, for the purposes of section 9, be read as referring to thirty days following the coming into force of that section.
	Repeals
Repeal of R.S., c. E-3	*37. The Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act* is repealed.**
Repeal	*38. The Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act, 1994, chapter 19 of the Statutes of Canada, 1994, is repealed.*
	Coming into Force
Coming into force	39. Section 29 comes into force on the coming into force of the draft representation order next following the draft representation order that was declared in force by a proclamation issued on July 13, 1987 and registered as SI/87-147.