Bill C-371
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1st Session, 36th Parliament, 46-47 Elizabeth II, 1997-98
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The House of Commons of Canada
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BILL C-371 |
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An Act to establish the right of electors to
recall members of Parliament
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SHORT TITLE |
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Short Title
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1. This Act may be cited as the Recall Act.
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INTERPRETATION |
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Interpre- tation: Canada Elections Act
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2. (1) Unless a contrary intention appears,
words and expressions used in this Act have
the same meaning as in the Canada Elections
Act.
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Definitions
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(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the
definitions in this subsection apply in this Act.
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``Clerk'' « greffier »
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``Clerk'' means the Clerk of the House of
Commons.
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``electoral
district'' « circonscrip- tion »
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``electoral district'', in respect of a recall
election, means any place or territorial area
that was entitled, at the then most recent
general election, to return a member to
serve in the House of Commons.
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``federal
party'' « parti fédéral »
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``federal party'' means any political party that
has one or more elected members in the
House of Commons on the day on which
writs of recall election are issued, or that is
registered with the Chief Electoral Officer.
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``promoter'' « promo- teur »
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``promoter'' means a person who promotes a
petition under section 4.
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``recall
petition'' « pétition en révocation »
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``recall petition'' means a petition seeking the
holding of a vote to recall a member of
Parliament under this Act, and includes the
forms on which the signatures of the
signatories are recorded.
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``Speaker'' « président »
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``Speaker'' means the Speaker of the House of
Commons.
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REQUIREMENT TO HOLD A RECALL ELECTION |
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Requirement
to hold a
recall election
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3. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a recall
election shall be held if a valid recall petition
is deposited with the Clerk that has been
signed by a number of electors resident in an
electoral district and that represents not less
than twenty-five per cent of the votes cast in
the most recent election in that district and
otherwise complies with the provisions of this
Act.
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General
election
invalidates
recall
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(2) A recall election shall not be held if a
writ for a general election is issued within
sixty days following the date a petition under
subsection (1) is declared to be valid by the
Clerk or within thirty days following the issue
of the writ for the recall election.
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No petition in
first 12
months after
election
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(3) No proposal for a petition for a recall
election may be made in respect of a member
within the first twelve months following the
date the member was elected.
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Only one
recall in a
Parliament
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(4) No recall petition may be proposed or
circulated for signature to recall a member of
Parliament if a recall petition has been
previously proposed and circulated for
signature in respect of the same member
during the same Parliament.
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PETITIONS |
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Right to
propose recall
petition
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4. An elector who is a resident of an
electoral district may submit to the Clerk a
proposal to promote a recall petition seeking
the holding of a recall election in that electoral
district in accordance with this Act.
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Form of
proposal
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5. A proposal for a recall petition shall be
accompanied by a draft of the proposed recall
petition stating
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Notice
published
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6. (1) Within twenty working days after
receiving a proposal, the Clerk shall
determine whether the submission complies
with section 5 and, if so, shall
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Content of
publication
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(2) A notice under subsection (1) shall
specify the name of the person who submitted
the proposal to promote the recall petition,
who shall be identified as the person approved
to promote the recall petition, the address in
Canada at which the person may be contacted,
the electoral district affected and the name of
the member of Parliament for that electoral
district, and shall state that the proposal
conforms with the requirements of this Act.
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Promotion of
approved
petition
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7. (1) A person whose proposal to promote
a recall petition has been approved by the
Clerk may circulate and promote the petition
and ask electors to sign it for the purposes of
this Act.
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Person
signing to be
elector
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(2) Any person who is an elector in the
electoral district to which the recall petition
relates may sign it.
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Information
by those
signing
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(3) An elector signing a petition must write
legibly beside the signature the full name, the
address that qualifies the signatory as an
elector in the electoral district and the date of
the signature.
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Time limit
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(4) The promoter shall deliver the recall
petition to the Clerk within twelve months
after the date of publication in the Canada
Gazette of the notice published pursuant to
subsection 6(1) and shall state in writing the
number of pages and the number of signatures
on each page.
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Additional
pages
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(5) Subject to sections 11 and 14, no pages
or signatures shall be added to a recall petition
after it has been delivered to the Clerk.
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Lapsed
petition
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(6) A recall petition shall lapse if it is not
delivered to the Clerk within the time limit
mentioned in subsection (4).
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Language of
petition forms
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8. A petition form may be circulated in
either English or French or in both official
languages.
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Who may
circulate a
petition
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9. (1) A petition may be circulated by any
Canadian citizen on behalf of the promoter.
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Electronic
circulation
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(2) A blank petition form may be circulated
electronically or by mail, but a completed
petition form must be delivered to the Clerk in
physical form with the original signatures.
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Duties of
Clerk
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10. (1) The Clerk shall, within thirty days
after receiving a recall petition, ascertain that
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Defects
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(2) Where the Clerk finds
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the Clerk shall return to the promoter any part
of the petition that does not comply.
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Duties of
promoter in
relation to
defects
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11. (1) Where any pages are returned to the
promoter, the promoter may, within sixty days
after the date on which any part was returned
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Review
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(2) The Clerk shall review any pages
returned within the time allowed by
subsection (1) and shall advise the promoter
whether the defects in the pages have been
remedied.
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Pages with
unremedied
defects not
counted
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(3) The pages that have been returned to the
promoter that are not subsequently returned to
the Clerk with the defects remedied within the
time allowed by subsection (1) shall not be
counted by the Clerk and the Clerk shall so
notify the promoter.
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Certification
of petition
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12. (1) Where the Clerk receives a recall
petition or a remedied petition that complies
with subsections 7(2) and (3), the Clerk shall,
within two months after the date of receipt of
the petition or the remedied petition,
whichever is the later, either
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Certification
by Clerk
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(2) A recall petition that is in the correct
form shall be certified valid by the Clerk if the
Clerk is satisfied, in the manner described in
section 13, that the petition has been signed by
a number of electors representing not less than
twenty-five per cent of the total votes cast in
the most recent general election or by-election
in the electoral district and that the signatures
were dated after publication in the Canada
Gazette of the notice required by subsection
6(1).
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Procedure in
relation to
certification
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13. (1) For the purpose of the certification
under subsection 12(2), the Clerk shall take, at
random, from the names and addresses of
those who signed the petition, a number of
them being the lesser of
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and submit them to the Chief Electoral Offi
cer.
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Names
checked
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(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall check
the names and addresses provided by the Clerk
pursuant to subsection (1) and ascertain the
number that represents electors eligible to
vote in a general election in the electoral
district to which the petition relates and how
many, if any, were duplications, and shall
inform the Clerk of the result.
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Eligible
number
checked
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(3) The Clerk shall then, by applying the
proportion of the names submitted under
subsection (1) that were different eligible
electors to the total number of signatories,
determine whether or not the recall petition
has been signed by the number of electors
required by subsection 12(2).
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Insufficient
signatures;
petition lapses
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(4) If the Clerk determines that the petition
does not have sufficient proper signatures to
be certified under subsection 12(2), the
petition shall lapse and the Clerk shall so
notify the promoter and publish a notice of the
lapse in the Canada Gazette.
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Resubmission
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14. (1) Where a recall petition has lapsed,
the promoter of that petition may, at any time
within two months after the date on which the
petition lapsed
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Consequence
of lapse
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(2) Where a petition that has been submitted
again under subsection (1) is not certified
valid by the Clerk, it lapses finally and may
not be submitted again under this section.
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Speaker reads
petition to the
House
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15. The Clerk shall transmit a recall petition
that the Clerk has certified to be valid to the
Speaker and the Speaker shall lay the petition
before the House on the next day on which the
House sits and the Clerk shall read the petition
to the House.
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Date of recall
election
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16. (1) Where a petition is laid before the
House of Commons pursuant to section 15, the
Governor in Council shall, within thirty days,
by order published in the Canada Gazette, fix
a day on which the recall election is to be held.
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Date of recall
election
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(2) The recall election shall be held within
three months after the date on which the recall
petition was laid before the House of
Commons.
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Delegation of
functions of
Clerk
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17. The Clerk shall not delegate to any
person, other than the Deputy Clerk of the
House of Commons, any of the Clerk's
functions under this Act.
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Names on list
kept
confidential
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18. (1) The names of signatories to a recall
petition, whether or not the petition has
sufficient signatures to initiate a recall
election, shall be kept confidential and not
made public by the promoter, any person
collecting signatures to a petition, the Clerk,
the Chief Electoral Officer, any person acting
for any of them and any other person.
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Offence and
penalty
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(2) Every person who contravenes
subsection (1) is guilty of an offence
punishable on summary conviction and liable
to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding six
months, or to both.
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