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Bill C-371

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First Reading

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	RECALL ELECTION
Order for writ	19. (1) For every recall election, the Governor in Council shall, by order, at least twenty-eight days before the date appointed for the holding of the recall election, direct the Chief Electoral Officer to proceed forthwith to issue a writ for the holding of the election.
Issue of writ	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, within three days after receipt of an order pursuant to subsection (1), issue a writ for the recall election to the returning officer of the electoral district in which the election is to be held.
Latest day for return	(3) The latest day for the return of the writ shall be stated in the writ and shall be the fiftieth day after the issue of the writ.
Publication of question	(4) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, within five days after the issuance of the writ, publish throughout the electoral district the question described in subsection 20(2), the statements of reasons for and against recall provided in accordance with subsections 20(3) and (4) and the date the recall election will be held.
Number and form of ballots	20. (1) There shall be two ballots at a recall election.
Question on first ballot	(2) The question on the first ballot shall be worded: ``Do you support the recall of _______ from the office of member of Parliament?'', where the blank space shall be filled by the name of the member of Parliament for the electoral district.
Reasons for recall on ballot	(3) The ballot shall include a statement of not more than two hundred words, prepared by the promoter of the recall petition, as to why the member of Parliament should be recalled.
Reasons against recall on ballot	(4) The ballot shall include a statement of not more than two hundred words, prepared by the member of Parliament, as to why the member should not be recalled.
Second ballot	(5) The second ballot shall be of the form prescribed under the Canada Elections Act for a by-election in an electoral district.
Effect of vote on first ballot	21. If the number of affirmative votes on the first ballot is greater than fifty per cent of the total of the first ballots cast,
	(a) the member of Parliament for the electoral district shall cease to hold office; and
	(b) the second ballots shall be counted.
Less than 50% for recall	22. (1) If the number of affirmative votes on the first ballot is less than fifty per cent of the total of the first ballots cast, the second ballots shall not be counted and the petition to recall the member of Parliament shall thereupon be deemed denied.
Expenses of member	(2) If the number of affirmative votes cast on the first ballot in a recall election is less than fifty per cent of the total number of votes cast, the expenses incurred by the member against whom the recall was brought shall be reimbursed to the member from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Expenses of member	(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the expenses to be reimbursed shall be the expenses that the Chief Electoral Officer accepts as being actual and reasonable expenses related to the recall.
Effect of vote on second ballot	23. The candidate whose name is selected by the largest number of voters on the second ballot is the member elect for the electoral district and may be sworn in as the member of Parliament for that district.
Member resigns	24. (1) If a member of Parliament who is the subject of a recall petition resigns within ten days after the date on which the Clerk certifies the petition to be valid, no first ballot shall be held at the recall election.
Member resigns	(2) A member of Parliament who resigns after the Clerk certifies as being valid a recall petition with respect to the electoral district in which the member was elected may not be named on the second ballot.
Member who does not resign	(3) A member of Parliament who does not resign may be a candidate on the second ballot.
Canada Elections Act	25. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act,
	(a) the Canada Elections Act, as far as it is applicable and with the necessary modifications, applies to a recall election under this Act as if the recall election were a by-election; and
	(b) subject to such adaptations as are made by the regulations, the recall election shall be held in the manner provided in the Canada Elections Act for the conduct of a by-election.
Electronic voting	(2) Electronic voting may be used in a recall election, with such adaptations to the provisions of this Act as may be necessary, if such is provided for in an Act of Parliament for the election of members of the House of Commons.
	REGULATIONS AND FORMS
Regulations	26. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations
	(a) applying, for the purpose of this Act, with or without modifications, provisions of any regulation made under the Canada Elections Act;
	(b) prescribing the time at which, and the manner in which, special voters may vote at a recall election, whether or not at a polling place and whether within or outside Canada;
	(c) prescribing conditions upon or subject to which special voters may vote at a recall election;
	(d) prescribing, for the purposes of a recall election, different methods of voting for different classes of special voters;
	(e) providing for the modification of any provision of the Canada Elections Act in order to adapt it to the carrying out of a recall election in accordance with the other provisions of this Act; and
	(f) providing for any other matter necessary to give full effect to the provisions of this Act or its administration.
Forms prescribed by Chief Electoral Officer	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may prescribe forms for the purposes of this Act.
	OFFENCES
Interfering with or influencing voters	27. (1) Every person commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 who, at a recall election
	(a) in any way interferes with any voter, either in the polling station or while the voter is on the way to the polling station, with the intention of influencing the voter or advising the voter as to the vote;
	(b) at any time before the close of the poll on the day on which the election is held, participates in any demonstration or procession having direct or indirect reference to the recall election, by any means whatsoever;
	(c) at any time before the close of the poll on the day on which the election is held, makes any statement having direct or indirect reference to the recall election by means of any loudspeaker or public address apparatus or radio or television apparatus other than a publication by radio or television broadcast made by a broadcaster within the meaning of section 2 of the Broadcasting Act of
	(i) an advertisement placed by the Chief Electoral Officer or a returning officer,
	(ii) a non-partisan advertisement broadcast, as a community service, by a broadcaster within the meaning of section 2 of the Broadcasting Act, or
	(iii) news in relation to the recall election;
	(d) at any time before the close of the poll on the day on which the recall election is held, conducts, in relation to the recall, a public opinion poll of persons voting before the day on which the election is held;
	(e) at any time before the close of the poll on the day on which the election is held, conducts a public opinion poll in relation to the recall;
	(f) at any time before the close of the poll on the day on which the election is held or at any time on any of the three days immediately preceding that day, prints or distributes or delivers to any person anything being or purporting to be in imitation of the voting paper to be used at the poll, together with any direction or indication as to the answer for which any voter should or should not vote, or in any way containing any such direction or indication, or having on it any matter likely to influence any vote;
	(g) at any time before the close of the poll on the day on which the election is held, exhibits in or in view of any public place, or publishes, distributes or broadcasts
	(i) any statement advising or intended or likely to influence a voter as to the way the voter should or should not vote,
	(ii) any statement advising or intended or likely to influence any voter to abstain from voting, or
	(iii) any statement, name, emblem, slogan, or logo identified with the recall, other than
	(A) a statement, name, emblem, slogan or logo in a newspaper published before 6 p.m. on the day before the day on which the election is held, or
	(B) a statement, name, emblem, slogan or logo that does not relate specifically to the election and that is so exhibited before the day on which the election is held in a fixed position and in relation to the national or regional or campaign headquarters, other than a mobile headquarters, of a proponent of any answer to a question to which the recall relates, and is left exhibited on the day on which the election is held;
	(h) at any time before the close of the poll on the day on which the election is held, exhibits in or in view of any public place or distributes any ribbons, streamers, rosettes, or items of a similar nature in colours that are identified with the recall, other than
	(i) ribbons, streamers, rosettes or items of a similar nature worn or displayed by any person, other than an election official, on the person or on any vehicle, in colours that are identified with the election, or
	(ii) a lapel badge worn by any person other than an election official;
	(i) exhibits or leaves in any polling booth any card or paper having on it any direction or indication as to how any person should vote or as to the method of voting; or
	(j) subject to any regulations made under this Act, at any time before the close of the poll on the day on which the recall is held, within, or at the entrance to, or in the vicinity of, any polling place
	(i) gives or offers to give any person any written or oral information as to any name or number on the official list of electors or any supplementary list being used at the election, or
	(ii) permits or offers to permit any person to examine any copy of the official list of electors or any supplementary list being used at the election.
Defence	(2) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1)(g) that relates to the exhibition in or in view of a public place of a statement, name, emblem, slogan or logo if the accused proves that
	(a) the exhibition was inadvertent; and
	(b) the accused caused the exhibition to cease as soon as the accused was notified by a returning officer or deputy returning officer that the exhibition was taking place.
Exception	(3) Nothing in this section applies to an official statement or announcement made or exhibited under the authority of this Act or the Canada Elections Act.
Removal of names, emblems, etc.	28. (1) The returning officer may, at any time on the day on which the election is held before the close of the poll, cause to be removed, covered or obliterated
	(a) any statement advising or intended or likely to influence any elector to abstain from voting; or
	(b) any name, emblem, slogan, or logo identified with the election exhibited in or in view of any public place.
Exception	(2) Paragraph (1)(c) does not apply to ribbons, streamers, rosettes or items of a similar nature worn or displayed by any person, on the person or on any vehicle, in colours that are identified with the recall, or to a lapel badge worn by any person.
Exception	(3) Nothing in subsection (1) applies to a statement, name, emblem, slogan or logo that does not relate specifically to the recall, that is in a fixed position and is in relation to the national, regional or campaign headquarters, other than a mobile headquarters, of a proposer of or opponent to the recall.
Expense	(4) Any expense incurred by the returning officer in carrying out the power conferred by subsection (1) may be recovered by the returning officer from the persons by whom or by whose direction the statement, name, emblem, slogan, or logo was exhibited, as a debt due by them jointly and severally to the Crown.
Offence re unauthorized voting papers	29. Every person commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 who, at a recall election, except in accordance with any regulations made under the Canada Election Act or this Act in relation to special voters, possesses any voting paper other than the one received from the returning officer or deputy returning officer for the purpose of recording a vote.
Offence re payment to sign recall petition	30. Every person commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 who offers or pays to any person any compensation or offers or gives to any person any benefit in order to induce the person to sign, or in consideration of the person signing, a recall petition.
Offences equivalent to those under Canada Elections Act	31. Every person commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 who, at a recall petition, does or omits to do an act, other than an act to which section 27 or 30 of this Act applies, that if done or omitted to be done at a general election or by-election of a member of the House of Commons would be an offence under the Canada Elections Act.

Bill C-371

RECALL ELECTION

REGULATIONS AND FORMS

OFFENCES