BILL C-69 (As passed by the House of Commons)

	1st Session, 35th Parliament, 42-43-44 Elizabeth II, 1994-95
	The House of Commons of Canada
	BILL C-69
	An Act to provide for the establishment of electoral boundaries commissions and the readjustment of electoral boundaries
	Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
	SHORT TITLE
Short title	1. This Act may be cited as the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, 1995.
	INTERPRETATION
Definitions	2. In this Act,
``Chief Electoral Officer'' « directeur général des élections »	``Chief Electoral Officer'' means the Chief Electoral Officer referred to in the Canada Elections Act or the Assistant Chief Electoral Officer appointed under that Act;
``Chief Statistician'' « statisticien en chef »	``Chief Statistician'' means the Chief Statistician of Canada appointed under the Statistics Act;
``commission' ' « commission »	``commission'' means an electoral boundaries commission established for a province under section 3 or 4;
``decennial census'' « recensement décennal »	``decennial census'' means a census referred to in subsection 19(3) of the Statistics Act;
``Minister'' « ministre »	``Minister'' means such member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada as is designated by the Governor in Council as the Minister for the purposes of this Act;
``province'' « province »	``province'' means a province of Canada but does not include the Yukon Territory or the Northwest Territories;
``quinquennia l census'' « recensement quinquennal »	``quinquennial census'' means a census, other than a decennial census, conducted under subsection 19(1) of the Statistics Act;
``report'' « rapport »	``report'' means a report referred to in section 6;
``representatio n order'' « décret de représentation électorale »	``representation order'' means a representation order prepared under section 23.
	ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES COMMISSIONS
Commissions to be established after quinquennial census	3. (1) Subject to subsection (2), after each quinquennial census, the Governor in Council shall establish by regulation an electoral boundaries commission for each province not later than thirty days following the day that all appointments for those commissions made by the Speaker of the House of Commons under section 9 are final by virtue of subsection 9(12).
Exception	(2) No electoral boundaries commission shall be established for a province where the population of less than 10 per cent of the electoral districts in the province varies by 25 per cent or more from the electoral quota for that province calculated in the manner described in subparagraph 19(2)(a)(i).
Commissions to be established after decennial census	4. (1) Subject to subsection (2), after each decennial census, the Governor in Council shall establish by regulation an electoral boundaries commission for each province not later than thirty days following the day that all appointments for those commissions made by the Speaker of the House of Commons under section 9 are final by virtue of subsection 9(12).
Exception	(2) No electoral boundaries commission shall be established for a province where
	(a) the number of members of the House of Commons to be assigned to the province as calculated under subsection 16(2) remains the same as the number of members assigned to that province in the representation order in force at the time of the calculation; and
	(b) the population of each electoral district in the province varies by less than 25 per cent from the electoral quota for that province calculated in the manner described in subparagraph 19(2)(a)(ii).
Exception	(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), where the Minister receives a notice referred to in subsection 16(4) indicating that an electoral boundaries commission shall be established for a province, the Governor in Council shall, by regulation, establish such a commission for that province.
Definition of ``electoral district''	5. For the purposes of subsection 3(2) and paragraph 4(2)(b), ``electoral district'' does not include an electoral district that results from a departure under subsection 19(3) from the rule set out in paragraph 19(2)(a).
Duties of the commissions	6. (1) Every commission shall consider the readjustment of the electoral boundaries to be made on the completion of each quinquennial census and decennial census in the province for which the commission is established and prepare a report respecting the readjustment.
Contents of report	(2) Every commission shall set out in a report
	(a) the proposal of the commission concerning the division of the province into electoral districts;
	(b) the descriptions and boundaries of the electoral districts and the reasons of the commission for proposing those boundaries; and
	(c) the population of and name to be given to each electoral district.
Powers of commission	(3) In the performance of its duties under this Act, a commission has all the powers of a person appointed as a commissioner under Part I of the Inquiries Act.
Rules of procedure	(4) A commission may make rules for regulating its proceedings and for the conduct of its business, and may provide therein for the conduct of any inquiry or hearing by one or more of its members.
Staff	(5) A commission may employ such technical advisers and other staff, including a person to provide administrative and secretarial services to the commission, as it deems necessary.
Salaries and expenses	(6) The Chief Electoral Officer shall fix the salaries and expenses of the staff referred to in subsection (5) and prescribe the conditions of their employment according to the Financial Administration Act.
Members of the commissions	7. Every commission shall consist of three members, namely, a chairperson and two other members, who shall be appointed in accordance with section 8, 9 or 12, as the case may be.
Appointment of chairperson	8. (1) The chief justice of a province shall
	(a) not later than ten days after receipt by the chief justice of the notice referred to in subsection 16(3), where an electoral boundaries commission is to be established under section 3 or subsection 4(1), and
	(b) not later than ten days after receipt by the chief justice of the notice referred to in subsection 16(4), where an electoral boundaries commission is to be established under subsection 4(3),
	appoint the chairperson of that commission from among the judges of the court over which the chief justice presides or, after consultation with the chief justice of any other division of that court or any other superior court in that province, from among the judges of that divi sion or superior court.
Where no superior court judges free to act	(2) In the event that no judge referred to in subsection (1) is able or free to act as chairperson or where, for any other reason, no appointment is made under subsection (1) within the time referred to in that subsection, the Chief Justice of Canada or, in the event of the absence or incapacity of the Chief Justice of Canada, the senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada shall make the appointment from among such persons resident in that province as the Chief Justice of Canada or the senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, as the case may be, deems suitable.
Interpretation	(3) A reference in subsection (1) to the chief justice of a province includes a reference to the acting chief justice of the province or any person performing for the time being the duties of the chief justice thereof.
Appointment of other members	9. (1) The other two members of each commission to be established shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Commons, who shall make the appointments in accordance with this section.
Notice for applications	(2) Before making any appointment under subsection (1), the Speaker of the House of Commons shall, by means of a notice published in the Canada Gazette, invite written applications from persons interested in being considered for such an appointment and shall indicate in that notice that an application shall not be accepted by the Speaker of the House of Commons after the expiration of the period described in subsection (3).
Time limit	(3) An application referred to in subsection (2) shall not be accepted by the Speaker of the House of Commons after the expiration of a period of six months following the date of the last quinquennial or decennial census, as the case may be.
When appointment to be made	(4) After consultation, the Speaker of the House of Commons shall, after the expiration of the period described in subsection (3) for the receipt of applications, appoint the members for each commission to be established under section 3 or 4 and shall do so not later than five days after receipt by the Speaker of a notice referred to in subsection 16(3), except where a commission is to be established under subsection 4(3), in which case the Speaker shall appoint the members for each commission not later than five days after the expiration of the period described in subsection 16(4).
Persons to be appointed	(5) The Speaker of the House of Commons shall make the appointments referred to in subsection (4) from among the applications referred to in subsection (2) that are received by the Speaker or from among such persons as the Speaker deems suitable.
Tabling in the House of Commons	(6) The Speaker of the House of Commons shall, not later than the first three sitting days after the Speaker makes the appointments referred to in subsection (4), cause to be laid before the House of Commons a list for each province containing the names of the members appointed for the commission to be established for that province.
Consideration by the House of Commons	(7) Where a motion for the consideration of the House of Commons to the effect that the appointment of any member named in a list laid before it under subsection (6) be revoked, signed by not fewer than twenty members of the House, is filed with the Speaker of the House of Commons on any of the nine sitting days next following the last day on which the Speaker may cause the list to be laid before the House under that subsection, the House shall take up and consider the motion on the tenth sitting day.
Debate	(8) A motion filed with the Speaker of the House of Commons in accordance with subsection (7) that is taken up shall be debated without interruption for not more than three hours and, where more than one such motion is filed and taken up, the motions shall be combined and debated together for not more than a total of three hours.
Vote	(9) On the expiration of the period for debate referred to in subsection (8) or at such earlier time as the House of Commons is ready for the question, the Speaker of the House of Commons shall forthwith put every question necessary for the disposition of the motion or motions, as the case may be.
Revocation of appointment	(10) Where any motion debated in accordance with this section is adopted by the House of Commons, the appointment is revoked.
New appointment	(11) Where an appointment is revoked by virtue of the adoption of a motion referred to in subsection (10), the Speaker of the House of Commons shall forthwith appoint another member to the commission of the province in respect of which the appointment was revoked from among such persons as the Speaker of the House of Commons deems suitable, and this subsection and subsections (6) to (10) apply to the new appointment with such modifications as the circumstances require.
When appointment is final	(12) No appointment made by the Speaker of the House of Commons is final until the tenth sitting day referred to in subsection (7) has expired and the appointment has not been revoked by virtue of the adoption of a motion referred to in that subsection.
Definition of ``sitting day''	(13) In this section, ``sitting day'' means a day on which the House of Commons sits.
Notice of appointment to Minister	10. (1) Where a person makes an appointment under section 8, 9 or 12, the person shall forthwith notify the Minister of the appointment.
Publication by Minister	(2) The Minister shall, after receiving the notice referred to in subsection (1), forthwith cause the appointment to be published in the Canada Gazette.
Regulation to name members	11. The regulation establishing a commission shall name each of the members appointed to that commission.
Deputy chairperson	12. (1) Each commission shall appoint one of its members as deputy chairperson who shall, in the event of the absence or incapacity of the chairperson or where the office of chairperson is vacant, act as chairperson.
Quorum	(2) At all meetings of a commission, two members of the commission constitute a quorum, except for the purposes of voting in which case three members of the commission constitute a quorum.
Vacancy in membership	(3) A vacancy in the membership of a commission or in the office of the chairperson does not impair the right of the remaining members to act but, where a vacancy occurs in
	(a) the office of the chairperson, it shall, within thirty days after the vacancy, be filled by appointment in the manner provided in section 8; or
	(b) the membership of a commission other than in the office of the chairperson, the Speaker of the House of Commons shall, within thirty days after the vacancy, appoint a person to fill that vacancy from among the applications referred to in subsection 9(2) that have been received by the Speaker or from among such persons as the Speaker deems suitable.
Procedure not applicable	(4) For greater certainty, section 9 does not apply to any appointment made by the Speaker of the House of Commons under paragraph (3)(b).
Persons not to be appointed to a commission	13. No person may be appointed as a member of a commission where that person is a member of the Senate or House of Commons or is a member of a legislature of a province.
Remuneration	14. (1) Each member of a commission, other than a person in receipt of a salary under the Judges Act, is entitled to be paid such daily allowance as may be fixed by the Governor in Council.
Expenses	(2) Each member of a commission is entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses incurred by the member while absent from the member's ordinary place of residence in the course of the member's duties as a member of the commission.
Not agent of Her Majesty	15. A commission is not an agent of Her Majesty and the members of a commission as such are not part of the public service of Canada.

BILL C-69

SHORT TITLE

INTERPRETATION

ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES COMMISSIONS