| Exception
|
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to postal
or courier workers or services.
|
|
| Offences
|
33.7 No person shall
|
|
|
|
(a) as principal or agent, or having charge or
control of the circulation of, or obtaining of
signatures to, any petition, intentionally
misrepresent or intentionally make any
false statement concerning the content,
purport or effect of the petition to any
person who signs, or desires to sign, or is
requested to sign, or who makes inquiries
with reference to the petition, or to whom it
is presented for signature;
|
|
|
|
(b) wilfully and knowingly circulate,
publish or exhibit any false statement or
misrepresentation concerning the content,
purport or effect of a petition for the purpose
of obtaining any signature to, or persuading
or influencing any person to sign, the
petition;
|
|
|
|
(c) refuse to allow a prospective signer to
read a petition;
|
|
|
|
(d) conceal or obscure the summary of the
proposal from the view of a prospective
signer;
|
|
|
|
(e) solicit any person circulating the
petition to affix any false or forged
signature, or cause or permit such signature
to be affixed; or
|
|
|
|
(f) knowingly sign the same petition more
than once, sign a petition when not an
eligible voter, or make a false statement on
a petition.
|
|
| Number of
copies
|
33.8 (1) There is no limit to the number of
copies of a petition.
|
|
| Original
|
(2) Copies of a petition become part of the
original petition when submitted to the Clerk.
|
|
| Validity of
signatures
|
33.9 (1) Upon receipt of a completed
petition, the Clerk shall cause a random check
to be carried out on the validity of the
signatures and of all other information stated
on the petition, and shall publicly announce
the results of the check.
|
|
| Invalidity
|
(2) If a random check of not less than five
thousand signatures reveals
|
|
|
|
(a) a number of invalid signatures that, by
extrapolation, indicates that the petition
lacks sufficient valid signatures to exceed
the number required under subsection
3(1.1) or 3(1.2), as the case may be, or
|
|
|
|
(b) that the petition contains materially
incorrect information,
|
|
|
|
the Clerk shall not place the petition on the
referendum ballot.
|
|
| If no check
|
(3) If the Clerk does not complete and
announce the result of the check required by
subsection (1) within sixty days of receiving
the petition, the signatures and other
information on the petition shall be
considered valid.
|
|
| Conditional
writ issued
|
(4) After the Clerk has confirmed that a
petition has a sufficient number of signatures
to exceed the number required under
subsection 3(1.2), the Clerk shall issue a
conditional writ certifying that the
requirements of subsection 3(1.2) or 3(1.4), as
the case may be, have been met, and that a
referendum will be held on the question that is
the subject of the petition, subject to the
question meeting the other requirements of
this Act.
|
|
| Orders
|
(5) The Clerk may issue any order
necessary to carry out the duties required by
this section, but not so as to restrict the ability
of an elector to petition under this Act.
|
|
|
|
21. The part of subsection 34(1) of the Act
before paragraph (a) is replaced by the
following:
|
|
| General
offences
|
34. (1) Every person who contravenes
subsection 10(2), 16(4), 18(4), 20(1), 32(4) or
33.2(1) or section 33.8 is guilty of an offence
and is liable
|
|
|
|
22. The Act is amended by adding the
following after section 38:
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ballot boxes
|
38.1 Where a referendum is held
concurrently with a general election or
by-election, a separate ballot box shall be
provided for the ballot paper containing the
referendum questions.
|
|
| Ballot papers
|
38.2 (1) Where a referendum is held
concurrently with a general election or
by-election, a separate ballot paper shall be
provided for the referendum questions.
|
|
| Order of
questions
|
(2) If there is more than one question on the
ballot paper, the ordering of the questions on
the paper shall be
|
|
|
|
(a) first, questions placed on the ballot
pursuant to subsection 3(1.1), with the
questions that received the larger numbers
of signatures in the petitioning process
being placed above those that received
lesser numbers of signatures;
|
|
|
|
(b) second, questions placed on the ballot
pursuant to subsection 3(1.3), with the
questions that received the larger numbers
of signatures in the petitioning process
being placed above those that received
lesser numbers of signatures; and
|
|
|
|
(c) third, questions placed on the ballot
pursuant to subsection 3(1), in the order
determined by the Clerk.
|
|
| Form of ballot
paper
|
(3) A ballot paper shall be in prescribed
form and shall have a counterfoil and a stub,
with a line of perforations between the ballot
paper and the counterfoil and between the
counterfoil and the stub.
|
|
|
|
23. Section 42 of the Act is amended by
adding the following after subsection (2):
|
|
| Amendments
to this Act
|
(3) No amendment shall be made to this Act
unless it has first been submitted for approval
by referendum and approved in accordance
with this Act.
|
|
| Transitional;
writs within
first three
months
|
24. No writ authorizing a referendum
may be issued, nor may any petition
committee be registered, within three
months after the day on which this Act
comes into force unless, before the
expiration of those three months, the Clerk
has published in the Canada Gazette a notice
that the necessary preparations for the
bringing into operation of this Act have
been made.
|
|