1st Session, 36th Parliament,
46 Elizabeth II, 1997

The House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-253

An Act to amend the Access to Information Act (disclosure of results of public opinion polls)

R.S., c. A-1; R.S., cc. 22, 27, 28, 33, 44, 46 (1st Supp.), cc. 1, 8, 19, 36 (2nd Supp.), cc. 1, 3, 12, 17, 18, 20, 24, 28, 33 (3rd Supp.), cc. 1, 7, 10, 11, 16, 21, 28, 31, 32, 41, 47 (4th Supp.); 1989, cc. 3, 27; 1990, cc. 1, 2, 3, 13; 1991, cc. 3, 6, 16, 38; 1992, cc. 1, 21, 33, 34, 36, 37; 1993, cc. 1, 2, 3, 27, 28, 31, 34, 38; 1994, cc. 10, 26, 31, 38, 40, 41, 43; 1995, cc. 1, 5, 11, 12, 18, 28, 29, 41, 45; 1996, cc. 8, 9, 10, 11, 16; 1997, cc. 6, 9, 20, 23

      Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1. The Access to Information Act is amended by adding the following after section 5:

Results of Public Opinion Polls

Notice of public opinion poll

5.1 (1) Any department, branch, office, board, agency, commission, corporation or other body established by or pursuant to any Act of Parliament, or established by or pursuant to any proclamation, order in council or other instrument made or issued by or under the authority of the Governor in Council, that commissions a public opinion poll shall forthwith give notice thereof to the Speaker of the House of Commons.

Report of the results

(2) Every department or body referred to in subsection (1) shall forthwith prepare for submission to the Speaker of the House of Commons a report of the results of every public opinion poll commissioned by it and shall include in the report:

    (a) the issues dealt with in the poll;

    (b) a copy of the questions asked and a summary of the responses given;

    (c) the period during which the poll was conducted;

    (d) the name of the person or firm commissioned to conduct the poll; and

    (e) the cost of the poll.

Report tabled in House of Commons

(3) The Speaker of the House of Commons shall table the report prepared under subsection (2) in the House of Commons not later than fifteen days after the completion of the public opinion poll or, if the House of Commons is not then sitting, shall, within the same period, deposit the report with the Information Commissioner and cause the report to be published in the Canada Gazette and table the report in the House of Commons on any of the first five sitting days next thereafter.

Definition of ``public opinion poll''

(4) For the purposes of this section, ``public opinion poll'' means any activity undertaken to obtain, through sampling techniques, the opinions and attitudes of members of the Canadian public on public policy issues and includes all types of quantitative or qualitative research conducted among members of the public using a prepared questionnaire or interview schedule.