Bill C-382

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First Reading

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	1st Session, 36th Parliament, 46-47 Elizabeth II, 1997-98
	The House of Commons of Canada
	BILL C-382
	An Act to allow the electors of a province to express an opinion on who should be summoned to the Senate to represent the province
	Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Short title	1. This Act may be cited as the Senator Selection Act.
Definitions	2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.
``candidate'' « candidat »	``candidate'' means a person who is qualified to be summoned to the Senate and has been nominated in accordance with a Senate selection Act.
``elector'' « électeur »	``elector'' means a person entitled to vote in an election for members of the legislative assembly of a province.
``Senate selection'' « choix des sénateurs »	``Senate selection'' means a process pursuant to a Senate selection Act whereby the electors of a province have indicated their preference as to which of the candidates nominated should be summoned to the Senate.
``Senate selection Act'' « loi relative au choix des sénateurs »	``Senate selection Act'' means an Act of the legislature of a province that provides for a process for electors to express an opinion on who should be summoned to the Senate when a vacancy arises in the Senate in the representation of the province and that provides that
	(a) persons who wish to be summoned to fill the vacancy may be nominated;
	(b) political parties may be registered and the registered political parties have rights and are subject to restrictions equivalent to those provided in the law of the province that governs the election of members of the legislative assembly, insofar as such rights and restrictions may be applied to the expression of an opinion on who should be summoned to the Senate;
	(c) every elector may cast a secret ballot to indicate the elector's preference as to which candidate should be summoned to fill the vacancy;
	(d) the process is held at the same time in every part of the province or, in the case of Quebec, in every part of the electoral division in which the vacancy arises;
	(e) there must be an immediate public announcement of the result of the process; and
	(f) the result must forthwith be transmitted to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.
Vacancy	3. When a vacancy arises in the Senate, the Governor in Council shall forthwith cause to be published in the Canada Gazette a notice stating that there is a vacancy and naming the province or electoral division for which the vacancy arises.
Governor General	4. (1) Neither the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, the Prime Minister nor any other minister of the Crown in right of Canada shall advise the Governor General on the summoning of a person to fill a vacancy in the Senate unless
	(a) the Queen's Privy Council for Canada has received the results of a Senate selec tion held in respect of the vacancy; or
	(b) twelve months have passed since the vacancy was published in the Canada Gazette.
Application	(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a province that does not have a Senate selection Act.
No effect on power	(3) Nothing in this section derogates from or alters the power of the Governor General under section 24 of the Constitution Act, 1867.

Bill C-382

BILL C-382