Bill C-2

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	Signed Pledges by Candidates Prohibited
Signed pledges by candidates prohibited	550. No candidate shall sign a written document presented by way of demand or claim made on him or her by any person or association of persons, between the issue of the writ and polling day, if the document requires the candidate to follow a course of action that will prevent him or her from exercising freedom of action in Parliament, if elected, or to resign as a member if called on to do so by any person or association of persons.
	By-Elections
Notice of withdrawal of writ	551. If a writ is deemed to have been superseded and withdrawn under subsection 31(3) of the Parliament of Canada Act, the Chief Electoral Officer shall publish a notice in the Canada Gazette of the withdrawal of the writ and the cancellation of the election.
	Forms
Tabling of forms	552. Each form established for the purposes of paragraph 424(1)(a) or 429(1)(a) shall be laid before the House of Commons on any of the first 15 days that it is sitting after the form is made by the Chief Electoral Officer.
	Payments out of Consolidated Revenue Fund
Amounts to be paid out of C.R.F.	553. The following shall be paid out of unappropriated moneys forming part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund:
	(a) any amount payable under section 15;
	(b) the remuneration paid to a person employed under section 20, any additional remuneration paid to staff referred to in subsection 19(1) for overtime work to enable the Chief Electoral Officer to exercise his or her powers and discharge his or her duties under this Act and any administration expenses that are incurred for that purpose;
	(c) any expenses incurred by the Chief Electoral Officer to acquire information referred to in paragraph 46(1)(b);
	(d) any fees, costs, allowances or expenses referred to in subsection 542(1);
	(e) any expenses incurred by the Chief Electoral Officer for preparing and printing election material and for the purchase of election supplies; and
	(f) on the certificate of the Chief Electoral Officer, any expenses incurred by, on behalf of or in relation to the Commissioner under sections 509 to 513 and 516 to 521.
	Amendments
Application of amendments to subsequent election	554. (1) No amendment to this Act applies in an election for which the writ is issued within six months after the passing of the amendment unless, before the issue of the writ, the Chief Electoral Officer has published a notice in the Canada Gazette that the necessary preparations for the bringing into operation of the amendment have been made and that the amendment may come into force accordingly.
Consolida- tion of amendments	(2) It is the duty of the Chief Electoral Officer immediately after the passing of an amendment to this Act to consolidate the amendment, so far as necessary, in the copies of the Act printed for distribution to returning officers, to correct and reprint all forms and instructions affected by it and to publish a notice in the Canada Gazette as soon as copies of the Act and the forms and instructions have been so corrected and reprinted.
	PART 22
	TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS, CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS, REPEALS AND COMING INTO FORCE
	Transitional Provisions
Statement of assets and liabilities - coming into force before July 1	555. (1) If this Act comes into force before July 1 in a year, a registered party that is registered on that coming into force shall, within six months after that coming into force, provide the Chief Electoral Officer with
	(a) a statement of its assets and liabilities, including any surplus or deficit, as of December 31 of the previous fiscal year;
	(b) a report as to whether in the registered party's auditor's opinion the statement presents fairly the information on which it is based in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; and
	(c) a declaration in the prescribed form by the chief agent of the registered party concerning the statement.
Statement of assets and liabilities - coming into force after June 30	(2) If this Act comes into force after June 30 in a year, a registered party that is registered on that coming into force shall, within six months after the end of the then current fiscal year, provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a statement of its assets and liabilities, including any surplus or deficit, as of December 31 of the then current fiscal year, and the documents referred to in paragraphs (1)(b) and (c) in relation to that statement.
Financial reporting - registered parties	556. If this Act comes into force after June 30 in a year,
	(a) sections 43 to 46 of the Canada Elections Act, as they read immediately before the coming into force of this Act, apply in respect of the provision of documents by a registered party in relation to its financial transactions for the then current fiscal period; and
	(b) section 424 of this Act applies in respect of the provision of documents by a registered party in relation to its financial transactions for all subsequent fiscal periods.
Financial reporting - merging parties	557. If this Act comes into force after June 30 in a year, sections 43 to 46 of the Canada Elections Act, as they read immediately before the coming into force of this Act, apply in respect of the provision of documents by merging parties in relation to their financial transactions for the portion of their then current fiscal periods before the merger takes effect and for any earlier fiscal periods for which those documents have not been provided.
Electoral campaign return of candidate	558. An official agent need only include in an electoral campaign return of a candidate the information referred to in subparagraph 451(2)(i) in respect of contributions made since the coming into force of this section.
	Consequential Amendments
R.S., c. E-3	Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act
	*559. Subsection 25(2) of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act* is replaced by the following:**
Returning officers	(2) For the purpose only of authorizing and enabling the appointment, under section 24 of the Canada Elections Act, of returning officers whenever required, the representation order is deemed to be in force effective on the day on which the proclamation declaring it to be in force was issued.
R.S., c. 1 (5th Supp.)	Income Tax Act
	*560. (1) Subsections 127(3) to (4.2) of the Income Tax Act* are replaced by the following:**
Contributions to registered parties and candidates	(3) There may be deducted from the tax otherwise payable by a taxpayer under this Part for a taxation year in respect of the total of all amounts each of which is a monetary contribution made by the taxpayer in the year to a registered party or to a candidate whose nomination has been confirmed in an election of a member or members to serve in the House of Commons of Canada (in this section referred to as ``the total''),
	(a) 75% of the total, if the total does not exceed $200,
	(b) $150 plus 50% of the amount by which the total exceeds $200, if the total exceeds $200 and does not exceed $550, or
	(c) the lesser of
	(i) $325 plus 33 1/3% of the amount by which the total exceeds $550, and
	(ii) $500,
	if payment of each monetary contribution that is included in the total is proven by filing a receipt with the Minister, signed by a registered agent of the registered party or by the official agent of the candidate whose nomination has been confirmed, as the case may be, that contains prescribed information.
Issue of receipts	(3.1) A receipt referred to in subsection (3) shall not be issued
	(a) by a registered agent of a registered party, or
	(b) by an official agent of a candidate whose nomination has been confirmed
	otherwise than in respect of a monetary contribution and to the contributor who made it.
Deposit of amounts contributed	(3.2) An official agent of a candidate whose nomination has been confirmed - other than in an electoral district referred to in Schedule 3 to the Canada Elections Act - who receives a monetary contribution, shall without delay deposit it in an account in the name of the official agent, in his or her capacity as such, in a branch or other office in Canada of a Canadian financial institution as defined in section 2 of the Bank Act, or in an authorized foreign bank, as defined in that section, that is not subject to the restrictions and requirements referred to in subsection 524(2) of that Act.
Definitions	(4) In subsections (3), (3.1), (3.2) and (4.1), the terms ``official agent'', ``registered agent'' and ``registered party'' have the meanings assigned to them by subsection 2(1) of the Canada Elections Act and the expression ``candidate whose nomination has been confirmed'' means a person whom the returning officer has, under subsection 71(1) of that Act, confirmed as a candidate in an election.
Definition of ``amount contributed''	(4.1) In subsections (3), (3.1), (3.2) and (4.2), ``monetary contribution'' made by a taxpayer means a contribution made by the taxpayer to a registered party or to a candidate whose nomination has been confirmed in the form of cash or in the form of a negotiable instrument issued by the taxpayer, but does not include
	(a) a monetary contribution made by an official agent of a candidate whose nomination has been confirmed or a registered agent of a registered party (in the agent's capacity as official agent or registered agent, as the case may be) to another such official agent or registered agent, as the case may be; or
	(b) a monetary contribution in respect of which the taxpayer has received or is entitled to receive a financial benefit of any kind (other than a prescribed financial benefit or a deduction under subsection (3)) from a government, municipality or other public authority, whether as a grant, subsidy, forgivable loan or deduction from tax or an allowance or otherwise.
Allocation of amount contributed among partners	(4.2) Where a taxpayer was, at the end of a taxation year of a partnership, a member of the partnership, the taxpayer's share of any monetary contribution made by the partnership in that taxation year that would, if the partnership were a person, be a monetary contribution referred to in subsection (3), is, for the purposes of that subsection, deemed to be a monetary contribution made by the taxpayer in the taxpayer's taxation year in which the taxation year of the partnership ended.
	(2) Subsection 127(3) of the Act, as enacted by subsection (1), applies to the 2000 and subsequent taxation years except that, in its application to money contributions made after 1999 and before the coming into force of this Act, the references in that subsection to ``a monetary contribution made'', ``monetary contribution'' and a ``candidate whose nomination has been confirmed'' shall be read as references to ``an amount contributed'', ``amount contributed'' and ``an officially nominated candidate'', respectively.
	(3) Subsections 127(3.2) and (4) of the Act, as enacted by subsection (1), come into force on the day on which this Act comes into force.
R.S., c. P-1	Parliament of Canada Act
	*561. Subsection 28(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act* is replaced by the following:**
Vacancy in House of Commons	28. (1) If a vacancy occurs in the House of Commons by reason of the death of a member of the House or the acceptance of an office by a member of the House, or as a result of the contestation of the election of a member of the House under Part 20 of the Canada Elections Act, the Speaker of the House shall, without delay, on being informed of the vacancy by any member of the House in the member's place or by written notice signed by any two members of the House, or on receipt of the final decision on the contestation of the election, address a warrant of the Speaker to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issue of a writ for the election of a member to fill the vacancy.
	562. Subsection 29(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Deemed vacancy	(1.1) A warrant may be issued to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issue of a writ for the election of a member of the House of Commons to fill any vacancy that is deemed to occur where a report sent under paragraph 318(a) of the Canada Elections Act is received stating that no candidate was declared elected in the electoral district because of the equality of votes.
Deemed by-election	(1.2) An election held in the circumstances set out in subsection (1.1) is deemed to be a by-election.
When writ may be issued	(2) A writ may be issued
	(a) in the case of a writ referred to in subsection (1), at any time after the death or acceptance of office by a member; and
	(b) in the case of a writ referred to in subsection (1.1), at any time after the receipt of the report referred to in that subsection.
	563. Subsections 30(2) and (3) of the Act are repealed.
	564. Subsection 31(3) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Dissolution du Parlement	(3) En cas de dissolution du Parlement après l'émission du bref, celui-ci est réputé remplacé et retiré.
	565. Subparagraph 63(3)(b)(ii) of the Act is replaced by the following:
	(ii) at the rate of $13,275 per annum if the member represents any other electoral district listed in Schedule 3 to the Canada Elections Act, and
1992, c. 30	Referendum Act
	*566. Subsection 13(6) of the French version of the Referendum Act* is replaced by the following:**
Titre d'un parti	(6) Pour l'application du paragraphe (5), le titre d'un parti s'entend à la fois du titre complet du parti ainsi que de tout autre titre ou abréviation utilisés pour le désigner dans les documents électoraux.
	567. The heading before section 29 of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following: