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Bill C-277

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First Reading

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Resubmission	16. (1) Where a referendum petition has lapsed under section 13 or 14, the promoter of that petition may
	(a) collect more signatures to the petition; and
	(b) at any time within 2 months after the date on which the petition lapsed, submit the petition again, on one occasion only, to the Clerk.
Lapsing	(2) Where a petition that has been submitted again under subsection (1) is not certified correct by the Clerk, it lapses and may not be submitted again under this section.
Speaker reads petition to the House	17. On receiving from the Clerk a referendum petition certified correct under paragraph 14(1)(a), the Speaker shall lay the petition before the House on the next day on which the House sits, and the Clerk shall read the petition to the House.
Date of referendum	18. (1) Where a petition is laid before the House of Commons pursuant to section 17, the Governor in Council shall, within thirty days, by order in council published in the Canada Gazette, fix a day on which the referendum is to be held.
Date of referendum	(2) The referendum shall be held within twelve months after the date on which the referendum petition was laid before the House of Commons.
Deferral	(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1) or (2), if the House of Commons, within ninety days after the date on which the petition has been laid before it, passes a resolution deferring the holding of the referendum and fixing a date to hold it not earlier than twelve months and not later than twenty-four months after the date on which it was laid before the House, the referendum shall be held on the date so fixed.
Special majority	(4) A resolution under subsection (2) must be approved by no less than seventy per cent of the total membership of the House.
Subsequent election call	(5) If, after an order in council has been made under subsection (1), and before the referendum is held, a writ for a general election is issued under the Canada Elections Act, the Governor in Council shall, by order in council published in the Canada Gazette, revoke the order in council made under subsection (1) and fix the polling day for the general election as the day on which the referendum is to be held.
Delegation of functions of Clerk	19. The Clerk shall not delegate to any person other than the Deputy Clerk of the House of Commons any of the Clerk's functions under this Act.
	REFERENDUM REVIEW COUNCIL
Council established	20. (1) There is hereby established a Council to be known as the Referendum Review Council, consisting of three judges of the Federal Court appointed by the Chief Justice of the Court, one of whom shall be named as Chair by the Chief Justice.
Member unable to act	(2) In the event that one member of the Council is unable to act, the Chief Justice shall appoint another judge of the Court as a replacement.
Jurisdiction of the Council	21. The Council has exclusive jurisdiction to hear any judicial proceeding relating to this Act and to the application of this Act.
Decision final	22. A decision of the Council is final and not subject to appeal.
Decisions of the Council	23. (1) Every constitutional amendment or proposed legislation certified by the Clerk under section 14 shall be placed forthwith before the Council for a decision as to
	(a) in the case of an amendment to the Constitution of Canada, whether the amendment is subject to the amending formula selected by the proponent;
	(b) whether enactment would require that section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom be invoked;
	(c) whether the proposal would appropriate any part of the public revenue, or of any tax or impost; and
	(d) whether the proposal or amendment is substantially similar to another proposal or amendment initiated by petition that has been certified by the Clerk under section 14.
Result of Council decisions	(2) If the Council determines that any constitutional amendment is not subject to the amending formula selected by the petitioner, the Council shall substitute the appropriate amending formula.
Notwith- standing clause	(3) If the Council determines that any bill would require that section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms be invoked, the ballot shall be altered so as to contain the wording specified in subsection 4(2).
Similar matters	(4) If the Council determines that any constitutional amendment is substantially similar to another legislative proposal or amendment initiated by petition that has been certified by the Clerk under section 14, but has not yet been determined by referendum, the one with the lesser number of valid signatures shall not be determined by referendum.
Exception	(5) Subsection (4) does not apply if the other legislative proposal or amendment is to be put to a referendum within ninety days.
Decision within thirty days	(6) The Council shall render a decision on a matter before it within thirty days from the date the matter comes to the Council.
Absence of decision	(7) In the absence of a decision by the Council within the thirty days referred to in subsection (6), the subject of the referendum is deemed, for purposes of being placed on the ballot,
	(a) in the case of an amendment to the Constitution of Canada,
	(i) to be subject to the amending formula selected by the proponent,
	(ii) not to appropriate any part of the public revenue, or of any tax or impost, and
	(iii) not to be substantially similar to another amendment initiated by petition that has been certified by the Clerk under section 14; and
	(b) in the case of a legislative proposal,
	(i) not to require that section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms be invoked, and
	(ii) not to be substantially similar to another legislative proposal that has been certified by the Clerk under section 14.
Decisions public	24. A decision of the Council shall be in writing and shall be immediately made public by the Council.
Powers of Council	25. The Council has the powers of a judge of the Federal Court.
	REFERENDUM
Canada Elections Act	26. Subject to the provisions of this Act,
	(a) the Canada Elections Act, as far as it is applicable and with the necessary modifications, applies to an indicative referendum under this Act as if the indicative referendum were an election; and
	(b) the referendum shall be taken in the manner prescribed by the Canada Elections Act for the conduct of an election.
Order for writ	27. For every referendum, the Governor in Council shall, at least twenty-eight days before the date appointed for the holding of the referendum, by order direct the Chief Electoral Officer to proceed forthwith to issue writs for the holding of the referendum.
Issue of writ	28. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, within three days after the receipt of an order pursuant to section 27, issue a writ for the referendum to the returning officer of each electoral district.
Latest day for return	(2) The latest day for the return of the writ shall be stated in the writ and shall be the fiftieth day after the issue of the writ.
Preliminary list of electors	29. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the official list of electors for the time being in force under the Canada Elections Act shall be deemed to be the preliminary list of electors for the purpose of the referendum.
Enumeration	(2) Where the polling day at a referendum is within one year after the polling day at an election or previous referendum, no enumeration shall be made for the purposes of the subsequent referendum unless the Chief Electoral Officer otherwise directs.
Revision	(3) The preliminary list of electors shall be subject to revision under the provisions of the Canada Elections Act.
Official list	30. The preliminary list of electors, together with any revisions and additions, as certified by the returning officer, shall be the official list of electors to be used for the taking of votes on polling day in a referendum.
Scrutineers	31. Any ten or more electors in an electoral district who are in favour of one answer to the question may nominate two persons to appoint a scrutineer to act at each polling station in the electoral district in the interest of the electors who are in favour of that answer.
Nomination paper	32. Subject to section 60, the nomination paper shall be in a form prescribed by the Chief Electoral Officer.
Nomination paper lodged	33. The nomination paper shall be delivered to the returning officer of each electoral district no later than the twelfth day before the day on which the referendum is to be held, and shall be open to public inspection.
Persons to appoint scrutineers	34. On a day to be publicly announced by the returning officer of the electoral district, being not earlier than the tenth nor later than the fifth day before the day on which the referendum is to be held, the returning officer shall publicly consider all the nomination papers received, and, after hearing all objections, make a selection, in the prescribed form, of two fit persons for each polling station to appoint a scutineer for those favouring one answer and two for the polling station to appoint a scutineer for those favouring the other answer.
Appointment of scrutineers	35. The persons selected by the returning officer shall appoint the scrutineers in writing, subject to section 60 of this Act, in a form prescribed by the Chief Electoral Officer.
Powers and rights of scrutineers	36. Every scrutineer so appointed shall, for the purposes of the referendum, have all the powers and rights of a scrutineer under the Canada Elections Act.
Powers and rights of scrutineers	37. Without limiting the generality of section 36, a scrutineer
	(a) may be present at the office of the returning officer when the returning officer is performing duties in relation to declarations in respect of special votes, but not more than one such scrutineer representing each answer shall be present at a time; and
	(b) may be present at the scrutiny of the list of electors conducted by the returning officer under section 94 of the Canada Elections Act, but only one such scrutineer representing each answer, or such greater number as is permitted by the returning officer, shall be present at a time.
Remunera- tion of scrutineers	38. A scrutineer shall not receive remuneration paid from public money.
Application to justice for recount	39. (1) If the result of a referendum in any electoral district is disputed on the ground that the public declaration by the returning officer in accordance with subsection 168(2) of the Canada Elections Act was incorrect, any six voters may, within three working days after the public declaration, apply to a justice of the superior court with jurisdiction in the electoral district for a recount of the votes.
Deposit	(2) An application under subsection (1) shall be accompanied by a deposit of two hundred dollars.
Recount	(3) The justice shall cause a recount of the votes to be commenced within three working days of receiving the application, and shall give notice in writing to the applicants and to any scrutineers appointed under section 35 of the time and place at which the recount will be held.
Canada Elections Act	(4) Section 118 and sections 175 to 184 of the Canada Elections Act, so far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply to a recount.
Endorsement and return of the writ	40. (1) The returning officer shall endorse on the writ the total number of valid votes recorded for each of the two answers to the question, and having signed the endorsement, shall forthwith transmit the writ to the Chief Electoral Officer.
Date of endorsement	(2) The date of the endorsement shall be deemed to be the day of the return of the writ.
Return of writ	(3) Subject to subsection (4), the writ shall be returned within the time specified in the writ for its return.
Recount anticipated	(4) Where it appears to the returning officer that an application for a recount of the votes may be made, the returning officer may postpone the return of the writ until the time for making the application has expired, and, if within that time application is made, shall further postpone the return of the writ until the recount has been completed.
Publication of result	41. (1) As soon as may be convenient following the return of the writs, the Chief Electoral Officer shall publish in the Canada Gazette the total number of valid votes recorded for each of the two answers to the question, and, in respect of each electoral district, the total number of valid votes recorded for each of the two answers to the question and shall give the Minister of Justice written notice of the numbers published in the Canada Gazette.
Minister lays before House	(2) The Minister of Justice shall, as soon as practicable, lay before the House of Commons a copy of the notice received pursuant to subsection (1).
Writs sent to Clerk	(3) The Chief Electoral Officer shall send to the Clerk the writs that have been returned.

Bill C-277

REFERENDUM REVIEW COUNCIL

REFERENDUM