Bill C-697

2nd Session, 41st Parliament,

62-63-64 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014-2015

house of commons of canada

BILL C-697

An Act to establish a process to recall members of Parliament

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

1. This Act may be cited as the Recall of a Member of Parliament Act.

2. In this Act, “elector”, “electoral district”, “list of electors” and “member” have the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Canada Elections Act.

3. (1) An elector whose name was included in a list of electors for, or who was entitled to vote in, an electoral district at the last general election, or at a by-election held since the last general election, may apply to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issuance of a petition for the recall of the member of Parliament who was elected in that electoral district at that time.

(2) The application for the issuance of a recall petition must contain the following information:

(a) the name of the member to be recalled;

(b) the name, address and mailing address in Canada of the petitioner at which he or she may be contacted in relation to the petition;

(c) a statement, not exceeding 400 words, setting out why, in the opinion of the petitioner, the recall of the member is warranted; and

(d) a solemn declaration of the petitioner that he or she is not disqualified under this Act from making the application.

(3) The application for the issuance of a recall petition must be accompanied by a fee of $500.

(4) Despite subsection (1), no application for the issuance of a recall petition may be made during the 12 months following the polling day on which the member to be recalled was elected or during the 12 months preceding a fixed election date.

4. (1) If satisfied that the requirements of section 3 have been met, the Chief Electoral Officer must

(a) notify the petitioner, the member to be recalled and the Speaker of the House of Commons that an application for the issuance of a recall petition has been approved;

(b) issue the petition within 14 days after notice is given in accordance with paragraph (a) and provide the petitioner with the form of the pages on which signatures to the petition must be collected; and

(c) publish in the Canada Gazette a notice that a recall petition has been approved and issued for the electoral district.

(2) Once a recall petition has been issued, the application for the issuance of the recall petition may be inspected at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer during its regular office hours.

5. (1) Any elector may circulate and promote a recall petition on behalf of the petitioner and ask electors to sign it if the elector has registered his or her name and address with the Chief Electoral Officer before the date on which he or she begins canvassing.

(2) A person must not

(a) provide money, goods, employment or other valuable consideration to another person for the purpose of obtaining their signature on a recall petition; or

(b) accept money, goods, employment or other valuable consideration in exchange for their signature on such a petition.

6. (1) An individual may sign a recall petition if

(a) he or she was qualified as an elector and entitled to have his or her name included in the list of electors for a polling division of the electoral district at the time the member to be recalled was last elected; and

(b) he or she is still a resident of that electoral district.

(2) An individual may sign a recall petition only once.

(3) An individual who signs a recall petition must write legibly beside the signature his or her full name, the address that qualifies him or her as an elector in the electoral district and the date of the signature.

7. The petitioner must submit the signed petition to the Chief Electoral Officer within 90 days after the day on which the petition is issued and must state in writing the number of pages and the number of signatures on each page.

8. The Chief Electoral Officer must, within two months after the date of receipt of the recall petition, either

(a) certify that the petition is valid; or

(b) certify that the petition has lapsed and return it to the petitioner.

9. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer must certify that a recall petition is valid if the petition is in the correct form and if he or she is satisfied that the petition has been signed by a number of electors representing not less than 25% of the total number of electors for the electoral district who are entitled to sign the recall petition under section 6.

(2) To be counted for the purpose of subsection (1), a signature on the petition must be made in accordance with the requirements of this Act and be witnessed by the individual who canvassed the signature.

(3) A blank petition form may be circulated electronically, but a completed petition form must be delivered to the Chief Electoral Officer in physical form with original signatures.

10. If the Chief Electoral Officer certifies that a recall petition is valid, he or she must notify the petitioner, the member to be recalled and the Speaker of the House of Commons and must publish a notice to that effect in the Canada Gazette.

11. (1) The Speaker of the House of Commons must, on being notified that a recall petition has been certified valid, declare the seat of the recalled member vacant and 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.

(2) An election held in the circumstances described in subsection (1) is deemed to be a by-election and must be conducted in accord-ance with the Canada Elections Act, but the date for voting at the election must be no more than three months after the issue of the writ.

(3) The recalled member may be a candidate at the by-election.

12. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer must certify that a recall petition has lapsed if

(a) the petition has not been submitted on the form provided by the Chief Electoral Officer under section 4;

(b) the petition has not been submitted within the time limit established under section 7;

(c) the petition does not have sufficient signatures to be certified valid under section 9; or

(d) any of the provisions of this Act have not been complied with.

(2) The Chief Electoral Officer must notify the petitioner that the petition has lapsed and must publish a notice of the lapse in the Canada Gazette.

13. (1) Part 18 of the Canada Elections Act applies in relation to a recall petition and any subsequent election, and the petitioner and the recalled member are deemed to be candidates for the purposes of this part.

(2) The petitioner and the recalled member may only accept recall petition contributions and incur recall petition expenses through their respective official agents.

14. Only one election may be held under this Act for any electoral district during the period between general elections.