Bill S-283
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- ENGLISH
- SUMMARY SUMMARY
- Canada Elections Act Canada Elections Act
- Coming into Force Coming into Force
- EXPLANATORY NOTES EXPLANATORY NOTES
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First Session, Forty-fourth Parliament, 70-71 Elizabeth II – 1-2 Charles III, 2021-2022-2023 |
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SENATE OF CANADA |
An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (demographic information)
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FIRST READING, December 13, 2023
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THE HONOURABLE SENATOR DASKO |
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Canada Elections Act to require certain registered parties to make diversity-related information available to the public. It further amends the Act to require the Chief Electoral Officer to collect and report on demographic information related to candidates, nomination contestants and leadership contestants.
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Available on the Senate of Canada website at the following address: www.sencanada.ca/en |
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1st Session, 44th Parliament, 70-71 Elizabeth II – 1-2 Charles III, 2021-2022-2023 |
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SENATE OF CANADA |
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BILL S-283 |
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An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (demographic information) |
His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
2000, c. 9
Canada Elections Act
1 Subsection 2(1) of the Canada Elections Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:
designated groups has the meaning assigned in section 3 of the Employment Equity Act. (groupes désignés)
End of inserted block2 The portion of subsection 415(1) before paragraph (a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Procedure for non-voluntary deregistration
415 (1) If the Chief Electoral Officer believes on reasonable grounds that a registered party, its leader, its chief agent or one of its other officers has omitted to perform any obligation referred to in section 412 or 413 Insertion start or sections 446.2 to 446.4 Insertion end , the Chief Electoral Officer shall, in writing, notify the party and any of its officers who are named in the registry of political parties that the party or officer must
3 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 446:
SUBDIVISION C Diversity-Related Obligations of Registered Parties
End of inserted block Application
Start of inserted block446.1 This Subdivision applies to registered parties whose candidates for the most recent general election received at that election at least 2% of the number of valid votes cast, or at least 5% of the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts in which the registered party endorsed a candidate.
End of inserted blockInformation — diversity
Start of inserted block446.2 (1) A registered party must make the following information accessible to the public on the party’s Internet site:
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(a) any rules in use by the registered party or any of its electoral district associations relating to the selection of candidates;
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(b) any program or policy that the registered party has implemented for the purpose of achieving greater diversity in the selection of candidates;
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(c) a description of those programs and policies and how they relate to each designated group and any other group identified by the registered party for the purpose of achieving greater diversity in the selection of candidates;
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(d) a description of all measures taken by the registered party to effectively implement such programs and policies, including whether the party requires formal search committees in the selection of candidates;
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(e) a description of how the effectiveness of these measures will be assessed; and
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(f) a description of the cumulative progress made by the registered party in achieving the objectives of any program or policy in respect of each designated group and any other group identified by the registered party for the purpose of achieving greater diversity in the selection of candidates.
End of inserted block
Information — women candidates
Start of inserted block(2) A registered party must make the following information accessible to the public on its Internet site:
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(a) a statement of the registered party’s plan for established targets — by number, percentage or range — or target numbers or percentages for women to be nominated by a specific date;
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(b) any rule in use by the registered party to govern the nomination of women as candidates in electoral district associations when a sitting member of the House of Commons representing it is not anticipated to run in the next general election or has resigned;
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(c) any rule in use by the registered party to govern the nomination of women as candidates in electoral district associations when the registered party’s candidate came within a margin of 10% or fewer of the votes cast for the candidate declared elected in the electoral district in the previous general election or by-election; and
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(d) a description of the cumulative progress made by the registered party in meeting the targets under paragraph 446.2(2)(a).
End of inserted block
Annual update
Start of inserted block(3) The information made accessible under paragraphs 446.2(1) and (2) must be updated once each calendar year.
End of inserted blockWhen no policy or plan
Start of inserted block446.3 If a registered party has not adopted a program or policy referred to in paragraph 446.2(1)(b) or a plan referred to in paragraph 446.2(2)(a), or if a registered party does not have any rules in place under paragraph 446.2(2)(b) or (c), the registered party must instead maintain a statement setting out its reasons for not adopting a program, a policy, a plan or rules — as the case may be — and must include a proposed timeline, if any, for its adoption.
End of inserted blockContact information
Start of inserted block446.4 A registered party must make accessible to the public, on the party’s Internet site, the name and contact information of a person to whom concerns about the registered party’s obligations under sections 446.2 and 446.3 can be addressed.
End of inserted block4 Section 535.1 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Demographic information
Start of inserted block535.1 (1) For the purposes of collecting and analyzing demographic information on candidates, nomination contestants and leadership contestants, the Chief Electoral Officer must provide a self-identification questionnaire to
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(a) candidates who filed nomination papers under section 67;
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(b) nomination contestants identified in nomination contest reports in accordance with paragraph 476.1(1)(c); and
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(c) leadership contestants registered under subsection 478.3(3).
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Variables
Start of inserted block(2) The Chief Electoral Officer must collect, using the questionnaire provided under subsection (1), any demographic information that the Chief Electoral Officer considers appropriate, in a format that supports disaggregation and analysis of intersecting variables.
End of inserted blockDesignated groups
Start of inserted block(3) Any demographic information collected must include variables relevant to each designated group.
End of inserted blockVoluntary participation
Start of inserted block(4) Responses to the self-identification questionnaire are voluntary.
End of inserted blockAuthorized use
Start of inserted block(5) The demographic information collected under subsection (1) is confidential and must be used only for the report prepared under section 535.11.
End of inserted blockReport on demographic Information — general election
Start of inserted block535.11 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer must, within 90 days after the return of the writ following a general election, publish, in the manner and form that the Chief Electoral Officer considers appropriate, a report that sets out the demographic information collected under paragraphs 535.1(1)(a) and (b) in respect of that general election.
End of inserted blockReport on demographic Information — by-election and leadership contest
Start of inserted block(2) The Chief Electoral Officer must publish, in the manner, form and at a time that the Chief Electoral Officer considers appropriate, a report that sets out the demographic information collected under paragraphs 535.1(1)(a) and (b) in respect of a by-election, and under paragraph 535.1(1)(c) in respect of a leadership contest.
End of inserted blockAnonymized data
Start of inserted block(3) The demographic information contained in the reports prepared under subsections (1) and (2) must be anonymized.
End of inserted block5 Section 536 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Submission of report to House of Commons
536 The Speaker of the House of Commons Insertion start must Insertion end submit a report received by him or her from the Chief Electoral Officer under section 534, 535, Insertion start 535.11, Insertion end 535.2 or 535.3 to the House of Commons without delay.
Coming into Force
Second anniversary after royal assent
6 Section 3 comes into force on the second anniversary of the day on which this Act receives royal assent.
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Published under authority of the Senate of Canada
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EXPLANATORY NOTES
415 (1) If the Chief Electoral Officer believes on reasonable grounds that a registered party, its leader, its chief agent or one of its other officers has omitted to perform any obligation referred to in section 412 or 413, the Chief Electoral Officer shall, in writing, notify the party and any of its officers who are named in the registry of political parties that the party or officer must
535.1 [Repealed, 2014, c. 12, s. 114]
536 The Speaker of the House of Commons shall submit a report received by him or her from the Chief Electoral Officer under section 534, 535, 535.2 or 535.3 to the House of Commons without delay.