This bill was last introduced in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session, which ended in September 2019.
Karina Gould Liberal
This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.
This is from the published bill.
This enactment amends the Canada Elections Act to establish spending limits for third parties and political parties during a defined period before the election period of a general election held on a day fixed under that Act. It also establishes measures to increase transparency regarding the participation of third parties in the electoral process. Among other things that it does in this regard, the enactment
(a) adds reporting requirements for third parties engaging in partisan activities, partisan advertising, and election surveys to the reporting requirements for third parties engaging in election advertising;
(b) creates an obligation for third parties to open a separate bank account for expenses related to the matters referred to in paragraph (a); and
(c) creates an obligation for political parties and third parties to identify themselves in partisan advertising during the defined period before the election period.
The enactment also amends the Act to implement measures to reduce barriers to participation and increase accessibility. Among other things that it does in this regard, the enactment
(a) establishes a Register of Future Electors in which Canadian citizens 14 to 17 years of age may consent to be included;
(b) broadens the application of accommodation measures to all persons with a disability, irrespective of its nature;
(c) creates a financial incentive for registered parties and candidates to take steps to accommodate persons with a disability during an election period;
(d) amends some of the rules regarding the treatment of candidates’ expenses, including the rules related to childcare expenses, expenses related to the care of a person with a disability and litigation expenses;
(e) amends the rules regarding the treatment of nomination contestants’ and leadership contestants’ litigation expenses and personal expenses;
(f) allows Canadian Forces electors access to several methods of voting, while also adopting measures to ensure the integrity of the vote;
(g) removes limitations on public education and information activities conducted by the Chief Electoral Officer;
(h) removes two limitations on voting by non-resident electors: the requirement that they have been residing outside Canada for less than five consecutive years and the requirement that they intend to return to Canada to resume residence in the future; and
(i) extends voting hours on advance polling days.
The enactment also amends the Act to modernize voting services, facilitate enforcement and improve various aspects of the administration of elections and of political financing. Among other things that it does in this regard, the enactment
(a) removes the assignment of specific responsibilities set out in the Act to specific election officers by creating a generic category of election officer to whom all those responsibilities may be assigned;
(b) limits election periods to a maximum of 50 days;
(c) removes administrative barriers in order to facilitate the hiring of election officers;
(d) authorizes the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to provide the Chief Electoral Officer with information about permanent residents and foreign nationals for the purpose of updating the Register of Electors;
(e) removes the prohibition on the Chief Electoral Officer authorizing the notice of confirmation of registration (commonly known as a “voter information card”) as identification;
(f) replaces, in the context of voter identification, the option of attestation for residence with an option of vouching for identity and residence;
(g) removes the requirement for electors’ signatures during advance polls, changes procedures for the closing of advance polls and allows for counting ballots from advance polls one hour before the regular polls close;
(h) replaces the right or obligation to take an oath with a right or obligation to make a solemn declaration, and streamlines the various declarations that electors may have the right or obligation to make under specific circumstances;
(i) relocates the Commissioner of Canada Elections to within the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, and provides that the Commissioner is to be appointed by the Chief Electoral Officer, after consultation with the Director of Public Prosecutions, for a non-renewable term of 10 years;
(j) provides the Commissioner of Canada Elections with the authority to impose administrative monetary penalties for contraventions of provisions of Parts 16, 17 and 18 of the Act and certain other provisions of the Act;
(k) provides the Commissioner of Canada Elections with the authority to lay charges;
(l) provides the Commissioner of Canada Elections with the power to apply for a court order requiring testimony or a written return;
(m) clarifies offences relating to
(i) the publishing of false statements,
(ii) participation by non-Canadians in elections, including inducing electors to vote or refrain from voting, and
(iii) impersonation; and
(n) implements a number of measures to harmonize and streamline political financing monitoring and reporting.
The enactment also amends the Act to provide for certain requirements with regard to the protection of personal information for registered parties, eligible parties and political parties that are applying to become registered parties, including the obligation for the party to adopt a policy for the protection of personal information and to publish it on its Internet site.
The enactment also amends the Parliament of Canada Act to prevent the calling of a by-election when a vacancy in the House of Commons occurs within nine months before the day fixed for a general election under the Canada Elections Act.
It also amends the Public Service Employment Act to clarify that the maximum period of employment of casual workers in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer — 165 working days in one calendar year — applies to those who are appointed by the Commissioner of Canada Elections.
Finally, the enactment contains transitional provisions, makes consequential amendments to other Acts and repeals the Special Voting Rules.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
The circumstance you're imagining is that an election is called and Bill C-76 is not law.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Let's say that the election is called. If the election is called at a time when we are in the pre-election period and Bill C-76 has not taken effect yet, then we are applying the pre-existing rules prior to Bill C-76 during the pre-election period.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
This clause is in regard to third parties, to apply the pre-Bill C-76 rules in the event that Bill C-76 takes effect during the pre-election period.
That's right—without this amendment. That actually extends the period of the vacancy, which could lead to a period of non-representation back to 15 months or so.
That wasn't the intention of our recommendation, although I don't think our recommendation, to be honest, was perfectly well crafted. Our idea was to have a period where a by-election does not need to be called, and a clear period where it does not need to be called. By drawing it from the vacancy period, it makes it clearer.
This amendment responds to a concern we had about the way the provision exists in Bill C-76, and it reduces the time in which you will not have representation.
Perhaps I'll add one more piece of context.
In Bill C-76, as it stands now, the trigger is that the writ may not be issued within the nine months before the general election.
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
I'm just trying to understand. This might seem technical to folks—and it is.
I'm imagining our existing.... Right now under Bill C-76, with this as an amendment, and somebody in Parliament right now saying, “At the beginning of December, I'm done,” is there a scenario where, from that moment all the way through to the general, the people in that riding don't have representation? You're suggesting not. You're suggesting that timelines would require the PM to call the by-election, which would result sometime around June, or later. You said later than June.
No, not with this amendment. But with Bill C-76, again with the maximum period of 50 days, in 2019 the first day on which the writ for the general election could be issued, I think, is September 1. The by-election would be held. The candidate who won would be declared the winner up to mid-August, and then the general election would be called.
—the election would be called somewhere around June 21. Because there is now a maximum of 50 days for the writ period, the election would be held at the beginning of August. Under Bill C-76—
That's under the current law. Bill C-76 changes that by adding a maximum election period of 50 days.
That is the writ period under the current law. There's a maximum of 50 days put in place by Bill C-76, but under the current law, there's no maximum election period.
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
The circumstance we're contemplating is that two citizens go to vote, and one seeks to vouch for the other. They live literally across the street from each other, and as Bill C-76 is currently written now, that vouching cannot happen if they're not in the exact same polling division.
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
As Bill C-76 envisions, this would give the power to compel testimony on crimes that may happen in the future. We are restricting this to past tense rather than envisioning things that may happen in the future.
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Sure. I would just point out that the change that is being reversed in Bill C-76 we're changing with this amendment. It was actually first introduced in 2006 with the Federal Accountability Act, Bill C-2 at the time, which was at the time with multi-party support. This is reversing some of the good work that was done in the Federal Accountability Act.