Evidence of meeting #35 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:15 a.m.
Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's mostly a drafting issue, to speak in the English in the imperative to say that “The Register of Electors must contain”, whereas in the French it speaks in the present, saying just “contient”. The English drafting in G-2 would be reflective of the common drafting convention, in that case.
11:15 a.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
Ms. Kim, how is this drafted in French?
11:15 a.m.
Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
It's identical.
11:15 a.m.
Bloc
11:15 a.m.
Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
“(2.1) The Register of Electors also contains, for each elector, a unique, randomly”
11:15 a.m.
Bloc
Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC
That means it is the exact same wording as amendment BQ-2, but in the English version the word “must” is being added.
This is the two-for-one principle, like at the restaurant when you order the combination special of spareribs and chicken.
11:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gary Goodyear
Thank you.
Madame Redman, and then Madame Jennings—on this note, please.
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Karen Redman Liberal Kitchener Centre, ON
Thank you.
We may have the same point, because we were just talking. It's been my experience that rather than “must”, it's “shall.” I'm wondering why we chose “must” instead of “shall”. Usually, the nuance is “may” or “shall”.
11:15 a.m.
Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
In terms of the drafting style, the opinion of the drafters is that it means exactly the same thing. In terms of speaking of an agent it's usually “shall”, whereas in speaking of something like the Register of Electors, it's “must”. It's just a drafting choice, but they have exactly the same legal meaning.
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Marlene Jennings Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC
On the same point, are you sure of that? When it comes to interpretation, particularly if we use the term “must” or the term “shall” in English, then normally one would see it in the French version. For instance,
“The Register of Electors must also contain...” and not simply “contains”, in order to render the imperative.
11:15 a.m.
Counsel, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
In the current version of the Elections Act, subsection 44(2) reads as follows: “The Register of Electors shall contain [...] his or her surname, given names, [...]”, and in the English version:
“The Register of Electors shall contain”.
As Natasha was saying, this is a drafting preference. Usually the word “shall” is used if there is an obligation and if failure to comply with a directive in the legislation results in an offence. In this case, the Register of Electors contains information, therefore no real offence is associated with it.
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Marlene Jennings Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC
You mean there would be no offence, even if the Chief Electoral Officer did not respect the legislation—
11:15 a.m.
Counsel, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
There are always—
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Marlene Jennings Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC
—and produced a register of electors that did not contain all the information required by law?
11:15 a.m.
Counsel, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
The Chief Electoral Officer has to report to this committee. You can always bring him in line.
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Marlene Jennings Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC
Since you are saying that this is simply a matter of style, a drafting preference, if we used the expression “shall contain” and if, in French, we used the expression “doit contenir”, this would not make a difference, in your opinion, but it might reassure the members of Parliament somewhat.
11:15 a.m.
Counsel, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
The Bloc Québécois version currently does not include obligation, it only uses the word “contain”. It is a matter of preference. Does the committee prefer the word “must” or the word “shall”?
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
I have a quick question for you, Mr. Chénier. If the legislation uses the words “must contain” instead of the word “contains”, does it make a difference? Either you obey the law or you don't.
11:15 a.m.
Counsel, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
You are right, in fact, it is a question of—
11:15 a.m.
Counsel, Legislation and House Planning, Privy Council Office
The French version uses “contains” and not “must contain”.
11:15 a.m.
Liberal
Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC
It is quicker to understand in French than in English, is what that means. Thank you.