Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to appear before this committee to tell you about the Quebec experience with referendums. Before beginning, I would like to remind you that the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec is responsible for the holding of elections and referendums in Quebec and also supervises and offers advice to municipal and school electoral officers. To assist the committee in its work, my presentation will deal mainly with the legislative framework for referendums organized by the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec. Since 1980, we have been directly responsible for the holding of three referendums. The Referendum Act, which received Royal Assent in 1978, governed those three electoral events.
In my presentation, I will attempt to give a brief explanation of the unique characteristics of the Quebec system. I will talk first about the legislative framework. In Quebec, referendums are governed by the Referendum Act. That act provides for the adoption of the provisions of the Election Act then in force. Those provisions are listed in Appendix 2. So there is a Referendum Act, which contains an Appendix 2, and that appendix includes the measures in the Election Act that must be adapted. It is a little complicated.
In Appendix 2, we have what is quite simply the recipe for converting the provisions of the Election Act into provisions for referendums. The Chief Electoral Officer then publishes a special version of the act so that a referendum can be held. So the Chief Electoral Officer does not make regulations specific to the referendum. However, it must be noted that this calls for constant updating of Appendix 2, each time the Election Act is amended. This has been done regularly, except for the last two times, in 2006 and 2008. At the time, a complete revision of the Election Act was being considered in Parliament. We said that in the circumstances, we would wait for the revision to update the appendices to the Referendum Act, but it hasn't been done yet. However, it is up to date as of 2006.
At the municipal level, referendums are governed by the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities. In that case, the provisions governing referendums and elections are included in a single act. We can come back to this particular legislative framework, if you would like, during the question period.
I am now going to address the question of financing. The Referendum Act, like the Election Act, provides for stringent controls on financing and oversight of spending. For referendums, the term election expenses is replaced by regulated expenses. The principle of equity among the political actors that is found in the Election Act is adapted to the referendum context. In this case, the act provides that only two national committees, also called umbrella committees, may incur regulated expenses. Those expenses are limited to $1 per elector. So if there are 5.5 million electors, each committee may spend $5.5 million.
On the question of sources of financing, the national committees may use four types of sources. First, there is the government subsidy, which the National Assembly may fix. In the 1995 referendum, that subsidy was fixed at $0.50 per elector. There is also the transfer or loan of money from political parties, which may not exceed $.50 per elector, that is, an additional $2.5 million, in terms of the 1995 referendum. Third, contributions by electors, which may not exceed $3,000 per elector, to each national committee. A fourth source of financing could be loans. The legislature has also provided for that, but it has never been used. A loan must be repaid within 90 days after the poll, that is, at the time the regulated expenses report is submitted.
However, even though there are stringent rules governing financing and control of electoral spending in a referendum in Quebec, it must unfortunately be said that some of the actors may try to circumvent the rules. A report has been written about our experience, dealing with the activities of certain actors. In the report, commissioner of inquiry Bernard Grenier found that there was illegal spending in the 1995 referendum. Mr. Grenier also recommended a number of remedial measures.
In addition to the national committees, the Referendum Act provides that a non-affiliated elector or a neutral intervenor may incur advertising expenses of up to $1,000. Those provisions represent the action taken by the legislature in response to the decision of the Supreme Court in Libman. Those rules, which are set out in the Referendum Act, are modeled on the rules in the Election Act, in terms of both control of expenses and sources of financing, with the exception of the limit imposed on spending. For an election, individuals may spend a maximum of $300, while in a referendum it is $1,000.
I would like to say a few words on holding a referendum and an election simultaneously. Quebec's Referendum Act makes it impossible for a referendum to be held at the same time as a general election. When a writ instituting the holding of a general election be held is issued, any writ instituting a referendum ceases to have effect.
However, a municipal referendum could be held at the same time as a municipal election in Quebec. This has not happened, but the act as it currently stands allows it. It appears that the nature of the referendum and the question asked may have a major influence on the decision as to whether to hold the two events at the same time.
Another peculiarity of Quebec's referendum rules is the obligation of the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec to send electors, not later than 10 days before the holding of a poll, a booklet explaining each of the options. The text is established by each national committee. Each option is given equal space in the booklet, as fixed by the Chief Electoral Officer.
I would also like to explain some peculiarities of Quebec's referendum timetable. The referendum period is fixed at 33 days and may be as long as 39 days, depending on the day of the week when the writ is issued. However, the writ instituting the referendum may not be issued before the 18th day following the day on which the National Assembly was informed of the referendum question. One thing that provision allows us to do is produce all of the electoral materials required for the referendum on time, including the ballots for voting outside Quebec, without extending the referendum period.
I hope that this brief overview of the Referendum Act will help you in your discussions of the federal Referendum Act. As I said earlier, our referendum rules are in fact a transposition of the provisions that apply in a general election. As the person who administers elections, I believe it is desirable for the rules in place during a referendum to be as close as possible a reflection of the rules governing general elections, in particular to avoid confusion among the electors and the various political actors on the scene.
Thank you for your attention.