Referendum Act, 2015 Hillier, Randy — Bill 126 (41st Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 126, 41-1

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 126, Referendum Act, 2015

Hillier, Randy

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[41] Bill 126 Original (PDF)

Bill 126 2015

An Act to provide for

citizen-initiated referenda to require the introduction of legislation

CONTENTS

Definitions

Definitions

Petition

Application

Issuance

of petition

Return

of petition

Canvassers

Determination

Petition Campaign Financing

Application

of Election Finances Act

Registration

of campaign organizers

Chief

financial officer

Petition

campaign contributions

Limit

on petition campaign contributions

Referendum

Effect

of referendum

Application

of Election Act

Referendum

ballot

Who

to be present at recount

Other

modifications to Election Act

Role of Chief Electoral

Officer

Powers

and duties of Chief Electoral Officer

Investigation

and examination

Information

Forms

Offences

General

offence

Offences,

referendum campaign

Offences,

voting in referendum

Administration of Act

Powers

of Chief Electoral Officer

Expenses

of Act

Regulations

Regulations

Commencement and

Short Title

Commencement

Short

title

Table 1

Special

rules relating to scrutineers (section 16)

Table 2

Other

special rules (section 16)

______________

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

Definitions

1. In

this Act,

"chief

financial officer" means the chief financial officer of a registered campaign

organizer who acts as such or is appointed as such under

section 9; ("directeur

des finances")

"electoral district" and "general election" have the same

meaning as in the Election Act ; ("circonscription électorale ", " élection

générale ")

"petition" means a petition that the Chief Electoral Officer

issues under

section 3; ("pétition")

"petition campaign advertising" means advertising designed

for the purpose of promoting a particular result on a petition, but does not

include genuine news reporting; ("publicité de campagne de pétition ")

"petition campaign contribution" means a contribution to

a campaign to promote a particular result on a petition, but does not include

anything that would not be a contribution within the meaning of the Election Finances Act if it were made to a candidate as

defined in that Act; ("contribution de campagne de pétition ")

"petition campaign expense" means expenses incurred by or

on behalf of a registered campaign organizer to promote a particular result on

a petition, but does not include any expense that would not be a campaign expense

within the meaning of the Election Finances Act if

it were incurred by or on behalf of a candidate as defined in that Act; ("dépense

de campagne de pétition ")

"petition period" means the period starting on the day on

which the Chief Electoral Officer issues a petition and ending on the earlier

of,

(

a) the

60th day after the day on which the Officer issued the petition, and

(

b) the

day on which the petition is returned to the Officer under clause 4 (1) (c);

("période de pétition")

"proponent" means the registered voter to whom a petition

is issued; (" promoteur ")

"referendum" means a referendum held under a writ issued

under subsection 6 (4); ("référendum")

"referendum ballot" means the ballot described in

section

14; ("bulletin de vote référendaire ")

"referendum campaign organizer" means a person or body

who organizes a campaign to promote a particular result in a referendum or

advertises for that purpose; ("organisateur de campagne référendaire")

"referendum question" means the question that is set out

in a petition; (" question référendaire ")

"registered petition campaign organizer" means a person

or body registered as a petition campaign organizer under

section 8;

("organisateur de campagne de pétition inscrit")

"registered referendum campaign organizer" means a referendum

campaign organizer who is registered in accordance with the regulations;

("organisateur de campagne r éférendaire inscrit ")

"registered voter" means a person who is registered as an

elector on the permanent register of electors under

section 17.1 of the Election Act ; (" électeur inscrit")

"regulations" means the regulations made under this Act.

(" règlements ")

Petition

Application

(1) A

registered voter may apply to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issuance of a

petition.

Contents

of application

(2) The application for the issuance of a

petition shall contain,

(

a) the

name and residential address of the applicant and the person who has agreed in

writing to act as the applicant's chief financial officer;

(

b) a

statement, not exceeding 250 words, setting out a referendum question;

(

c) a

declaration of the applicant that he or she is not disqualified under this Act

from making the application; and

(

d) all

other information that is specified by the regulations.

Referendum

question

(3) A referendum question shall call for a

Yes or a No vote on a question that falls within the constitutional competence

of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Fee

(4) The application for the issuance of a

petition shall be accompanied by the processing fee specified by the

regulations.

Issuance of petition

(1) If

satisfied that the requirements of

section 2 have been met, the Chief Electoral

Officer shall issue the petition to the applicant in the form specified by the

regulations, notify the Speaker and publish the petition in The Ontario Gazette .

Inspection

of petition

(2) Once a petition has been issued, the

public may inspect it at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer during

regular office hours.

further petitions until determination

(3) Once a petition has been issued, the

Chief Electoral Officer shall not issue any other petition that, in the opinion

of the Officer, deals with the same referendum question until the first

petition has been the subject of a determination under

section 6.

Return

of petition

(1) A

petition is invalid unless,

(

a) every

page of the petition sets out the referendum question and the name of the proponent;

(

b) it

is signed by the number of persons who, on the day of the issuance of the

petition, are registered voters and who represent, for at least 10 electoral

districts, at least 25 per cent of the total number of registered voters who

voted in the electoral district in the last general election; and

(

c) it

is returned to the Chief Electoral Officer within 60 days after the day on

which it was issued.

Only

one signature

(2) A person may sign any one petition only

once.

Address

and witness

(3) To be counted for the purpose of clause

(1) (b), a signature on the petition shall be accompanied by the residential address

of the person who signed and shall be witnessed by the person who canvassed for

the signature.

Canvassers

(1) No

person, other than a canvasser registered under this section, may canvass for

signatures on a petition.

Registration

(2) A registered voter may apply, by

providing his or her name and residential address, to the Chief Electoral

Officer to be registered as a canvasser at any time after the Officer has issued

the petition.

Inducements

prohibited

(3) A registered canvasser shall not solicit

or accept any valuable consideration for canvassing for signatures on a

petition and a person shall not directly or indirectly pay, give, lend or

procure any inducement for a person to register as a canvasser for signatures

on a petition.

Producing

identification

(4) A registered canvasser shall carry the

identification issued by the Chief Electoral Officer and produce it to any

person who requests to see it.

Access

to permanent register of electors

(5) The Chief Electoral Officer shall allow

a registered canvasser to have access to the permanent register for electors if

the person provides a signed oath or affirmation that he or she will protect

and maintain the confidentiality of the register.

Restrictions

(6) A registered canvasser shall not,

(

a) knowingly

make any false or misleading statements about the petition or the referendum

question; or

(

b) use

information obtained while canvassing for signatures for any purpose other than

for canvassing for signatures on the petition.

alteration

(7) A registered canvasser shall not alter

the names and addresses provided by the persons who sign a petition, except

that if the person signing has made an error, the canvasser may strike out a

signature and address for the purpose of having the person sign the petition correctly.

Determination

(1) Within

30 days of receiving a petition under clause 4 (1) (c), the Chief Electoral

Officer shall determine, in accordance with subsection (2) and the regulations,

if any, whether the petition meets the requirements of

section 4 and

whether the proponent has complied with sections 7 to 11.

Verification

of signatures

(2) In determining whether the petition

meets the requirements of

section 4, the Chief Electoral Officer shall,

(

a) verify

that the persons who signed the petition meet the requirements of that section;

and

(

b) contact

directly a random sample of the persons who signed the petition to verify that

their signatures are valid.

Publication

of determination

(3) The Chief Electoral Officer shall

report the determination made to the proponent and the Speaker of the Legislative

Assembly and shall promptly publish a notice of it in The

Ontario Gazette .

Referendum

required

(4) If the Chief Electoral Officer

determines that the petition meets the requirements of

section 4 and that

the proponent has complied with sections 7 to 11, a writ shall be issued requiring

that a referendum be held on the referendum question as soon as reasonably

possible.

Petition Campaign Financing

Application

of Election Finances Act

(1) Subject

to subsections (4) and (5), sections 16, 17, 21 to 25, 28, 29, 31 and 32, subsection

33 (4) and sections 34, 34.1 and 35 of the Election

Finances Act apply to registered petition campaign organizers, petition

campaign contributions and petition campaign advertising.

Same,

third party advertising

(2) Subject to subsections (4) and (5),

sections 37.1 to 37.4 and 37.7 to 37.13 of the Election

Finances Act apply to registered petition campaign organizers as if they

were third parties within the meaning of that Act.

Same,

auditors

(3) Subject to subsections (4) and (5),

sections 40, 42 and 43 of the Election Finances Act

apply to registered petition campaign organizers as if they were candidates

registered under that Act.

Modifications

(4) The provisions of the Election Finances Act mentioned in subsections (1),

(2) and (3) shall be read as if,

(

a) references

to a registered candidate were references to a registered petition campaign

organizer;

(

b) references

to a campaign period, an election period or the period described in clause 37.9

(1) (

a) of that Act were references to a petition period; and

(

c) references

to polling day were references to the day on which a petition is returned to

the Chief Electoral Officer under clause 4 (1) (c).

Regulations

(5) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may

make regulations specifying provisions of the Election

Finances Act that do not apply to registered petition campaign

organizers, petition campaign contributions or petition campaign advertising or

specifying the modifications with which provisions of that Act are to apply to

registered petition campaign organizers, petition campaign contributions or

petition campaign advertising.

Registration

of campaign organizers

(1) No

person or body shall organize a campaign to promote a particular result on a

petition unless the pers

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 126, 41-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p41 s1 bill 126 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	9142032f88c90df047d9eb84966a9822ca9f4ec9

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