Municipal Elections Modernization Act, 2016 McMeekin, Hon. Ted Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing — Bill 181 (41st Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 181, 41-1

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Bill 181, Municipal Elections Modernization Act, 2016

McMeekin, Hon. Ted Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

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[41] Bill 181 Royal Assent (PDF)

Bill 181 2016

An Act to amend the

Municipal Elections Act, 1996 and to make complementary amendments to other

Acts

Her

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

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. (1) Subsection

1 (1) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 is

amended by adding the following definition:

"compliance audit committee" means, in

relation to a municipality or local board, the committee established under

section 88.37; ("comité de vérification de conformité")

(2) The

definition of "fund-raising function" in subsection 1 (1) of the Act is amended

by striking out "by or on behalf of a candidate" and substituting "by a

candidate or under a candidate's direction".

(3) The

definition of "fund-raising function" in subsection 1 (1) of the Act, as

amended by subsection (2), is repealed and the following substituted:

"fund-raising function" means an event

or activity,

(

a) held by a

candidate or under a candidate's direction for the purpose of raising funds for

his or her election campaign, or

(

b) held by a

registered third party or under its direction for the purpose of raising funds

in relation to third party advertisements; ("activité de financement")

(4) The

definition of "prescribed" in subsection 1 (1) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

"prescribed" means prescribed by the

Minister or, for references in

section 41.1, prescribed by the Lieutenant

Governor in Council; ("prescrit")

(5) Subsection

1 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following definition:

"ranked ballot election" means, with

respect to an office on the council of a municipality, an election authorized

under subsection 41.1 (1); ("scrutin préférentiel")

(6) Subsection

1 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following

definitions:

"registered

third party" means, in relation to an election in a municipality, an

individual, corporation or trade union that is registered under

section 88.6; ("tiers

inscrit")

"restricted period

for third party advertisements" means the period described in subsection 88.4

(2); ("période de restriction pour la publicité de tiers")

"third party

advertisement" means an advertisement in any broadcast, print, electronic or

other medium that has the purpose of promoting, supporting or opposing,

(

a) a

candidate, or

(

b) a

"yes" or "no" answer to a question referred to in subsection 8 (1), (2) or (3),

but does not include an advertisement by or under the

direction of a candidate or an advertisement described in subsection (2) or

(2.1); ("publicité de tiers)

(7) Subsection 1 (2) of the Act is repealed

and the following substituted:

Deemed exception, third party

advertisement

(2) An advertisement is deemed not to be a

third party advertisement for the purposes of this Act if the person or entity that

causes the advertisement to appear in any broadcast, print, electronic or other

medium incurs no expenses in relation to the advertisement.

Same

(2.1) An

advertisement is deemed not to be a third party advertisement for the purposes

of this Act when it is given or transmitted by an individual to his or her employees,

by a corporation to its shareholders, directors, members or employees or by a

trade union to its members or employees.

(8) Section

1 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Corporations deemed to be single

corporation

(3) For

the purposes of this Act, two or more corporations are deemed to be a single

corporation,

(

a) if one of the corporations

controls the others, either directly or indirectly; or

(

b) if all of the corporations are

owned or controlled by the same person or group of persons, either directly or

indirectly.

2. Paragraph

4 of subsection 2 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out "affidavit" and

substituting "declaration".

3. Subparagraph

1 iii of

section 3 of the Act is amended by adding "that has not passed a

by-law authorizing the use of a ranked ballot election" at the end.

4. Subsection

4 (4) of the Act is amended by striking out "the Liquor Licence Board of

Ontario" and substituting "the board of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of

Ontario".

5. Subsections

6 (4) and (5) of the Act are repealed.

6. Subsection

7 (3) of the Act is amended by adding the following paragraph:

3. When the

clerk counts the votes or conducts a recount for a ranked ballot election for

an upper-tier municipality, if the member of council of the upper-tier

municipality is not also elected to the council of the lower-tier municipality

within the upper-tier municipality.

7. (1) Subsection 8 (5.1) of the

Act is amended by striking out "June 1" in the portion before clause (

a) and

substituting "May 1".

(2) Subsection 8 (5.2) of the Act is

amended by striking out "June 1" and substituting "May 1".

(3) Section 8 of the Act is amended by

adding the following subsection:

Expenses

(12) Nothing in this Act prevents a

municipality or the clerk of a municipality from incurring expenses in respect

of a question which are required or authorized by this Act to be incurred.

(1) Clause 8.1 (1) (

a) of the

Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(

a) shall

be passed on or before March 1 in the year of a regular election at which it is

intended to submit the question to the electors;

(

c) of the Act is amended by striking out "repealed" and substituting "revoked".

9. Subsection 11.1 (4) of the Act is

amended by striking out "by registered mail".

10. (1) Subsection 12 (3) of the

Act is amended by adding "Subject to subsection (4)" at the beginning.

(2) Section 12 of the Act is amended by

adding the following subsection:

Exception

(4) The power conferred by subsection

(1) does not include the power to require a person, for the purposes of the procedure

set out in subsection 52 (1), to furnish proof of identity and residence in

addition to what is prescribed for the purposes of subparagraph 1 ii of

subsection 52 (1).

11. Subsection 12.1 (2) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

Plan re barriers

(2) The clerk shall

prepare a plan regarding the identification, removal and prevention of barriers

that affect electors and candidates with disabilities and shall make the plan

available to the public before voting day in a regular election.

Report

(3) Within 90 days after voting day in a

regular election, the clerk shall prepare a report about the identification,

removal and prevention of barriers that affect electors and candidates with

disabilities and shall make the report available to the public.

Section 14 of the

Act is amended by striking out "under this Act and that is required to be

signed" and substituting "under

section 33, 44 or 88.6".

Section 17 of the

Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Status as

tenant

(4) Despite

the

definitions of "owner or tenant" and "tenant" in subsection 1 (1), a

regulation may specify circumstances in which a person is, and is not,

considered to be a tenant for the purposes of clause (2) (a).

Section 18 of the

Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Voting subdivisions

(1) On

or before March 31 in each year in which there is a regular election, the clerk

of each local municipality may divide the local municipality into voting subdivisions.

Notice to Municipal Property

Assessment Corporation

(2) If

the clerk acts under subsection (1), he or she shall, on or before March 31 in

the year of the regular election, inform the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation

of the boundaries of the voting subdivisions.

Section 19 of the

Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Same

(7) For

greater certainty, if a municipality is divided into wards, an elector is

entitled to vote only in the ward where he or she resides, even if the elector

resides in one ward and is the owner or tenant of land in a different ward or is

the spouse of an owner or tenant of land in a different ward.

Section 21 of the

Act is repealed.

17. (1) Clause

23 (3) (

e) of the Act is repealed.

(2) Subsection

23 (4) of the Act is amended by striking out the word "candidate" and substituting

"certified candidate".

(3) Subsection

23 (5) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Same

(5) The

clerk shall not provide a copy of the voters' list under subsection (3) or a

part of the voters' list under subsection (4) until September 1.

18. (1) Subsection

24 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out "the Tuesday after Labour Day" in

the portion before clause (

a) and substituting "September 1".

(2) Subsection

24 (2) of the Act is amended by striking out "or" at the end of clause (a), by

adding "or" at the end of clause (

b) and by adding the following clause:

(

c) in any other format and manner

that the clerk specifies.

Section

25 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Removal of deceased person's name from

voters' list

(1) The

clerk may, on his or her own initiative, remove a person's name from the

voters' list until the close of voting on voting day if the clerk is satisfied

that the person has died.

Same, upon application

(2) The clerk shall remove a person's name

from the voters' list upon receiving an application under subsection (3) if the

clerk is satisfied that the person has died.

Timing of application

(3) A person may make an application to the

clerk requesting that a deceased person's name be removed from the voters' list

during the period that begins on September 1 and ends at the close of voting on

voting day.

Form and manner of application

(4) The application shall be in writing and

shall be filed,

(

a) in person, by the applicant or

his or her agent;

(

b) by mail, by the applicant; or

(

c) in any other format and manner

that the clerk specifies.

20. (1) Subsection

27 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

List of changes

Interim list

(1) During

the period beginning on September 15 and ending on September 25 in the year of

a regular election, the clerk shall,

(

a) prepare

an interim list of the changes to the voters' list approved under sections 24

and 25 on or before September 15; and

(

b) give

a copy of the interim list to each person who received a copy of the voters'

list under

section 23 and to each certified candidate.

(2) Subsection 27 (2) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

Final list

(2) Within 30 days after voting day, the

clerk shall,

(

a) prepare a final list of the

changes to the voters' list approved under sections 24 and 25; and

(

b) give a copy of the final list

of changes to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.

Section 29 of the

Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

In municipality divided into wards

(4) If

a municipality is divided into wards, a person is eligible to be nominated for

an office in an election in any ward of the municipality.

Same

(5) Subsection

(4) applies despite any order of the Ontario Municipal Board, order of the

Minister under

section 173 of the Municipal Act, 2001

section 149 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 or

order of a commission under

section 175 of the Municipal

Act, 2001 .

Section 31 of the

Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Nomination day

31. Nomination

day for a regular election is the fourth Friday in July in the year of the

election.

(1) Section

33 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Endorsement of nominations for council

(1.1) The

nomination of a person fo

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 181, 41-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p41 s1 bill 181 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	9c38c3f48316d4eb6e6ab56f01c086cc58389ff9

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