1997 Legislative Session: 2nd Session, 36th Parliament
FIRST READING
The following electronic version is for informational
purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.
MR. WEISGERBER
1 (1) In this Act
"candidate" means a person who completes the filing requirements under section 8 in order to run as a candidate in a Senate election under this Act;
"chief electoral officer" means the chief electoral officer appointed under the Election Act;
"election day" means the day the Senate election is ordered to be held, under sections 3 and 4;
"electors" means persons who are defined as electors under the Election Act, and who at the time of an election under this Act, would be entitled to vote in a general provincial election under that Act;
"general federal election" means an election held in accordance with the relevant statute laws of the Parliament of Canada, to elect Members to that Parliament, upon a dissolution of it by the Governor General;
"general local election" means a "general local election" as so defined for the purposes of the Municipal Act;
"general provincial election" means an election held pursuant to the Election Act, to elect Members to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, upon a dissolution of that Assembly by the Lieutenant Governor;
"Senate election" means an election held under this Act, for the purpose of filling a vacancy or vacancies among the members representing British Columbia in the Senate of Canada; and,
"Senator Appointee-designate" means a person elected under this Act, for inclusion in the list to be submitted to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, for the filling of vacancies among the members representing British Columbia in the Senate of Canada.
(2) Except as provided in this Act, words and phrases used in this Act have the meanings given to them in the Election Act.
2 (1) Where a matter arises in respect of an election under this Act, for which no provision is made either in this Act or in the regulations made under this Act, the relevant provisions of the Elections Act or the regulations made under the Elections Act shall apply to that matter, with the necessary changes and so far as possible.
(2) Section 2 (1) of the Financial Disclosure Act applies with respect to a person who becomes a candidate under this Act.
3 (1) If one or more vacancies exist among the members representing British Columbia in the Senate of Canada, the Lieutenant Governor in Council shall not submit a list of prospective appointees to fill those vacancies, except in compliance with this Act.
(2) When one or more vacancies exist among the members representing British Columbia in the Senate of Canada, the Lieutenant Governor in Council shall, subject to section 4, order a Senate election under this Act, and shall create a list of Senator Appointee-designates, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, that shall be submitted to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in accordance with the timetable set out in section 6.
4 (1) When vacancies arise among the members representing British Columbia in the Senate of Canada, if a general local election is scheduled to be held within more than three months but less than one year from the date when the vacancies arise, the Senate election ordered under section 3 must be ordered to be held in conjunction with the general local election.
(2) If subsection (1) does not apply, and if a general provincial election must be held within more than three months but less than one year from the date the vacancies arise, the Senate election ordered under section 3 may be ordered to be held in conjunction with the general provincial election, or else must be held under subsection (4).
(3) If subsections (1) and (2) do not apply, and arrangements may be made to do so conveniently, then if a general federal election must be held within more than three months but less than one year from the date when the vacancies arise, the Senate election may be held in conjunction with the general federal election, or else must be held under subsection (4).
(4) If subsection (1) does not apply, and it is not possible to hold the Senate election in conjunction with the next general provincial election or the next general federal election, then the Senate election shall be held at a date of the Lieutenant Governor in Council's choosing, provided that not more than one year shall pass from the time the vacancies arise, and the Senate election to fill them is to be held.
5 The proclamation of a Senate election, the date upon which it is ordered to be held, and the authority under which that date was selected, shall be published forthwith in the B.C. Gazette.
6 A Senate election held under this Act must conform to the following timetable:
(1) the campaign period shall start the day after a Senate election is ordered under section 3 (2) and close the day before election day;
(2) a candidacy filing period shall open 25 days before the election day and shall close 15 days before the election day;
(3) there shall be a period of one month after election day, for the recounting of ballots as necessary, and for the filing of appeals, and other such measures under this Act;
(4) a period of one month shall follow, from one month after election day, to two months after that day, for the resolution of all electoral business arising from requests for recounting of ballots, from the filing of appeals, and other such measures under this Act;
(5) two months and one day after election day, the official results of the election shall be proclaimed, and published in the B.C. Gazette;
(6) two months and fifteen days after election day, the Lieutenant Governor in Council shall submit the list of Senator Appointee-designates to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.
7 With the necessary changes and so far as possible, a Senate election held under this Act may include advance polling, in the manner set out in the Election Act and in regulations under the Election Act.
8 Any elector may be a candidate in a Senate election, provided he or she submits, before the close of the candidacy filing period, to the chief electoral officer, all the information required of a candidate as prescribed in the regulations, together with the signatures of at least 50 other electors from anywhere in the province, and such deposit of money (if any) as is specified in the regulations.
9 A candidate wishing to withdraw his or her candidacy shall do so as prescribed in the regulations, and likewise if a candidate dies before election day the matter shall be dealt with as set out in the regulations.
10 Campaign conduct and campaign expenditures by candidates in a Senate election shall be limited in the same ways as if they were campaigning for election as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in a general provincial election under the Election Act.
11 Persons who are electors are entitled to vote in a Senate election.
12 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the ballot in a Senate election may be in any form specified in the regulations by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(2) The names of all candidates who have complied with the provisions of section 8 shall appear on the ballot in a random order.
13 Voting, and the counting of ballots in a Senate election shall be conducted in the same way as if it were an election for a seat or seats on a municipal council, in a general local election under the Municipal Act, with the necessary changes and so far as possible.
14 All the mechanisms for requesting ballot recounts and appealing municipal council election results, and obtaining like remedies, that are set out in the Municipal Act, shall be available, so far as possible and with the necessary changes, in the case of an election under this Act.
15 The Lieutenant Governor in Council shall construct the list of Senate Appointee- designates for the purposes of section 3 (2) by listing in order, by decreasing number of valid ballots cast by electors in the Senate election, starting with the candidate receiving the most such ballots, only so many candidates as are required to fill the vacant Senate seats.
16 (1) A candidate who has been declared elected under section 13 may, by filing a disclaimer with the chief electoral officer, in the prescribed form and within the prescribed time period, request
(a) that his or her name not be submitted to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, or
(b) that if his or her name has already been submitted, the submission of his or her name be withdrawn.
(2) The name of a candidate filing a disclaimer under subsection (1) shall not be submitted, or shall be withdrawn, as the case may be, and the name of that candidate shall be replaced on the list by the name of a candidate not on the list, in accordance with the priority principles set out in section 15.
(3) The filing of a disclaimer under subsection (1) does not affect any application for appeal or recount by another candidate under section 14, nor the right of that other candidate to be declared elected if his or her application or appeal is successful.
17 For greater clarity, candidates running under this Act for election to the Senate shall be understood to be running at large, and Senators elected under this Act shall be understood to have been elected at large, each to represent the interests of all British Columbians in the Senate of Canada.
18 The chief electoral officer is charged with the administration of this Act.
19 (1) Subject to subsection (2), sections 251 to 267 of the Election Act apply with the necessary changes and so far as possible to a Senate election as though it were an election under the Election Act.
(2) No offence is created under this Act by any expenditure incurred by persons not associated with any political party or candidate, for the purposes of expressing their views about any party or candidate.
(3) The chief electoral officer is charged with investigating allegations of the commission of offences under this Act.
20 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations for this Act in Accordance with section 41 of the Interpretation Act.
(2) Without restricting the generality of subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations:
(a) specifying, for the purposes of section 8, the forms of documents to be filed by an elector wishing to become a candidate, and such information as that elector shall be required to provide, to become a candidate;
(b) specifying, for the purposes of section 8, the amount of a money deposit, not exceeding $1,000.00, that an elector must deposit in order to become a candidate, and the manner in which the deposit may be redeemed;
(c) providing, for the purposes of section 9, for the death of a candidate before election day, and for whether and how a candidate wanting to withdraw his or her candidacy before election day may do so;
(d) specifying, for the purposes of section 12 (1), the form of the ballot to be used in a Senate election; and,
(e) specifying, for the purposes of section 16 (1), the form of a disclaimer, and the time limit for its filing.
21 The Senatorial Selection Act, S.B.C. 1990, c. 70 is hereby repealed.
22 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
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