First Session, Forty-fourth Parliament, 70-71 Elizabeth II, 2021-2022 |
STATUTES OF CANADA 2022
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An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation)
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ASSENTED TO
June 23, 2022
BILL C-14 |
Her Excellency the Governor General recommends to the House of Commons the appropriation of public revenue under the circumstances, in the manner and for the purposes set out in a measure entitled “An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation)”.
This enactment amends section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867 to provide that, when the number of members of the House of Commons and the representation of the provinces in that House are readjusted on the completion of each decennial census, a province will not have fewer members assigned to it than were assigned during the 43rd Parliament. It also includes transitional measures providing for the application of that amendment to the readjustment of electoral boundaries under the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act following the 2021 decennial census.
Available on the House of Commons website at the following address:
www.ourcommons.ca
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70-71 Elizabeth II |
CHAPTER 6 |
An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867 (electoral representation) |
[Assented to 23rd June, 2022]
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Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
1 This Act may be cited as the Preserving Provincial Representation in the House of Commons Act.
30-31 Vict., c. 3 (U.K.); 1982, c. 11 (U.K.)
2011, c. 26, s. 2
4 (1) The following definitions apply in this section and section 5.
Act means the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act. (Loi)
old calculation means the calculation of the number of members of the House of Commons to be assigned to each province done by the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection 14(1) of the Act, the statement of the results of which was published in the Canada Gazette on October 16, 2021. (calcul antérieur)
(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, words and expressions used in this section and section 5 have the same meaning as in the Act.
5 (1) As soon as feasible after the day on which this section comes into force, the Chief Electoral Officer must calculate the number of members of the House of Commons to be assigned to each province under subsection 14(1) of the Act, subject and according to the provisions of section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867 and the rules set out in that section as they are amended by section 2, and on completing that calculation must cause a statement to be published in the Canada Gazette setting out the results.
(2) If the calculation referred to in subsection (1) results in a different number of members of the House of Commons for a province than was obtained under the old calculation,
(a) any report referred to in subsection 14(2) of the Act that is prepared in respect of the province on the basis of the old calculation, and anything done under sections 19 to 23 of the Act on the basis of the report, are nullities;
(b) the commission established for the province under section 3 of the Act in respect of the most recent decennial census must prepare a report under subsection 14(2) of the Act in respect of the province on the basis of the calculation referred to in subsection (1); and
(c) the duties and functions set out in sections 19 to 23 of the Act are to be performed in respect of the province following the preparation of the report under paragraph (b), and the 10-month period referred to in subsection 20(1) of the Act is, in respect of the province, deemed to begin on the day on which the statement referred to in subsection (1) is published in the Canada Gazette.
(3) If, before the day on which this section comes into force, no representation order was prepared and transmitted under subsection 24(1) of the Act on the basis of the old calculation, the Chief Electoral Officer must — without waiting for the report prepared under subsection 20(1) of the Act for a province referred to in subsection (2) — prepare and transmit a representation order under subsection 24(1) of the Act that applies in respect of all provinces other than that province.
(4) If, before the day on which this section comes into force, a representation order was prepared and transmitted under subsection 24(1) of the Act on the basis of the old calculation, that representation order and any proclamation made under subsection 25(1) of the Act that declares it to be in force are nullities only in respect of a province referred to in subsection (2).
(5) If subsection (3) or (4) applies, a representation order is to be prepared under subsection 24(1) of the Act, and a proclamation is to be made under subsection 25(1) of the Act, in respect of a province referred to in subsection (2) and on the basis of the calculation referred to in subsection (1).
(6) For greater certainty, the representation order annexed to the Proclamation Declaring the Representation Order to be in Force Effective on the First Dissolution of Parliament that Occurs after May 1, 2014, registered as SI/2013-102, continues to apply in respect of a province referred to in subsection (2) until the representation order referred to in subsection (5) becomes effective under subsection 25(1) or (2) of the Act.
(7) When the representation order and proclamation referred to in subsection (5) are published in the Canada Gazette under section 26 of the Act, the Chief Electoral Officer must publish on their website an administrative consolidation consisting of that representation order and the portion of the representation order referred to in subsection (3) or (4), as the case may be, that applies in respect of all provinces other than a province referred to in subsection (2). The consolidation must set out, in respect of each province, the day on which the applicable representation order came into force.
Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons
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