On May 2, Green Leader Elizabeth May told the press about her new Private Member’s Bill called An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act (local endorsement of candidate).

‘On this day, two years ago, I was elected as Saanich-Gulf Islands’ Member of Parliament. In two years, I have seen the noxious effect of party discipline on our democracy,’ said May.

The Bill amends the Canada Elections Act to require that, where a political party has an electoral district association in a riding, a prospective candidate for the riding must have their nomination papers signed by the chief executive officer and by one board member of the electoral district association in order to stand as that party’s candidate.

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“On this day, two years ago, I was elected as Saanich-Gulf Islands’ Member of Parliament. In two years, I have seen the noxious effect of party discipline on our democracy,” said May.

The Bill amends the Canada Elections Act to require that, where a political party has an electoral district association in a riding, a prospective candidate for the riding must have their nomination papers signed by the chief executive officer and by one board member of the electoral district association in order to stand as that party’s candidate.

Currently, the Canada Elections Act requires the leader of a political party or their designated representative to sign the nomination papers for a prospective candidate.

“The law now gives party leaders the power to refuse to allow a sitting MP to be a candidate for that party in a future election. It has become an undemocratic tool for discipline and control over MPs,” said May.

“We recently witnessed the attempts of brave members of the Conservative caucus to assert their speaking rights. It is time to loosen party discipline and curb the ‘team mentality’ of which Gordon O’Connor was so proud,” said the Green Leader.

“With this in mind, I have put forward a legislative solution to end the current climate of fear in caucuses and ensure that MPs are not subject to the harsh sanction of being thrown out of caucus and denied the chance to stand for their constituency due to a leader’s ire,” concluded May.

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This enactment amends the Canada Elections Act to require that, where a political party has an electoral district association in a riding, a prospective candidate for the riding must have their nomination papers signed by the chief executive officer and by one board member of the electoral district association in order to stand as that party’s candidate.

Preamble

An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (local endorsement of candidate)

Whereas, since 1970, the Canada Elections Act has established the formal roles and responsibilities of political parties and their leaders in federal elections, including the requirement that the leader of a political party or their designated representative sign the nomination papers for a prospective candidate;

Whereas this requirement was originally intended to ensure that the prospective candidate was properly authorized by that party, but has subsequently been used by party leaders to exert power over prospective candidates, as well as elected Members of Parliament, and to overrule the preferences of local electoral district associations;

And whereas this requirement, insofar as it gives party leaders the power to refuse to allow a sitting Member of Parliament to be a candidate for that party in a future election, is being used as an undemocratic tool for discipline and control over Members and, as such, thwarts the will and interests of both the Member and their constituents and threatens the integrity of Canadian democracy;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Short Title

1. This Act may be cited as the Democratic Local Nomination Act.

2000, c. 9

CANADA ELECTIONS ACT

2. Paragraph 67(4)(c) of the Canada Elections Act is replaced by the following:

(c) an instrument in writing
(i) that is signed by the chief executive officer and by one board member of the political party’s electoral district association for the electoral district in which the prospective candidate is seeking nomination and that states that the prospective candidate is endorsed by that electoral district association to stand as that party’s candidate in accordance with section 68, or
(ii) that, if a political party does not have an electoral district association in the relevant electoral district before the beginning of the election period, is signed by the leader of the political party or by a person referred to in subsection 383(2) and that states that the prospective candidate is endorsed by the party in accordance with section 68.

3. Subsection 383(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Endorsement of candidates

(2) A registered party and an eligible party, whose electoral district associations endorse candidates in their electoral districts at a general election in accordance with subparagraph 67(4)(c)(i) or whose leader has designated a representative to endorse candidates at a general election in the circumstances described in subparagraph 67(4)(c)(ii), shall include with the statement or report referred to in subsection (1) a statement certified by its leader that sets out the names of the designated representatives.

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She said: Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure I rise today to put forward a bill to carry forward the momentum of democracy which is sweeping the House of Commons. We saw a blow for democracy from the Federal Court last week in the decision on the Parliamentary Budget Officer and your own ruling, Mr. Speaker, that we as members of this House have the right to free speech.

To ensure our rights to free speech do not operate under the shadow of the leader’s ire threatening to not sign our nomination papers, my private member’s bill would eliminate the fact that currently the Canada Elections Act requires a leader’s signature in order for a member to stand in his or her place as a candidate for the party. It would restore the grassroots democracy in that it would be the electoral district association of a person’s riding signing the nomination papers and not the leader.

I hope this bill will have full support from all members of this House.

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