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RSNL1990 CHAPTER E-4 ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES ACT Amended: 1992 c56; 1993 c5; 1993 c57; 1995 c33; 2001 cN-3.1 s2; 2005 c52; 2006 c40 s21 CHAPTER E-4 AN ACT RESPECTING AN ELECTORAL DISTRICTS BOUNDARIES COMMISSION TO REPORT UPON THE DELIMITATION OF THE PROVINCE INTO DISTRICTS FOR WHICH MEMBERS SHALL BE RETURNED TO THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Electoral Boundaries Act. Definitions 2. In this Act
(a)
"commission" means the
(b) "districts" mean districts for which members shall, by virtue of the House of Assembly Act, be returned to the House of Assembly; (c) "member" means member of the House of Assembly; and (d) "minister" means the minister appointed under the Executive Council Act to administer this Act. 1973 No44 s2; 2001 cN-3.1 s2; 2006 c40 s21 Commission established
3.
(1) The
(2) The commission shall consist of 5 members, composed of a chairperson and 4 other members. (3) The chairperson of the commission shall be appointed by the Chief Justice of Newfoundland and Labrador from among the judges of the Court of Appeal and the Trial Division, but where there is no judge able or free to act as chairperson, the Chief Justice shall appoint a chairperson from among those persons resident in the province whom he or she considers suitable.
(4)
The Chief Justice of
(5) The 4 members of the commission other than the chairperson shall be appointed by the speaker of the House of Assembly from among those persons resident in the province whom the speaker considers suitable. (6) A reference in
(a)
subsection (3) to the Chief Justice of
(b) subsection (5) to the speaker of the House of Assembly includes a reference to a person temporarily performing the duties of the speaker. 1973 No44 s4; 1986 c42 Sch B; 1993 c5 s1; 2001 cN-3.1 s2 Deputy chairperson 4. (1) The commission may appoint 1 of its members as deputy chairperson who shall, in the event of the absence or incapacity of the chairperson or where the office of chairperson is vacant, act as chairperson. (2) At all meetings of the commission, 2 members of the commission constitute a quorum, and where, at a meeting of the commission, there is an equality of votes, the chairperson or person acting as chairperson has a deciding vote. (3) A vacancy in the membership of the commission or in the office of chairperson does not impair the right of the remaining members to act, but where a vacancy occurs it shall be filled by appointment in the manner provided in section 3. Eligibility 5. A person is not eligible to be a member of the commission while he or she is a member of the House of Assembly or a member of the Senate or House of Commons of Canada. Time of appointment to commission 6. (1) Appointments of members of the commission shall be made as expeditiously as possible so as to enable the duties of the commission under this Act to continue to be performed as speedily as possible. (2) The appointments of members of the commission shall, immediately upon the completion of the commission's duties under sections 13 and 14 or at a later date, should the Lieutenant-Governor in Council direct by order, lapse and necessary appointments shall then be made to the commission in sufficient time to permit its carrying out its duties under this Act. Notice of appointments to be published 7. The minister shall immediately publish notice of appointments to the commission made under this Act in the Gazette. Responsibility 8. The commission shall be responsible to the minister. Remuneration of commission
9.
Subject to section 57 and the other provisions of the Judges Act
(
Staff 10. (1) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, the commission may establish posts for and appoint officers and technical and professional and other employees as it considers necessary, and fix their remuneration and expenses and terms of service and prescribe their duties and functions. (2) Subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, the commission may temporarily employ technical and professional and other employees as it considers necessary and, with the like approval, fix the remuneration of and prescribe the expenses that may be incurred by those assistants in carrying out their official duties. (3) A person employed in the administration of this Act shall preserve secrecy with respect to all matters that come to his or her knowledge in the course of his or her employment and shall not communicate any of those matters to another person except (a) for purposes of the administration of this Act; or (b) in the other circumstances that the commission may prescribe. Status of commission and its staff 11. A member of the commission or a person employed by the commission does not become, by reason of that employment only, an officer of the Crown. Payment 12. Payments required to be made by the Crown in carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be paid by the Minister of Finance, on the request of the minister, out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the province. Redistribution and population quotient 13. (1) In the calendar year beginning in 2006, and in each 10th calendar year following, the commission shall, as soon as is convenient after March 31, divide the province into 48 proposed 1-member districts. (2) The commission shall determine a quotient for each proposed district by dividing the total population of the province by the number 47. (2.1) Notwithstanding subsection (2), for the purpose of the preparation of the commissions report in 2006, the commission shall determine a quotient for each proposed district by dividing the total population of the province by the number 44. (3) [Rep. by 1995 c33 s5]
(4)
For the purpose of establishing the quotient under subsection (2), the population of the province shall be taken as in the latest census figures available under theStatistics Act
(
(5) For the purpose of subsection (2), the total population of the province shall be considered not to include that portion of the total population living within the area of the province comprising the district proposed by the commission under subsection 15(4).
(6)
Notwithstanding subsection (5), for the purpose of the preparation of the commissions report in 2006, the total population of the province shall, for the purpose of subsection (2.1), be considered not to include that portion of the total population living within the area of the province comprising
1993 c57 s1; 1995 c33 s5; 2005 c52 s1 Reports 14. (1) In the calendar year beginning in 2006, and in each 10th calendar year following, the commission shall prepare a report to the minister setting out their recommendations concerning (a) the division of the province into the number of 1-member districts determined under section 13; (b) the description of the boundaries of each district; and (c) the name to be given to each district and the name shall incorporate the historical and geographical factors that the commission considers appropriate. (2) Before the end of the calendar year 2006, and before the end of each 10th calendar year following, the commission shall submit the report referred to in subsection (1) to the minister, who shall (a) submit a copy immediately to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council; and (b) lay a copy before the Legislature within 15 days after the report is submitted to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council if the Legislature is then sitting, and, if it is not, then within 15 days after the beginning of the next session. (3) [Rep. by 2005 c52 s2] Rules to guide commission 15. (1) In proposing a division of the province into districts and in preparing their report, the commission shall ensure that the division of the province into districts and the description of the boundaries give primacy to the principle that the vote of every elector in the province shall have a weight equal to that of every other elector. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where the commission considers it necessary to do so, they may depart from the quotient established under section 13 but not to a greater extent than 10% more or 10% less of the quotient. (3) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), the commission may recommend the creation of a district with a population that departs from the quotient established under section 13 by 25% more or 25% less of the quotient, where they conclude that the departure is warranted by special geographic considerations, including, (a) the community of interests of the residents of those communities in the province that are not connected by road, particularly those communities along the coast of Labrador and the southwest coast of the island portion of the province; or (b) the accessibility of a region or its size or shape. (4) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), with respect to Labrador, the commission shall give appropriate weight to the circumstance that persons of aboriginal descent form the majority of those who reside in the portion of Labrador that lies generally north of Lake Melville, and shall give appropriate weight to the geographic considerations of that area and the community of interests of the residents of those communities north of Lake Melville, a majority of whose inhabitants are aboriginal, with the intention that those communities constitute a district. (5) For the purpose of the preparation of their report and the division of the province into districts, the commission shall assume that the proportion of electors to the general population is constant throughout the province. (6) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, for the purpose of the commissions report in 2006, the commission shall divide the Labrador portion of the province into 4 proposed districts and shall describe the boundaries of those districts in such a manner that the proposed new districts conform as closely as practicable to the present districts. Powers of commission 16. In the performance of its duties under this Act the commission, and each member of the commission, is vested with all the powers that are or may be conferred on a commissioner under the Public Inquiries Act and the commission is considered to be an "investigating body" for the purposes of the Public Investigations Evidence Act. Departmental assistance 17. All departments of the government of the province shall make available their services and facilities to the commission for the purpose of enabling the commission to discharge its duties under this Act. Rules of procedure 18. The commission may make rules for regulating its proceedings and for the conduct of its business. Commission sittings 19. (1) The commission may, in the performance of its duties under this Act, sit at the times and places in the province that it considers necessary, except that before completing its report under section 14 it shall hold at least 1 sitting in the island portion of the province and at least 1 sitting in Labrador for the hearing of representations by interested persons. (2) Reasonable notice of the time and place fixed by the commission for sittings to be held by them for the hearing of representations from interested persons shall be given by advertisement published in at least 1 newspaper of general circulation in the province, but the notice shall be given at least 10 days before the commencement of sittings. (3) With respect to the mandatory sittings in the island portion of the province and in Labrador referred to in subsection (1), there shall be included in the advertisement referred to in subsection (2) a map or drawing prepared by the commission showing the proposed division of the province into districts and indicating the name proposed to be given to each district, together with a schedule setting out the proposed boundaries of each district, which map or drawing and schedule shall be in a form and contain the detail that, in the opinion of the commission, will be reasonably sufficient for the purposes for which those sittings are to be held. 1973 No44 s20; 1993 c57 s4 Rep. by 1995 c33 s6 20. [Rep. by 1995 c33 s6] ©Queen's Printer |