BILL NO. 3
(as introduced)
3rd Session, 61st General Assembly
Nova Scotia
60 Elizabeth II, 2011
Modernizing Government Act
The Honourable Jamie Baillie
Cumberland South
First Reading: April 1, 2011
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
Explanatory Note
This Bill
(a) requires the Governor in Council to appoint a person with a disability to the Election Commission;
(b) requires all polling stations in a provincial election to be accessible;
(c) provides for fixed provincial election dates;
(d) permits a person to vote in a provincial election at any polling station in Nova Scotia on ordinary polling day;
(e) limits third-party advertising during a provincial election;
(f) requires provincial by-elections to be called within 3 months of a vacancy and to be held within 6 months of a vacancy;
(g) requires the House of Assembly to debate petitions presented to it with at least 10,000 signatures if the subject-matter of the petition is within provincial jurisdiction;
(h) requires the panel reviewing MLAs indemnities, allowances and salaries to be independent; and
(i) prohibits former MLA from being a lobbyist for three years following ceasing to be an MLA.
An Act to Modernize
the Government of Nova Scotia
1 This Act may be cited as the Modernizing Government Act.
2 Subsection 8(2) of Chapter 140 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Elections Act, as amended by Chapter 13 of the Acts of 2008, is further amended by
(a) striking out "and" at the end of clause (a); and
(b) adding immediately after clause (a) the following clause:
3 Chapter 140 is further amended by adding immediately preceding Section 10 the following Section:
(2) Nothing in this Section affects the powers of the Lieutenant Governor, including the power of the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the House of Assembly at the discretion of the Lieutenant Governor.
(a) whose name is on an official list of electors for a polling division; or
(b) whose name is not on an official list of electors for any polling division but is eligible to be added to an official list of electors,
is entitled, on ordinary polling day, to vote at any polling station in the Province, whether or not in the constituency in which the person is entitled to vote, and Section 122 applies mutatis mutandis.
(2) Where a person votes pursuant to subsection (1) at a polling station in a constituency other than the one in which the person is, but for this Section, entitled to vote,
(a) the person may only vote for a candidate in the constituency in which the person is entitled to vote;
(b) the person shall vote using a write-in ballot and Sections 100 to 106A apply mutatis mutandis;
(c) subsection 122(3) is to be read as if "candidate" is replaced by "recognized party"; and
(d) the ballot must be counted in the constituency in which the person is entitled to vote.
7 Chapter 140 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 193 the following heading and Section:
(a) "advertise" means advertise during the election period to promote or oppose registered political parties or the election of candidate;
(b) "third party" means a person or group other than a registered political party, a registered district association or a candidate and includes, but is not limited to, trade unions, business and professional associations, charitable associations, social clubs, community action groups and individuals.
(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall establish a system of disclosure and registration of third parties that advertise during elections.
(3) Third parties that incur more than five hundred dollars in election advertising expenses shall register with the Chief Electoral Officer.
(4) Third parties that incur any election advertising expenses shall disclose those expenses as required by the Chief Electoral Officer.
(5) No third party may expend on election advertising more than one and one third per cent of the limit for registered political parties with candidates in every electoral district.
(6) No third party may expend on election advertising with respect to any electoral district more than ten per cent of the limit for that third party set out in subsection (5).
9 Subsection 10(1) of Chapter 1 is amended by
(a) striking out "six" in the third line and substituting "three"; and
(b) striking out "twelve" in the fourth line and substituting "six".
10 Chapter 1 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 36 the following headings and Section:
36A Where a petition, respecting a matter within the jurisdiction of the Province and signed by ten thousand or more individuals, is presented to the House by a member, the Chief Clerk shall cause the matter to be placed upon the order paper and the Government House Leader, or the member acting in the place of the Government House Leader, shall call the matter for debate within ten sitting days of it being presented.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2011 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created April 1, 2011. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.
