Referendum Act (S.C. 1992, c. 30)

Agents and Auditors

Marginal note:Registry of chief agents

17 The Chief Electoral Officer shall maintain a registry of chief agents of registered referendum committees in which shall be recorded the name, address and telephone number of the chief agent of each such committee.

Marginal note:Appointment of chief agent and auditor

• 18 (1) Every referendum committee that intends to apply for registration under section 13 shall, before applying, appoint a chief agent and an auditor.

• Marginal note:Appointment of new chief agent

  (2) Where the position of chief agent of a registered referendum committee or of a referendum committee that has applied for registration becomes vacant or the chief agent is unable to perform the duties of chief agent, the committee shall forthwith appoint a new chief agent and file with the Chief Electoral Officer a notice in writing, signed by the leader of the committee, of the name, address and telephone number of the new chief agent and a statement, signed by the new chief agent, that the signer has accepted the appointment as chief agent of the committee.

• Marginal note:Appointment of new auditor

  (3) Where the position of auditor of a registered referendum committee or of a referendum committee that has applied for registration becomes vacant or the auditor ceases to be qualified as an auditor or becomes ineligible to act as an auditor before having complied with this Act in respect of any referendum finances return of the committee, the committee shall forthwith appoint a new auditor and file with the Chief Electoral Officer a notice in writing, signed by the leader of the committee, of the name, address and telephone number of the new auditor and a statement, signed by the new auditor, that the signer has accepted the appointment as auditor of the committee.

• Marginal note:Election officers ineligible

  (4) No returning officer or assistant returning officer, or the partner or employee of any of them, shall act as chief agent or auditor of any registered referendum committee.

Marginal note:Return by chief agent

• 19 (1) Within four months after polling day at a referendum, the chief agent of each registered referendum committee shall file with the Chief Electoral Officer a true return, signed by the chief agent, substantially in prescribed form and containing detailed statements of

  • (a) all referendum expenses incurred by the committee;

  • (b) the amount of the contributions received during and after the referendum period by the committee from each of the following classes of contributors:

    • (i) individuals,

    • (ii) corporations the shares of which are publicly traded,

    • (iii) corporations the shares of which are not publicly traded,

    • (iv) trade unions,

    • (v) corporations without share capital, other than trade unions,

    • (vi) political parties,

    • (vii) governments, and

    • (viii) other groups;

  • (c) the number of contributors in each class described in paragraph (b); and

  • (d) the name of each contributor, listed according to the classes described in paragraph (b), that made one or more contributions to the committee during or after the referendum period that exceeded, or the aggregate of which exceeded, two hundred and fifty dollars and, in each case, the amount of the contribution or aggregate.

• Marginal note:Other documents

  (2) Each return shall include the auditor’s report thereon and the originals of all bills, vouchers and receipts related thereto and be accompanied by an affidavit or statutory declaration made by the chief agent in prescribed form.

Marginal note:Auditor’s report

• 20 (1) The auditor of a registered referendum committee shall make a report to the chief agent of the committee on the referendum finances return of the committee and shall make such examinations as will enable the auditor to state in the report whether in the auditor’s opinion the return presents fairly the financial transactions contained in the accounting records on which it is based.

• Marginal note:Explanatory statement

  (2) An auditor’s report shall contain such statements as the auditor considers necessary where

  • (a) the referendum finances return does not present fairly the information contained in the accounting records on which it is based;

  • (b) the auditor has not received from agents and officers of the committee all the information and explanations that the auditor required; or

  • (c) proper accounting records have not been kept by the committee, so far as appears from the auditor’s examination.

• Marginal note:Right of access

  (3) The auditor of a registered referendum committee is entitled to have access at all reasonable times to all records, documents, books, accounts, bills, vouchers and receipts of the committee, and is entitled to require from agents and officers of the committee such information and explanations as in the auditor’s opinion may be necessary to enable the auditor to report as required by subsection (1).

Referendum Broadcasts

Marginal note:Provision of free broadcasting time

• 21 (1) In the period beginning on Thursday, the eighteenth day before polling day, and ending on the second day before polling day, every network operator

  • (a) that reaches the majority of those Canadians whose mother tongue is the same as that in which the network broadcasts,

  • (b) that is licensed with respect to more than a particular series of programs or type of programming, and

  • (c) that does not involve any distribution undertaking within the meaning of the Broadcasting Act,

  shall, subject to the regulations made pursuant to that Act and to the conditions imposed on it under section 9.1 of that Act, make available, at no cost, to registered referendum committees for the transmission of referendum announcements and other programming produced by or on behalf of those committees an aggregate of three hours of broadcasting time during prime time.

• Marginal note:Determination of population reached

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a network is deemed to reach

  • (a) people resident within those areas served by broadcasting stations affiliated to the network that

    • (i) in the case of A.M. radio stations, are enclosed by the night-time interference-free official contour of the stations,

    • (ii) in the case of F.M. radio stations, are enclosed by the fifty microvolt per metre official contour of the stations, and

    • (iii) in the case of television stations, are enclosed by the Grade B official contour of the stations; and

  • (b) people resident outside the areas described in paragraph (a) to whom the signals of broadcasting stations affiliated to the network are available via distribution undertakings licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Marginal note:Allocation of free broadcasting time

• 22 (1) The Broadcasting Arbitrator shall, before Sunday, the twenty-second day before polling day, allocate the broadcasting time to be made available under section 21 among the registered referendum committees that are entitled to be considered for the allocation, in such manner that the time is allocated equally to committees that support the referendum question and committees that oppose it.

• Marginal note:Committees entitled to be considered

  (2) A registered referendum committee is entitled to be considered for the allocation of broadcasting time if it

  • (a) applied for registration under section 13 before Tuesday, the twenty-seventh day before polling day;

  • (b) indicated in the application that it wishes to be considered for the allocation, on which network it wishes the time to be made available to it and whether it supports or opposes the referendum question; and

  • (c) paid a deposit of five hundred dollars in legal tender or a certified cheque made payable to the Receiver General.

• Marginal note:Criteria

  (3) The Broadcasting Arbitrator shall allocate broadcasting time in a manner that is fair to all the registered referendum committees entitled to be considered for the allocation and that is not contrary to the public interest, and, in considering the allocation of broadcasting time to a particular registered referendum committee, the Broadcasting Arbitrator shall consider whether

  • (a) the committee represents a significant regional or national interest;

  • (b) allocation to the committee would be equitable having regard to the different views expressed on the referendum question; and

  • (c) the referendum announcements and other programming proposed by the committee would be directly related to the referendum question.

• Marginal note:Additional information

  (4) In order to allocate broadcasting time, the Broadcasting Arbitrator may request additional information from any registered referendum committee entitled to be considered for the allocation.

• Marginal note:Notification

  (5) The Broadcasting Arbitrator shall, as soon as possible after completing the allocation and, in any event, not later than Monday, the twenty-first day before polling day, send a notice in writing of the allocation to every registered referendum committee considered for the allocation, every network affected by the allocation and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

• Marginal note:Deposits

  (6) The deposit paid by a registered referendum committee entitled to be considered for an allocation of broadcasting time

  • (a) shall be returned to the committee, if it is not allocated time or uses all the time allocated to it; or

  • (b) is forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada, if the committee does not use all the time allocated to it.

• Marginal note:Allocation binding

  (7) An allocation of broadcasting time to be made available by a broadcasting network is final and binding on the network and on all registered referendum committees entitled to be considered for the allocation.

Marginal note:Information to registered referendum committees

23 The Broadcasting Arbitrator shall, on request, provide all registered referendum committees that are entitled to be considered for the allocation of broadcasting time with the names and addresses of all network operators.

Marginal note:Free time not referendum expense

• 24 (1) The commercial value of any free broadcasting time made available to a registered referendum committee under section 21 shall be deemed not to be a referendum expense.

• Marginal note:Free time not commercial time

  (2) Despite subsection 21(1), the Broadcasting Act, any regulations made under that Act and any conditions imposed on a network operator under section 9.1 of that Act, free broadcasting time shall not be considered to be commercial time.

Marginal note:Notice of preference

• 25 (1) Each registered referendum committee to which free broadcasting time is allocated shall, not later than Tuesday, the twentieth day before polling day, send to each network operator that is to provide the time a notice in writing of the days and hours when the committee wishes the time to be made available to it.

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (2) Within two days after receiving the notice, the network operator shall consult with the registered referendum committee that sent the notice for the purpose of reaching an agreement on the days and hours when the broadcasting time is to be made available to the committee.

• Marginal note:Where no agreement

  (3) Where no agreement is reached under subsection (2), the matter shall be referred to the Broadcasting Arbitrator and the Arbitrator shall forthwith decide the days and hours when broadcasting time is to be made available to the registered referendum committee and give notice of the decision to the committee and the network operator.

• Marginal note:Factors

  (4) In making a decision under subsection (3), the Broadcasting Arbitrator shall take into account the following principles:

  • (a) that each registered referendum committee should, as far as possible, have the freedom and flexibility to determine the actual broadcasting time it wishes to be made available to it; and

  • (b) that any broadcasting time to be made available to any registered referendum committee should be made available fairly throughout prime time.

• Marginal note:Decision binding

  (5) A decision under subsection (3) is final and binding on the registered referendum committee and on the network operator.