Fixed election dates in Canada

Historically in Canada both the Prime Minister and the provincial Premiers have had the power to call a general election at will, as is traditional in Westminster-style parliamentary governments. However, some Canadian jurisdictions have passed legislation requiring fixed election dates, so that elections occur on a regular cycle (usually every four years) and the date of a forthcoming election is publicly known. An election may still be triggered by the government's defeat on a motion of no confidence. Therefore, in the case of a minority government, the Opposition collectively has the power to force an election, while the governing party may not. By-elections, used to fill vacancies in a legislature, are not affected by fixed election dates.

Parliament of Canada

On November 6, 2006, the Parliament of Canada passed Bill C-16, "An Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act". It requires that each general election is to take place on the third Monday in October, in the fourth calendar year after the previous poll, starting with October 19, 2009.cite web|url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=2475836&file=4|publisher=House of Commons of Canada|date=2006-11-06|accessdate=2008-08-31|title=Bill C-16, An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act] cite web|url=http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/E-2.01/bo-ga:l_5//en#anchorbo-ga:l_5|publisher=Government of Canada|date=2008-07-27|accessdate=2008-08-30|title=Canada Elections Act]

The Liberal-controlled Senate added an amendment listing conditions under which a date could be modified, in order to avoid clashes with religious holidays, municipal elections and referendums, but the House, dominated by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives, rejected the amendment and the Senate did not pursue it.cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/05/02/fixed-elections.html|publisher=CBC News|date=2007-05-02|accessdate=2008-05-19|title=Bill setting federal elections every 4 years about to become law]

Parliamentary expert and Queen's University political science professor Ned Franks maintains that, despite the new legislation, under the "Parliament of Canada Act" the prime minister is still free to request an election at any time, and that provincial fixed-term statutes contain the same exception. It is unclear how much consideration a Governor General or Lieutenant Governor must give to such a request, particularly in the case of a minority government, given the fixed date election law.cite news|publisher="Ottawa Citizen"|last=O'Neill|first=Juliet|2008-04-09|accessdate=2008-05-19|title=PM can override fixed-date vote: expert|url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=15c68d91-edff-467f-9045-6f8c44c631d3] However, this view appears to have been vindicated by the dissolution of the Parliament of Canada, at the request of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on 7 September 2008. In effect, the "fixed-date" law changed only the maximum duration of a Parliament, by ensuring that it ends no later than October in its fourth calendar year after commencement, but the law leaves the possibility of an earlier end unaffected.

British Columbia

British Columbia was the first jurisdiction in Canada to adopt fixed election dates, 2001. The "Constitution Act" calls for an election on May 17, 2005, and the second Tuesday in May every four years afterwards. [cite web|publisher=Commission on Legislative Democracy|url=www.gnb.ca/0100/Doc/fact2fixed-e.pdf|title=Facts on...Fixed Election Dates|accessdate=2008-05-19]

Ontario

In Ontario, Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government passed the "Election Statute Law Amendment Act, 2005," which requires elections to be held on the first Thursday in October every four years, starting with 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/source/statutes/english/2005/elaws_src_s05035_e.htm|accessdate=2008-05-19|title=Election Statute Law Amendment Act, 2005|date=2005-12-15|publisher=Service Ontario e-laws] However, the law does allow the date to be moved forward to any of the following seven days in the case of religious or culturally significant holidays: the 2007 election was moved from October 3 to October 10 to avoid the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret. [cite news|publisher=CBC News|date=2007-02-07|url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2007/02/07/ont-election.html|accessdate=2008-05-19|title=Ontario 'fixed' election date moved off Jewish holiday]

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador passed legislation in 2004 requiring elections on the second Tuesday of October every four years.cite web|title=Fixed election dates in Canada|url=http://www.nodice.ca/elections/fixedelections.php|accessdate=2008-05-19|publisher=Nodice Elections]

Prince Edward Island

In 2007, Pat Binns' Progressive Conservatives introduced a bill for fixed election dates, but called an election before the bill could pass the legislature. Since the PCs had previously defeated a similar Liberal motion in 2006, Robert Ghiz, then leader of the opposition, said "If they [the Progressive Conservatives] were concerned about accountability and fixed election dates they would have voted a year ago to have a fixed election date set for this election. They chose not to do that." [cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2007/04/20/ghiz-electiondates.html|publisher=CBC News|title=Opposition supports fixed election dates|date=2007-05-20|accessdate=2008-05-19]

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories' "Elections and Plebescite Act, 2007" requires elections on the first Monday in October every four years, starting with 2007. A strong motivation for this law was the practical difficulties of holding an election during the Arctic winter. [cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/nwtvotes2007/features/features-fixed-date.html|title=Fixed election date in the N.W.T.: What does it mean, and why?|first=Donna|last=Lee|date=2007-09-25|accessdate=2008-05-19|publisher=CBC News]

Fixed date elections in Canada

*British Columbia general election, 2005
*Ontario general election, 2007
*Northwest Territories general election, 2007
*Newfoundland and Labrador general election, 2007

ee also

*Comparison of Canadian and United States governments

Notes