BILL 14 – 2005
ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES COMMISSION AMENDMENT ACT, 2005

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 3 (2) of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 107, is amended by striking out "81." and substituting "85."

2 Section 5 is repealed and the following substituted:

Time of appointment of commission

5 (1) The next commission must be appointed no later than November 30, 2005.

(2) A new commission must be appointed no later than one year after the general voting day for every second general election following the appointment under subsection (1).

3 Section 10 (1) is amended by striking out "not be less than 75 nor more than 81," and substituting "not be less than 79 nor more than 85,".

Transitional -- Commission responsibilities in relation to electoral reform

4 (1) In this section, "single transferable vote system" means the electoral system recommended by the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform in its final report, issued December 10, 2004, and in its technical report, issued December 20, 2004.

(2) The commission appointed under section 5 (1) of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act must, in addition to responsibilities assigned under that Act, make proposals to the Legislative Assembly, based on the single transferable vote system, as to

(a) the areas, boundaries and names of the electoral districts under that system, and

(b) the number of members of the Legislative Assembly for each of those electoral districts.

(3) The report of the commission under section 10 of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act must

(a) as an exception to subsection (1) of that section, be submitted no later than August 15, 2007, and

(b) include the proposals under subsection (2) of this section.

(4) Sections 11 to 15 of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act apply in relation to the proposals included in the report under subsection (3) (b) of this section.

(5) In carrying out its responsibilities under subsection (2),

(a) the commission must, in its proposals included under subsection (3) (b), propose the same number of members of the Legislative Assembly as it proposes under section 10 of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, and

(b) if, by amendment under section 12 of that Act, it changes the number of members from the number proposed under section 10 of that Act, the commission must make the same change in relation to its proposals under this section regarding the single transferable vote system.

Commencement

5 This Act comes into force on the date of Royal Assent.