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Third Session, Thirty-Seventh Legislature

This version is based on the printed bill that was distributed in the Legislature after First Reading.
It is not the official version.   If accuracy is critical, you can obtain a copy of the printed bill from Statutory Publications.

Bill 9

THE CANADIAN FORCES PERSONNEL
(AMENDMENTS RELATING TO VOTING RIGHTS AND DRIVING PRIVILEGES) ACT


Explanatory Note

(Assented to                                         )

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

PART 1

THE ELECTIONS ACT

C.C.S.M. c. E30 amended

1

The Elections Act is amended by this Part.

2(1)

Clause 32(1)(c) is replaced with the following:

(c) has either resided in Manitoba for at least six months immediately before polling day or qualifies as a resident under subsection (1.1).

2(2)

The following is added after subsection 32(1):

Members of Canadian Forces

32(1.1)

A person who leaves Manitoba and intends to return and reside in the province does not cease to be a resident if he or she is absent from Manitoba as

(a) a member of the Canadian Forces; or

(b) a person who lives with such a member.

Place of residence for members of Canadian Forces

32(1.2)

A person referred to in subsection (1.1) is deemed to have a place of residence in the electoral division in which he or she resided immediately before leaving Manitoba.

Definition

32(1.3)

In this section, "member of the Canadian Forces" means

(a) a member of the regular or special force of the Canadian Forces; and

(b) a member of the reserve force of the Canadian Forces on full-time training or service or on active service.

3

Subsection 35(1) is amended in Rule 3 by striking out "If" and substituting "Except as provided in subsections 32(1.1) and (1.2), if".

4

Subsection 104(3) is amended

(a) in clause (a), by adding "his or her current or most recent" before "geographic"; and

(b) in clause (e), by adding ", unless the person qualifies as a resident under subsection 32(1.1)" at the end.

PART 2

THE HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ACT

C.C.S.M. c. H60 amended

5

The Highway Traffic Act is amended by this Part.

6

The following is added after section 334:

Definition of "Canadian Forces member"

334.1(1)

In this section and in section 334.2, "Canadian Forces member" means

(a) a member of the regular or special force of the Canadian Forces;

(b) a member of the reserve force of the Canadian Forces on full-time training or service or on active service;

(c) the spouse or common-law partner of a member, who is living with the member; and

(d) a dependent child or other dependent of a member, who is living with the member.

Application of section 334.1

334.1(2)

This section applies to a person whose driver's licence expires while he or she is absent from Manitoba as a Canadian Forces member.

Merit consideration for Canadian Forces members

334.1(3)

If a person referred to in subsection (2) applies for renewal of his or her driver's licence and is issued a new licence, the registrar may, for the purposes of subsection 334(1), treat the person as though he or she held a valid and subsisting driver's licence throughout the person's absence from Manitoba.

Merit and demerit status: Canadian Forces

334.2(1)

When a driver's licence is issued under this Act to a Canadian Forces member who previously held a driver's licence issued by the government of a province or territory of Canada or by the Commander, Canadian Forces Europe, the registrar shall, to establish the member's Manitoba merit and demerit status, review his or her out-of-province driving record.

Forces member must provide information

334.2(2)

To assist the registrar to establish the member's Manitoba merit and demerit status, the member must provide the registrar with any information or document that the registrar requires.

Forces member may provide additional information

334.2(3)

The member may ask the registrar to consider additional information or documents that the member provides.

Information must be acceptable to the registrar

334.2(4)

The registrar may refuse to consider any information or document that he or she believes is unreliable or otherwise unacceptable.

Registrar may determine merits and demerits

334.2(5)

After reviewing the member's out-of-province driving record, the registrar shall establish the member's Manitoba merit and demerit status by assigning the member the number of merit marks or demerit points that the registrar considers the member would have had if he or she had been licensed in Manitoba throughout the period covered by the information or documentation considered by the registrar.

PART 3

COMING INTO FORCE

Coming into force

7

This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.

Explanatory Note

The Elections Act

The Elections Act currently allows people to vote in a provincial election only if they have resided in Manitoba for at least six months immediately before polling day.

As an exception to that rule, this Bill allows Manitoba residents who are members of the Canadian Forces — and the people who live with them — to vote when posted outside the province.

The Highway Traffic Act

This Bill allows members of the Canadian Forces whose drivers' licences expire while they are posted outside Manitoba to maintain their merit-mark eligibility.  The Bill also requires the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to establish the merit and demerit status of members who move to Manitoba and obtain drivers' licences.  The changes also apply to certain family members.