2nd Session, 43rd Legislature

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Bill 16

THE MUNICIPAL COUNCILS AND SCHOOL BOARDS ELECTIONS AMENDMENT AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS AMENDMENT ACT

(Assented to                                         )

WHEREAS a strong public school system is a fundamental element of a democratic society;

AND WHEREAS democratic local school divisions and districts play an important role in providing public education that is responsive to local needs and conditions;

AND WHEREAS parents have a right and a responsibility to be knowledgeable about and participate in the education of their children;

AND WHEREAS residents of reserve lands have generally been excluded from voting in school board elections even though students who live on reserve have been essential members of the school community;

AND WHEREAS it is a vital act of reconciliation for residents who live on reserve to have the democratic right to participate in the election of school boards so as to ensure a strong public school system that truly reflects and is responsive to the diverse needs and interests of all its students no matter where they reside;

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

PART 1
THE MUNICIPAL COUNCILS AND SCHOOL BOARDS ELECTIONS ACT

C.C.S.M. c. M257 amended

1   The Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act is amended by this Part.

2   The following is added after section 21:

Residents of reserves voting in election of school trustees

21.1(1)   The purpose of this section is to enable residents of reserves to vote in an election held in a school division or school district even though the reserve lands are not within the boundaries of a school division or school district.

Eligibility to vote

21.1(2)   A person who is a resident of a reserve is eligible to vote in an election in the applicable school division or school district if the person is

(a) a Canadian citizen and at least 18 years old on election day; and

(b) a resident of the reserve on election day and has been so for at least the six months before election day.

Determining applicable school division or school district

21.1(3)   For the purpose of subsection (2), the applicable school division or school district is determined as follows:

1.

If any part of the territory of the reserve is bounded by a school division or school district, that school division or school district.

2.

If the territory of the reserve is bounded by two or more school divisions or school districts, the school division or school district that, on the written request of the council of the band, is prescribed by regulation to be the applicable school division or school district.

3.

If the reserve has been prescribed as a ward of a school division under section 24.2 of The Public Schools Act, that school division.

4.

If no determination is made under rules 1 to 3, the school division or school district prescribed by regulation.

Northern school division excluded

21.1(4)   Subsection (3) does not apply to the residents of a reserve that is entirely bounded by the northern school division as established under section 14 of The Public Schools Act, and the northern school division is not to be included when determining which school divisions bound the territory of a reserve.

Reserve lands deemed to be contiguous

21.1(5)   When determining the applicable school division or school district for residents of a reserve, reserve lands are to be treated as if they were contiguous.

Reserve land in urban municipality

21.1(6)   Despite subsection (5), if reserve lands include land within

(a) The City of Winnipeg, the applicable school division or school district is the school division or school district prescribed by regulation; or

(b) an urban municipality formed or continued under The Municipal Act, the applicable school division or school district is the school division or school district that includes the urban municipality.

Regulations

21.1(7)   For the purpose of rule 4 of subsection (3) and clause (6)(b), the minister responsible for the administration of The Public Schools Act may make regulations prescribing the applicable school division or school district for a reserve or reserve lands within an urban municipality.

Board of Reference

21.1(8)   Before making a regulation under this section, the minister may refer the matter to the Board of Reference established under The Public Schools Act. On such a referral, the Board must hold a hearing on the matter and make a recommendation to the minister within the time specified by the minister.

Hearing provisions

21.1(9)   Subsections 9(1) to (5) of The Public Schools Act apply with necessary changes to a hearing of the Board of Reference.

Application — references to "local authority"

21.1(10)   A reference to a local authority in the following provisions is to be read as including a reserve, the residents of which are eligible to vote in a school board election held in the local authority:

(a) sections 4 and 11;

(b) subsections 13(3), 23(2), 28(3), 32(2) and 42(2);

(c) section 94;

(d) subclause 95(1)(c)(i);

(e) clause 152(1)(f).

Meaning of "reserve"

21.1(11)   In this section, "reserve" has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Indian Act (Canada).

PART 2
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACT

C.C.S.M. c. P250 amended

3   The Public Schools Act is amended by this Part.

4   The definition "voter" in subsection 1(1) is amended by striking out "section 21" and substituting "section 21 or 21.1".

5   The following is added after subsection 17(2):

Reserve lands may be included in areas and wards

17(2.1)   The minister may, in making a regulation under subsection (2), include lands within a reserve, as defined in the Indian Act (Canada), in an area or a ward despite the reserve not being in the northern school division if

(a) the council of the band requests the minister do so; and

(b) the territory of the reserve is entirely bounded by the boundaries of the northern school division.

Purpose

17(2.2)   The purpose of lands within a reserve being prescribed as an area or ward is to ensure that residents of the reserve are eligible to vote in an election of members of a local school committee and to be nominated for and elected as members of such a committee.

6   Clause 22(1)(c) is replaced with the following:

(c) is

(i) an actual resident in the school division or school district, or

(ii) an eligible voter in the school division or school district under section 21.1 of The Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act,

and will have been so for a period of at least six months at the date of the election; and

7   Subsection 24.2(5) is replaced with the following:

Qualifications of school trustees — prescribed ward

24.2(5)   A person is qualified to be nominated for and elected as a trustee under this section if the person

(a) is a Canadian citizen;

(b) is of the full age of 18 years or will be of the full age of 18 years at the date of the election;

(c) is

(i) an actual resident of the reserve, or

(ii) in the case of a resident of a reserve under subsection 21.1(6) of The Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act, an actual resident of the reserve lands within the urban municipality,

and will have been so for a period of at least six months at the date of the election; and

(d) is not disqualified under any other provision of this Act or under any other Act, and is not otherwise by law prohibited, from being a trustee or from voting at elections in the school division or school district.

8   The following is added after section 24.3:

School board shall not vary ward

24.4   A ward prescribed by regulation under section 24.2 is not subject to alteration under section 57.

9   Section 39.8 is amended by striking out "or" at the end of clauses (a) to (c) and replacing clause (e) with the following:

(e) ceases to be a resident of

(i) the school division or school district, or

(ii) in the case of a school division or school district in which the residents of a reserve are voters, as determined under section 21.1 of The Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act, the school division or school district or the reserve.

10   Clause 41(1)(d) and subsection 55(2) are amended by striking out "resident voter" wherever it occurs and substituting "voter".

11   In the following provisions, "resident voters" is struck out and "voters" is substituted:

(a) subsection 57(1) in the part before clause (a);

(b) subsection 57(2);

(c) subsection 57(8);

(d) subsection 58(1).

PART 3
TRANSITIONAL AND COMING INTO FORCE

Ward boundaries

12   In the case of a school division or school district divided into wards, the school board of the school division or school district must, within six months after the coming into force of this Act, enact a by-law to alter the boundaries of its existing wards if, as a result of the enactment of section 2 of this Act, such an amendment is required to ensure that each ward represents approximately the same number of eligible voters.

Effective for 2026 general election

13   For the purpose of any by-election held between the day this Act comes into force and the first general election held after that day, The Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act and The Public Schools Act are to be read without reference to the amendments made by this Act.

Coming into force

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