Application Approved for Initiative Petition on Surrey Policing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2021

VICTORIA – An initiative petition application has been approved under the Recall and Initiative Act. The petition is titled Initiative to conduct a Surrey policing binding referendum, and will be issued to proponent Darlene Bennett on Monday, August 16, 2021. Signature sheets must be submitted to Elections BC by Monday, November 15, 2021.

Any registered voter in British Columbia can apply to have a petition issued under the Recall and Initiative Act to gather support for a legislative proposal. Applications are approved if the legislative proposal is clear and unambiguous and within the jurisdiction of the provincial legislature. Elections BC reviews applications based on these legislated requirements. It does not take a position on the subject of a petition or the merits of a legislative proposal.

The following is a summary of the petition’s legislative proposal:

The purpose of the draft Bill is to have the provincial government conduct a regional binding referendum in the City of Surrey on the question of whether the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP] should be retained as the police service or whether a proposed Surrey Police Service should replace the RCMP.

This Bill would require the government to utilize the BC Referendum Act Section 1 (2) c, which allows the Lieutenant Governor in Council “to designate the area of British Columbia within which the referendum will be held.”

If held, the referendum would be comprised of a single question regarding whether to retain the RCMP as Surrey’s police service or create a new Surrey Police Service, as proposed. The referendum would be binding under Section 4 of the BC Referendum Act.

After the petition is issued on August 16, the proponent will have 90 days to collect signatures from at least 10% of the registered voters in each of British Columbia’s 87 electoral districts. The 10% signature threshold must be met in every electoral district in order for the petition to be successful.

Individuals or organizations who intend to oppose the initiative, conduct initiative advertising, or canvass for signatures must be registered with Elections BC. The deadline to apply to be an opponent of the initiative is Monday, July 19, 2021.

Registered voters as of Monday, August 16, 2021 may sign the petition once, and only for the electoral district in which they are registered.

This is the second initiative petition application to be approved in 2021, and the fourteenth petition approved since the Recall and Initiative Act came into force in 1995.

Links:

• Summary of Legislative Proposal
• Initiative FAQs
• Initiative Petition Timeline
• Summary of Initiative Petitions

Attachments:
Backgrounder: Facts about Initiative                                                   

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Contact:

Andrew Watson
Director, Communications
Elections BC
Phone: 250-387-1709
Email: Andrew.Watson@elections.bc.ca
Website: elections.bc.ca

Elections BC is the independent, non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for administering electoral processes in British Columbia under provincial legislation, including the Election Act, Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, Recall and Initiative Act and Referendum Act.

 

BACKGROUNDER
June 17, 2021

FACTS ABOUT INITIATIVE

The Recall and Initiative Act is administered by the Chief Electoral Officer. The Act allows registered voters in British Columbia to propose new laws or changes to existing laws.

Any registered voter (“the proponent”) can submit an application to the Chief Electoral Officer to have a petition issued to gather support for a legislative proposal. A completed application consists of a fully complete and signed application form, a copy of the draft Bill, and a non-refundable $50 processing fee. The draft Bill must be on a matter within the jurisdiction of the provincial legislature and must be written in a clear and unambiguous manner. Approval in principle of an application is officially granted at the time a Notice of Petition is published in the British Columbia Gazette.

Individuals and organizations may apply to be an opponent to an initiative petition within 30 days of approval in principle.

Sixty days after the notice is published in the Gazette, the Chief Electoral Officer issues the proponent an original petition signature sheet and cover sheet for each electoral district. The proponent is responsible for organizing volunteer canvassers to gather signatures in support of the petition, in each electoral district in the province. Canvassers must follow the rules set out in the Initiative Petition Administration Regulation. An initiative petition must be signed and returned to the Chief Electoral Officer within 90 days from the date on which it is issued.

To be successful, the petition must be signed within the 90-day canvassing period by at least 10% of the registered voters in each electoral district in the province. To sign the petition, voters must be registered on the date the petition was issued. The proponent must comply with the initiative financing provisions. If these requirements are met, the Chief Electoral Officer must send a copy of the verified petition and draft Bill to a Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives.

The Select Standing Committee must meet within 30 days of receipt of the petition and draft Bill. From their first meeting, the Committee has 90 days to consider the legislative proposal and either table a report recommending introduction of the draft Bill, or refer the initiative to the Chief Electoral Officer for an initiative vote. Initiative votes are scheduled every three years. If required, the next initiative vote will be on September 30, 2023. Individuals and organizations may apply to be an opponent to an initiative vote within 30 days after the day on which notice of the vote is published in the Gazette.

For an initiative vote to be successful, the majority of registered voters in the province must vote in favour of the initiative and more than 50% of registered voters in at least two-thirds of the electoral districts in the province must vote in favour of the initiative. If successful, government must introduce the initiative Bill at the earliest practical opportunity.

Fourteen initiative petition applications have received approval in principle since the Recall and Initiative Act was brought into force in February of 1995.

One initiative petition, the 2010 HST Initiative Petition, met the requirements and was sent with the draft Bill to the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives.

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Contact:

Andrew Watson
Director, Communications
Elections BC
Phone: 250-387-1709
Email: Andrew.Watson@elections.bc.ca
Website: elections.bc.ca 

Elections BC is the independent, non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for administering electoral processes in British Columbia under provincial legislation, including the Election Act, Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, Recall and Initiative Act and Referendum Act.