Bill 126 explained in plain English
Referendum Act, 2015
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Referendum Act, 2015, creates a process for Ontario voters to initiate referendums on matters within the provincial legislature's authority, requiring the government to act on the result if at least 50 per cent vote 'Yes'.
This bill, the Referendum Act, 2015, establishes a process for eligible voters in Ontario to initiate a province-wide referendum on questions within the legislative assembly's constitutional authority. It outlines procedures for applying for and returning a petition with signatures, the Chief Electoral Officer's role in determining the petition's validity, and the steps the government must take if a referendum question receives at least 50 per cent 'Yes' votes. The Act also includes rules for petition and referendum campaign financing, the conduct of referendums, and modifications to the Election Act for referendums. The bill comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Establishes a process for eligible voters to initiate a province-wide referendum.
- Defines the requirements for a petition, including its content, signature thresholds, and submission deadlines.
- Outlines the powers and duties of the Chief Electoral Officer in managing the petition and referendum process.
- Sets rules for the financing of campaigns related to petitions and referendums.
- Specifies the consequences of a referendum, requiring government action (regulation or legislation) if at least 50 per cent of valid ballots are 'Yes'.
- Modifies the application of the Election Act and Election Finances Act for the purposes of referendums.
- Creates offences and penalties related to contraventions of the Act.
- Registered voters in Ontario
- Chief Electoral Officer
- Proponents of petitions
- Registered petition campaign organizers
- Referendum campaign organizers
- The Government of Ontario
- The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- Persons who contribute to petition campaigns
- Broadcasters and publishers involved in advertising
- Registered voters have the right to apply to initiate a referendum petition.
- A proponent has 60 days to collect signatures for a petition.
- The Chief Electoral Officer has the duty to verify petitions and determine their validity.
- The government is obligated to implement a referendum result if at least 50 per cent vote 'Yes'.
- Registered petition campaign organizers have obligations regarding registration, financing, and reporting.
- Registered canvassers have obligations regarding conduct and identification.
- Individuals are prohibited from voting more than once or if not qualified.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent. (Section 27)
- A petition must be returned to the Chief Electoral Officer within 60 days of being issued. (Section 4 (1) (c))
- The Chief Electoral Officer must determine the validity of a petition within 30 days of receiving it. (Section 6 (1))
- Information published on the Chief Electoral Officer's website must remain available for at least six years after original publication. (Section 17 (4))
- Prosecutions must be initiated within two years of the facts becoming known to the Chief Electoral Officer. (Section 22 (8))
- A processing fee for petition applications may be specified by regulations. (Section 2 (4))
- An application fee for registering as a petition campaign organizer may be specified by regulations. (Section 8 (4))
- There is a limit of $7,500 (multiplied by an indexing factor) that a person or body can contribute to a group promoting the same result on a petition during a petition period. (Section 11 (1))
- Petition campaign contributions are not eligible for political contribution tax credits under the Taxation Act, 2007. (Section 10 (2))
- The costs of the returning officer and election clerk during a recount related to a referendum will be paid by the Province of Ontario if the judge makes no provision for costs. (Table 2, Items 14 and 15)
- Contravention of general provisions of the Act for which no specific penalty is provided is an offence liable to a fine of not more than $5,000. (Section 21)
- Knowingly contravening regulations for referendum campaigns, making false statements in documents filed with the Chief Electoral Officer, or giving false information to a chief financial officer are offences.
- Penalties for referendum campaign offences are a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual or $50,000 for a corporation, trade union, or other body. (Section 22 (4))
- Prosecutions require the consent of the Chief Electoral Officer. (Section 22 (7))
- The specific content of regulations regarding processing fees, application fees, and other procedural details is not provided in the Act text.
- The exact criteria for registering a petition campaign organizer and the specific provisions that may be modified or exempted under the Election Finances Act or for referendum campaigns are to be detailed in regulations.
- The Act does not specify what constitutes 'reasonably possible' for the government to implement a referendum result, or what 'legally possible' means for implementation via regulation.
- The specific monetary value for certain actions or thresholds related to petition campaign advertising and spending may be subject to regulations or indexing factors not detailed within the Act's text.
The Act will apply to referendums with necessary modifications, treating the referendum like a general election and the writ for the referendum like a writ of election. Specific rules for the referendum ballot, recounts, and the presence of observers are detailed, and certain sections of the Election Act are replaced or adapted for referendums.
Source: Sections 13, 14, 15, 16, Tables 1 and 2
Certain sections of this Act will apply to registered petition campaign organizers, petition campaign contributions, and petition campaign advertising. These sections will be read with references to 'registered candidate' as 'registered petition campaign organizer', 'campaign period' or 'election period' as 'petition period', and 'polling day' as the day a petition is returned. Regulations may also be made to specify which provisions do not apply or are modified for petition campaigns.
Source: Section 7
Petition campaign contributions are explicitly stated as not being eligible contributions for the purposes of subdivision f of Division B of Part III or section 102 of the Taxation Act, 2007.
Source: Section 10 (2)
For investigations or examinations under this Act, the Chief Electoral Officer has the powers of a commission under section 33 of the Public Inquiries Act, 2009.
Source: Section 18 (1)
The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations to specify various aspects of the Act, including qualifications for organizers, rules for referendum campaigns and finances, and advertising.
Source: Section 26
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced