Bill C-37 · 41th Parliament · Stephen Harper
Riding Name Change Act, 2014
An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts and to amend the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act
Government bill. Became law.
- IntroducedJune 6, 2014
- Debated in principleJune 6, 2014
- Studied by a committeeDone
- Passed its first chamberJune 6, 2014
- Passed the second chamberJune 17, 2014
- Became lawJune 18, 2014
Leading supporters
Ranked by the part each played: who is responsible for the bill, who carried it, and who spoke for it most.
- Stephen HarperPrime Minister
Who carries this bill
Arrows run from the person responsible to those who answer to them on this bill. The critic leads the Senate’s scrutiny and answers to no one on it.
What it set out to do
The Library of Parliament does not prepare Legislative Summaries for bills debated under urgency and emergency. The following is a short summary: On 6 June 2014, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons introduced Bill C-37, An Act to change the names of certain electoral districts and to amend the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act (Riding Name Change Act, 2014) in the House of Commons and it was given first reading. Bill C-37 changes the names of 30 electoral districts (in Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia) and amends the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act to change the name of the electoral district of the Northwest Territories.
Summary by the Library of Parliament.
Where members stand
Votes and debate for this bill have not been read yet.
How it changed on the way
The texts have not been compared yet.
How precisely it is written
preciseChallenging the law: HardDisputing a charge: Hard
The bill uses exact statutory references and mechanical substitutions to rename 30 ridings and one territory. Every operative clause identifies a specific paragraph in the 2013 representation order and states the precise old and new names.
Clear-cut
“substituting the name "Thérèse-De Blainville" for the name "Blainville"”
Names the exact paragraph and the two literal strings to be swapped, leaving no interpretive room.“Section 30 of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act is replaced by the follow”
Directly replaces an entire section with fixed geographic descriptions drawn from other statutes.“This Act may be cited as the Riding Name Change Act, 2014”
Provides a single, unambiguous short title with no discretion or undefined terms.
Discretion. No power is delegated to ministers, officials or regulations; all changes are enacted directly by Parliament.
Challenging the law itself. The Act merely renames districts and engages no Charter rights; a vagueness or overbreadth claim would fail on the face of the text.
Disputing a charge under it. The statute creates no offences or duties for individuals, so no accused could plausibly dispute compliance.
Read by a language model from the royal assent text; every quoted phrase appears in the bill. A reading of the drafting, not legal advice.
Did it work?
no evaluation found
Who lobbied on it
No lobbying registration naming this bill is loaded.
Stages and dates from LEGISinfo.