Canada Elections Act — E-2.01 59
Withdrawal of writ 59 (1) The Governor in Council may order the withdrawal of a writ for any electoral district for which the Chief Electoral Officer certifies that by reason of a flood, fire or other disaster it is impracticable to carry out the provisions of this Act. Duties of Chief Electoral Officer (2) If the Governor in Council orders the withdrawal of a writ, the Chief Electoral Officer shall publish a notice of the withdrawal in the Canada Gazette and, on being ordered by the Governor in Council to do so, shall, within three months after the date of publication of the notice, issue a new writ ordering an election to be held. Polling day (3) The day named in the new writ for polling day is determined by the Governor in Council, but may be no later than the 50th day after the day on which the new writ was issued. Postponement of election and new polling day (4) If the Chief Electoral Officer certifies that by reason of a flood, fire or other disaster it is impracticable to carry out the provisions of this Act with regard to an electoral district, but the Governor in Council is of the opinion that the withdrawal of the writ under subsection (1) is not warranted, the Governor in Council may, by order, postpone the election by up to seven days for that electoral district and, correspondingly, extend the election period and fix the date for the new polling day. Postponement of election — rules (5) If the Governor in Council orders the postponement of an election for an electoral district under subsection (4), then, in respect of that electoral district, the following rules apply in respect of any time period before polling day specified under this Act: (a) if this Act authorizes or requires anything to be done on a day that is a certain number of days before polling day or done within a period that ends before polling day, and the day occurs or the period ends before the day on which the postponement order is made, then polling day is deemed to still be the day fixed under paragraph 57(1.2)(c) and not the day fixed under subsection (4); (b) if this Act authorizes or requires anything to be done within a period that ends on or before polling day and the period ends on or after the day on which the postponement order is made, then (i) anything done as authorized or required on or before the day on which the postponement order is made is valid, and (ii) in respect of anything not done as authorized or required on or before that day, the period during which the thing is authorized or required to be done is extended by the number of days by which the election is postponed; (c) if this Act authorizes or requires anything to be done on a day that is a certain number of days before polling day and that day occurs on the day on which the postponement order is made, then (i) anything done as authorized or required on that day is valid, and (ii) in respect of anything not done as authorized or required on that day, the day on which the thing is authorized or required to be done is postponed by the number of days by which the election is postponed; (d) if a period is extended under subparagraph (b)(ii) or a day is postponed under subparagraph (c)(ii), then any mention of a number of days before polling day prevails over any mention of a day of the week before polling day; and (e) for the purposes of this subsection, if the original polling day fixed under paragraph 57(1.2)(c) is a Tuesday because of section 56.2 or subsection 57(4), it is deemed to be a Monday. 2000, c. 9, s. 59 2018, c. 31, s. 48