Compliance Agreements

Commissioner Of Canada Elections

Canada Elections Act

Compliance agreement

This notice is published by the Commissioner of Canada Elections, pursuant to section 521 of the Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000, c. 9.

On August 24, 2016, the Commissioner of Canada Elections entered into a compliance agreement with 0907301 B.C. Ltd., pursuant to section 517 of the Canada Elections Act. The text of the compliance agreement is set out in full below.

August 30, 2016

Yves Côté, QC

Commissioner of Canada Elections

Compliance Agreement

Pursuant to section 517 of the Canada Elections Act (the Act), the Commissioner of Canada Elections (the Commissioner) and 0907301 B.C. Ltd. (the Contracting Party), enter into this agreement aimed at ensuring compliance with the Act.

The provisions of the Act that are applicable are subsection 132(1) and paragraph 489(1)(a), which make it an offence for an employer to fail to allow the time off work necessary during an employee's hours of work that would enable the employee to have three consecutive hours for the purpose of casting a vote on polling day.

Statements of the Contracting Party

For the purpose of this Compliance Agreement, the Contracting Party acknowledges the following:

• Mr. Philip Muise, sole proprietor and President of 0907301 B.C. Ltd., is entering into this compliance agreement on behalf of the Contracting Party, and has the authority to do so.
• Section 132 of the Act provides that most employees – other than some employees working for certain transportation companies – are entitled to have three consecutive hours for the purpose of casting their vote on polling day. If an employee's hours of work do not allow for those three consecutive hours on polling day, the employer must allow the time for voting that is necessary to provide those three consecutive hours.
• The Contracting Party operates a business that offers complete automotive services in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
• Polling day for the 42^nd federal general election was on October 19, 2015, and the voting hours in Nanaimo were from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.
• On the morning of polling day, employees of the Contracting Party were informed that the business would close at 4:00 pm to provide them with their three consecutive hours to vote. However, at about 3:30 pm that day, an assistant manager for the Contracting Party decided to keep the business open and refused to allow employees to leave early. The assistant manager stated that employees should have voted at the advance polls.
• As a result, the Contracting Party failed to provide the time off work that was necessary to allow one of its employees who was a qualified elector to have three consecutive hours during which to vote.
• The Contracting Party acknowledges and accepts responsibility for these acts.
• The Contracting Party understands that acknowledgement of non-compliance does not constitute a guilty plea in the criminal sense and that no record of conviction is created as a result of admitting responsibility for acts that could constitute an offence.
• The Contracting Party acknowledges that the Commissioner has advised it of its right to be represented by counsel and it has had the opportunity to obtain counsel.

Factors considered by the Commissioner

In entering into this Compliance Agreement, the Commissioner took into account the factors set out in paragraph 32 of the Compliance and Enforcement Policy of the Commissioner of Canada Elections, including the fact that the Contracting Party cooperated with the investigation into this matter.

Undertaking and agreement

The Contracting Party undertakes to develop and adopt a policy – the terms of which are acceptable to the Commissioner – within 30 days of the signing of this Compliance Agreement. This policy shall:

• give effect to its employees' entitlements under sections 132 and 133 of the Act in the future; and,
• include provisions indicating that the policy will be communicated to supervisors and employees of the Contracting Party after the issue of the writ for any federal election in an electoral district where such employees who are qualified electors could exercise their right to vote on polling day.

The Contracting Party undertakes to provide evidence to the Commissioner that the policy described in the preceding paragraph has been adopted within 30 days of the signing of this compliance agreement.

The Contracting Party undertakes to prepare a notice, the contents of which must be entirely satisfactory to the Commissioner, summarising the facts related to this matter and the contents of this Compliance Agreement. The proposed text is to be provided to the Commissioner within 30 days of receipt of a copy of this agreement signed by the Commissioner.

The Contracting Party undertakes to post the notice described in the preceding paragraph at its business premises in Nanaimo, British Columbia, in a conspicuous location where it is readily visible to its employees, for a minimum period of 30 days beginning as soon as practicable after the Commissioner has approved its content. The Contracting Party further undertakes to provide evidence to the Commissioner that this undertaking has been complied with.

The Contracting Party undertakes to publish the contents of the notice referred to in the foregoing two paragraphs, at its own cost, with prominent format and placement acceptable to the Commissioner, in one edition of a local newspaper in Nanaimo, British Columbia, and to provide a copy of that publication to the Commissioner as evidence of compliance with this undertaking within 30 days of the Commissioner having approved the content of the notice.

The Contracting Party undertakes to comply with the relevant provisions of the Act in the future.

The Contracting Party consents to the publication of this Compliance Agreement in the Canada Gazette and on the Commissioner's Web site.

The Commissioner agrees that the fulfilment by the Contracting Party of its undertaking in this Compliance Agreement will constitute compliance with the agreement.

Pursuant to subsection 517(8) of the Act, the Commissioner and the Contracting Party recognize that once this Compliance Agreement is entered into, the Commissioner will be prevented from referring this matter for prosecution to the Director of Public Prosecutions unless there is non-compliance with the terms of the Compliance Agreement, and in any event, the Director of Public Prosecutions cannot institute such a prosecution unless non-compliance is established.