Today, the writ for the October 30 general election for all 22 Legislative Assembly Members’ seats is being issued after the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut was dissolved on September 24.

The order for the writ and the dissolution of the 4th Legislative Assembly of Nunavut was made pursuant to a Proclamation issued by the Commissioner of Nunavut. The 5th Legislative Assembly will convene on a future date not yet determined.

The pre-election period for prospective candidates began on June 27 and ended on September 25. This election will be the first time Nunavummiut born after the creation of Nunavut, on April 1, 1999, and who are 18 will be eligible to vote.

On September 18, British Columbia’s Attorney General David Eby submitted a new campaign bill in the Legislative Assembly that would prohibit corporation and union contributions and limit contributions from individuals to $1,200 a year.

The Election Amendment Act, 2017, would also ban out-of-province donations, place a cap on contributions to third-party election advertisers, reduce campaign spending limits for candidates and political parties, provide some public funding for political parties, create new fines and penalties, and require public reporting and set donation limits for specified fundraising functions.

The bill defines “specified fundraising function” to mean a fundraising function attended by a member of the Executive Council, a parliamentary secretary, or a leader of a major political party, and that is held to raise funds for a major political party, a candidate who is a representative of a major political party, a leadership contestant for a major political party, or a constituency association that is the local organization for a major political party.

On September 17, Elections Canada announced two by-elections for the House of Commons will be held on October 23.

The by-elections will be held for the electoral districts of Sturgeon River–Parkland in Alberta and the Lac-Saint-Jean in Quebec. Advance voting will run from the 13th to the 16th of October.

MP Rona Ambrose of Sturgeon River-Parkland resigned from politics in July.

MP Denis Lebel of Lac-Saint-Jean announced his retirement in June.

On September 25, the writ for the October 30 general election for all 22 Legislative Assembly Members’ seats will be issued.

The pre-election period for prospective candidates began on June 27 and will end on September 25.

This election will be the first time Nunavummiut born after the creation of Nunavut, on April 1, 1999, and who are 18 will be eligible to vote.

On October 2, a provincial byelection will be held in the Quebec City riding of Louis-Hébert for the Quebec National Assembly.

The election will be held to fill the vacant seat of former Member of the National Assembly Sam Hamad, who resigned in April to return to private life.

The election will fill the only remaining vacant seat in the National Assembly.

On August 28, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Bill Boyd resigned from the Saskatchewan Party Caucus, even though Boyd previously announced his resignation from the Legislative Assembly will be on Friday, September 1.

Boyd resigned at the request of Premier Brad Wall, whose request was based on the Conflict of Interest Commissioner’s finding Boyd violated the Conflict of Interest Act when Boyd inaccurately represented himself and the Government of Saskatchewan while on business in China.

MLA Boyd, who represents the Kindersley electoral district, was last elected in 2016 and had already announced earlier this month he was retiring on September 1, giving the reason that allowing a new MLA could be part of the Saskatchewan Party’s renewal.

On August 24, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy Foote announced her resignation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet. Foote will remain as a member of Parliament for the time being until the House of Commons resumes in September.

Since April, Foote, who represents Newfoundland and Labrador for the federal electoral district of Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, has been on leave for personal family medical reasons.

A video of Foote’s announcement of her resignation can be found here or viewed below.

Legislation to be submitted this fall may require increased reporting requirements for third parties involved in Canadian federal elections.

Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould, speaking with the National Post, suggested “her office is ‘looking at’ expanding reporting requirements beyond the six-month lead-up.” This and other changes to election law may be presented as legislation to the Parliament of Canada later this year.

Another proposed piece of legislation includes changing the time limit on election campaigns. Two previous pieces of campaign finance legislation, Bill C-33 and Bill C-50, are currently still in parliament.

Gould indicated there may be an additional election law related bill submitted, but stated, “I don’t want to present too many pieces of legislation,” according to the National Post.

In a video posted on YouTube, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall announced he is retiring from politics.

Wall will be leaving his office once the conservative Saskatchewan party, which controls the Legislative Assembly, selects a new leader.

In the video, posted on August 10 and entitled “Thank you, Saskatchewan,” Wall said, “Saskatchewan needs renewal: a fresh perspective in leadership.”

View the video below:

Lobbyists have until October 1 to file their first registration and return under New Brunswick’s new lobbying law. Because of some reported difficulties in filing, Integrity Commissioner Alexandre Deschênes extended the initial July deadline for filing. “After consulting widely, it is my view that the lobby registry system needs further improvements to allow easier access for lobbyists and to be more meaningful for public inspection,” said Deschênes in a news release.

The Office of the Integrity Commissioner, an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, is responsible for administering the Lobbyists’ Registration Act.

On June 22, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia will resume following an election without any clear mandate for the direction of the government.

The provincial election held last month produced no party winning with a majority in the 87-seat Assembly. A proclamation calling for the convening of the Assembly was confirmed by Judith Guichon, the 29th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia and the representative of the Crown in the province, and was released on June 12.

A speech from the Throne is expected in the afternoon of the 22nd.

On June 8, the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut adjourned for the summer.

Legislation considered by lawmakers this session included amendments to the Legal Profession Act, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and the Inuit Language Protection Act.

The Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on September 12 and to adjourn on September 19.

On June 6, the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada, adjourned for the summer.

Legislation passed during the 3^rd Session of the 29^th Legislature include Bill 8, entitled An Act to Strengthen Municipal Government and Bill 11, Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Amendment Act, 2017.

The Legislative Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on October 30, 2017, and to adjourn on December 7, 2017.

On June 8, Quebec’s Commissioner of Lobbying François Casgrain, scheduled to retire this month, urged lawmakers to pass lobbying law reform.

According to the Montreal Gazette, Casgrain, who is leaving the position after eight years due to health reasons, is disappointed with the lack of progress in updating the lobbying laws. Casgrain has pushed for the passage of Bill 56, the Lobbying Transparency Act, which was first introduced in 2015. The legislation would expand the scope of the definition of lobbyists to include shareholders lobbying for an entity as well as directors and officers of a nonprofit. The bill would also expand the types of activity considered to be lobbying and impose stricter penalties and higher fines on violators of the law.

Casgrain will step down as Commissioner of Lobbying on June 30.