Letter to Senior Election Officer

September 20, 2006

Mr. Marc Lemoine
Senior Election Official
City of Winnipeg Election Office
Council Building, 510 Main Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 1B9

Dear Mr. Lemoine:

Re: Candidate's party affiliation on ballots

I am writing to confirm that the name of my political party affiliation, the Winnipeg Green Party, will appear on the ballot in the ward in which I am a candidate.

Subsection 55(1) of The Municipal Councils and School Boards Elections Act (Manitoba) provides the rules for ballots, the first two of which are:

Rules for ballots

55(1) The following rules apply to ballots:

1. Each candidate's name, as the candidate provided it on his or her nomination paper, must appear on the front of the ballot.

2. No reference to a candidate's occupation, degree, title, honour or decoration may appear on the ballot.

Rule 1 is mandatory; it says that the candidate's name "must" appear on the ballot "as the candidate provided it on his or her nomination paper, not as the senior election official says it is.

Although mandatory, Rule 1 is inclusive only; it does not exclude other information.

Rule 2, on the other hand, is exclusive; it excludes five, but only five, things. Party affiliation is not one of the exclusions.

Rule 2 is not open-ended; it does not end with words such as "and the like" which would permit a wider interpretation of exclusions besides the five specifically named.

There is a presumption of statutory interpretation that a legislature does not enact provisions that are meaningless or redundant; courts should presume that the legislature intended every provision to have meaning. The Legislative Assembly enacted Rule 2 because Rule 1, by itself, does not exclude the five things referred to in Rule 2. But that means that Rule 1 does not exclude anything else besides the five things, including party affiliation.

The Government of Manitoba Companies Office accepted the Winnipeg Green Party's filing of a notation of name under section 11(3) of The Corporations Act (Manitoba), registration number is 5271045, on March 21, 2006. I have attached a copy of the accepted registration document from the Companies Office for your reference. The registration of the notation of name should be sufficient evidence of the Winnipeg Green Party's legal status and legitimacy.

Please confirm in writing that my name will appear on the ballot including the words "Winnipeg Green Party". If you are unable to do so, please provide me with your detailed reason(s) for not so doing in writing.

Subparagraph 14.05(c)(iv) of the Queen's Bench Rules permits citizens to apply to the Court of Queen's Bench inter alia to determine rights which depend upon the interpretation of a statute, by-law or other enactment. I would consider bringing an application to the Court to consider this question if I am not satisfied by the reasons for any refusal to include our party affiliation. I suggest that you refer the question to the City Solicitor for her opinion.

On behalf of myself and our party, I thank you for your consideration.

Yours truly,

Markus Buchart
Candidate, St. Vital Ward