Time to get into the weeds on statutory interpretation!  This is a hard one.  Listen to Podcast 24 (Mechanics of Statutory Interpretation). A video version of this podcast is posted here.  Read Forcese, Dodek et al, pp.435-451 (skim the tables, but don't try to memorize everything); pp.460-480; pp.487-489.  Read also Hasselwander.  Also, we will be playing with this case in practice (involving an Access to Information Act) on an appeal from Justice Kelen: Canada (Information Commissioner) v. Canada (Minister of National Defence).

Be prepared also to work with the hypothetical assigned to this practice, included in the playlist for this practice.

Statutory Interpretation Hypothetical

The preamble of the Ontario Municipal Elections Act reads, in part,

Whereas the Legislature of Ontario believes it fundamental to a democratic system that every citizen be entitled to vote;

Whereas the Legislature of Ontario believes in the fundamental notion of one person, one vote; ...

The relevant section of the Ontario Municipal Elections Act reads, in part

20. (1) Every person voting in the municipal election is entitled to only one vote.

(2)       Every person, including permanent residents, intending to vote must register with the Municipal Elections Board within 28 days of a municipal election being called.

(3)       Permanent residents may register by mail.

(4)       When registering, every person shall provide evidence of his or her permanent address.

(5)       A person found to be in conformity with this section shall be registered by the Registering Officer.

In Hansard, the following exchange appears regarding the Municipal Elections Act:

Opposition Member from Duck Lake: Madame Speaker, can the Minister of Municipal Affairs assure the Legislature that the new Act will prevent people who simply have summer cottages in the municipality in which the vote is being held, and who are there just on weekends, from voting?

Minister: Madame Speaker, the Honourable Member from Duck Lake need not quack in his boots. This new Act will ensure that only those citizens with a real and immediate interest in the municipality are able to vote. Cottage owners, who simply stay weekends, do not have such an interest.

“Person” and “permanent resident” are defined nowhere in the Act. However, there is one court case under the old Ontario Local Elections Act (that the new Act replaced) which defined “person” in the old Act as “any human being who has the municipality as his or her permanent address”.

Hans is a citizen of Germany and a tremendous fan of Canadian municipal politics. Finding it difficult to follow Canadian municipal politics in Germany, Hans decides to visit Canada during the summer of 2014. He arrives in Canada in June 2014 on a visitor’s visa. Coincidentally, while Hans is touring municipal buildings in Ottawa, he learns that a municipal election is due to be held in Ottawa in August. Looking forward to participating in his first Canadian municipal election, Hans goes to register two days after the election is called. The Registering Officer rejects Han’s application on the basis that Hans is not a Canadian citizen and merely a visitor to Ottawa. Disappointed and hurt, Hans brings an application for judicial review of the Registering Officer’s decision, arguing that the Officer was obliged to register Hans.

Prepare a memo for the Court on your view as to how the Court should proceed in this matter.