Editing Recall election (section)

=== Canada ===
An attempt at introducing recall legislation for Canada's federal [[Parliament]] was brought in October 1999 by [[Reform Party of Canada|Reform Party]] opposition member [[Ted White (politician)|Ted White]] through a private members bill entitled ''Bill C 269, the Recall Act (An Act to establish the right of electors to recall members of Parliament.)''.<ref>https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/36-2/bill/C-269/first-reading/ BILL C-269</ref> However, the legislation stalled and did not progress past [[first reading]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://openparliament.ca/bills/36-2/C-269/ | title=Bill C-269 (Historical) &#124; openparliament.ca }}</ref>

As such, no nation-wide recall statute exists, but two provinces, Alberta and [[British Columbia]]<ref name = "cbc recall">{{cite news |title=Citizens need power to recall politicians, expert says |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/citizens-need-power-to-recall-politicians-expert-says-1.1301005 |access-date=May 26, 2020 |work=CBC News |date=March 21, 2013}}</ref><ref name="elections bc" />  have recall laws on the books.

==== Alberta ====
The province of [[Alberta]] enacted recall legislation for Members of the Legislative Assembly in 1936 during the [[Alberta Social Credit Party|Social Credit]] government of [[William Aberhart]].<ref name = "cbc recall" /> The legislation was repealed after a petition was introduced for the recall of Aberhart himself.<ref name = "cbc recall"/><ref>{{cite journal |first=Don |last=Rowat |title=Our Referendums are not Direct Democracy |journal=[[Canadian Parliamentary Review]] |date=1998 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=25–27 |url=http://www.revparl.ca/21/3/21n3_98e_Rowat.pdf}}</ref>

In 2020, the Government of Alberta announced it will introduce a bill allowing recall elections for Members of the Legislative Assembly, municipal governments, and school boards.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bellefontaine |first1=Michelle |title=Alberta government plans to table recall legislation for MLAs, local councils |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-throne-speech-recall-legislation-1.5475599 |access-date=May 26, 2020 |work=CBC News |date=February 25, 2020}}</ref> This bill, Bill 52, was passed and received Royal Assent June 17, 2021, and came into effect on April 7, 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Recall and Initiative |url=https://www.elections.ab.ca/recall-initiative/ |website=Elections Alberta |access-date=September 18, 2021}}</ref>

==== New Brunswick ====
Recall was available in New Brunswick in the early 20th century. A successful recall election took place in Saint John in late 1918.<ref>{{cite news |title=St. John Commissioners Recalled in Election, Official Heads Lost Jobs as Result of Dismissing Policemen |work=The Calgary Daily Herald |date=December 31, 1918 |page=7 |id={{ProQuest|2252602942}}}}</ref>

==== British Columbia ====
British Columbia's ''Recall and Initiative Act'', enacted in 1995, provides a process for recalling members of the [[Legislative Assembly of British Columbia]].<ref name="elections bc">{{cite web |title=Recall |url=https://elections.bc.ca/recall-initiative/recall/ |website=Elections BC |date=13 December 2016 |access-date=May 26, 2020}}</ref> Voters in a provincial [[electoral district (Canada)|riding]] can petition to have their Member of the Legislative Assembly removed from office once said MLA has been in office for at least 18 months. If over 40 percent of registered voters in the riding sign the petition and the petition is validated by [[Elections BC]], the Chief Electoral Officer informs the [[Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia|Speaker of the Legislative Assembly]] and the member in question that the member has been recalled and their seat vacated. A [[by-election]] is called by the [[Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia]] as soon as possible to fill the vacant seat. The recalled MLA is permitted to run in the by-election for their former seat. Twenty-six recall petitions have been launched {{As of|2020|lc=y}}; of the six completed petitions returned to Elections BC, five were rejected for having too few valid signatures.<ref name="elections bc" /> The sixth, on the recall of MLA  [[Paul Reitsma]], was halted after Reitsma resigned in 1998 during the secondary verification stage.<ref name = "cbc recall" />