Highlights of the New Canada Elections Act

The new Canada Elections Act introduced by Bill C-2, which came into force on September 1, 2000, does not alter the voting process itself, but modifies the federal electoral system to make it more accessible, fair and transparent.

• The Canada Elections Act has been reorganized and clarified to make it easier to apply.
  
  
• Election advertising by third parties is regulated. Third parties are groups or persons other than candidates, registered parties, or electoral district associations of registered parties.
  
  
• The publication or broadcasting of election advertising and new election opinion surveys is prohibited on election day, until all polling stations in the electoral district are closed.
  
  
• Disclosure of financial information by registered parties is subject to more rigorous reporting requirements.
  
  
• The Commissioner of Canada Elections is empowered to enter into compliance agreements and to seek injunctions during a campaign to require compliance with the Act.
  
  
• The new Act provides for other administrative changes to improve the accessibility of our electoral system.

The new Canada Elections Act reflects recommendations made by the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing in 1992, by the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada in reports to Parliament in 1996 and 1997, and by the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, in a report tabled in 1998. It also addresses decisions by the Alberta Court of Appeal (Somerville, 1996), the Supreme Court of Canada (Thomson Newspapers, 1998 and Libman, 1997), and the Ontario Court (General Division) (Figueroa, 1999). The new measures build on amendments to the Canada Elections Act in 1992, 1993 and 1996.

Third parties

The $1 000 spending limit on third party advertising set out in the 1993 amendments to the Canada Elections Act is no longer enforced after those provisions in the Act were invalidated in the Somerville decision in 1993 and (on appeal) in 1996.

Under the new Act, third parties must register with the Chief Electoral Officer during an election campaign, after having incurred $500 on election advertising that promotes or opposes a party or candidate. They are allowed to spend up to a total of $150 000 on advertising, of which no more than $3 000 may be spent in any single electoral district.

Third parties are subject to the same rules as registered parties and candidates relating to the blackout on election advertising at the end of the campaign. After an election, they are required to produce a financial report on election advertising expenses and the source of the funds financing the advertising. However, they are not entitled to reimbursements, do not have access to the voters lists, and are not entitled as third parties to issue tax receipts for contributions they receive.

The new Act corrects an imbalance in the area of election advertising. Since the Somerville decision, third parties and candidates were able to advertise without restriction during the entire election campaign. The decision did not change the Act’s prohibition against advertising by registered parties at the beginning and at the end of the election period. To ensure equal treatment for all electoral participants, the new Act places a blackout on broadcasting or publishing election advertising by registered parties, candidates and third parties on election day. The blackout applies to most media, but not to billboards and signs.

Since the Supreme Court decision in the Thomson Newspapers case, the results of election opinion surveys could have been published at any time during an election campaign. The new Act imposes a blackout on publishing or broadcasting new survey results on election day.

The first media outlet to release the results of an election opinion survey, and any other outlet broadcasting or publishing them during the next 24 hours, must also publish the survey methodology, including the survey’s sponsor, who conducted it, when it was held, the population from which the survey sample was drawn, the number of people contacted to participate, and the margin of error.

The last major reform to the financing laws for parties and candidates took place in 1974.

Under the new Act, registered parties must produce more detailed financial reports, including a statement of assets and liabilities, a statement of all sources of revenue and contributions, and the details of transfers of funds to candidates, electoral district associations, and trust funds established for the election of a candidate. For each trust fund they create for an election, registered parties must also produce an audited statement of revenue and expenses.

Registered parties that qualify receive reimbursement only for election expenses that have actually been paid, rather than for their declared election expenses (which can include donated goods or services).

Registered parties, candidates and third parties are required to disclose the addresses, in addition to the names, of all donors who contributed over $200, including donors who contributed through an electoral district association or through a trust fund established for the election of a candidate. If the donor that contributed more than $200 is a numbered company, the name of its chief executive officer or president must be disclosed.

Any party created by the merger of two or more registered parties may keep the assets of the constituent parties.

A registered party that fails to endorse candidates in at least 50 electoral districts in a general election may retain its assets, so long as it fulfills the reporting and other requirements of the Act.

The Income Tax Act is amended to increase the threshold for receiving the 75 percent tax credit for political donations from $100 to $200.

The Canada Elections Act previously in effect could only be enforced through the criminal courts. Under the new Act, the Commissioner of Canada Elections – who is responsible for enforcing the Act – has the authority to resolve contraventions through remedial rather than punitive measures in appropriate cases.

As an alternative to prosecution, the Commissioner has the authority to conclude a compliance agreement with anyone the Commissioner believes on reasonable grounds has committed or will commit an offence. Such agreements are based on the voluntary agreement of the violator to comply with the requirements of the Act, and to publish the agreement.

The Commissioner may also seek an injunction from a court to put an immediate end to an activity or situation that, in the Commissioner’s opinion, could compromise the fairness of an election campaign.

The new Act includes a number of administrative changes, some of which affect electors more directly.

For example, during an election period, a tenant has the right to post election posters on the premises that he or she leases in an apartment building, and it is illegal for the landlord to prohibit this kind of poster advertising. However, the landlord may set reasonable conditions for the size and type of posters, and to prohibit posters in common areas. During an election period, it is also illegal to deny candidates or their representatives access to an apartment building from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The same rules apply to condominiums. However, under the Act, persons who are responsible for a dwelling for people under reasonable apprehension of bodily harm are authorized to refuse access.

The Chief Electoral Officer is empowered to adjust voting hours in regions that do not switch to daylight saving time.

Voting hours for all by-elections held on the same day in the same time zone now run from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., local time. For by-elections held on the same day but in different time zones, staggered voting hours apply.

The Chief Electoral Officer is authorized to develop and test electronic voting techniques during an election, with the prior approval of the committee of the House of Commons that considers electoral matters.

For more information, please contact:

Elections Canada
257 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0M6

Telephone

1 800 INFO-VOTE (1 800 463-6868)
toll-free in Canada and the United States

001 800 514-6868
toll-free in Mexico

(613) 993-2975
from anywhere in the world

For people who are deaf or hard of hearing:
TTY 1 800 361-8935
toll-free in Canada and the United States

E-mail

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September 2000