Political Financing Handbook for Nomination Contestants and Financial Agents (EC 20182) – March 2019 – DRAFT guideline OGI 2019-03

11. Nomination Contestant's Litigation Expenses

This chapter discusses the nomination contestant's litigation expenses and reporting requirements. It covers the following topics:

• What are the contestant's litigation expenses?
• Who can incur and pay the contestant's litigation expenses?

What are the contestant's litigation expenses?

Litigation expenses of a nomination contestant are expenses for any of the following related to the campaign:

• an application to a judge related to the financial administration of the campaign (extension requests, relief from the obligation to file a corrected return, payment authorizations, etc.)
• an appeal or judicial review related to the requests or applications above

Litigation expenses do not count against the nomination contest expenses limit.

Who can incur and pay the contestant's litigation expenses?

Only the nomination contestant or the financial agent can incur the contestant's litigation expenses.

Anyone can pay litigation expenses of the contestant. They can be paid:

• by the financial agent from the campaign bank account
• by the contestant using their own funds, including funds provided by another person or group for that purpose
• by any person or group directly, using their own funds, with the contestant's consent

The following table explains different scenarios for paying litigation expenses other than from the campaign bank account.

Payment source	What to keep in mind
Contestant pays a litigation expense and intends to be repaid by the campaign	The campaign has to repay the contestant within 36 months after the selection date (or election day, if the selection date falls within an election period or within 30 days before it). After that date, the repayment cannot be made without prior authorization from Elections Canada or a judge.
Contestant or others pay a litigation expense and do not intend to be repaid	The contestant, other person or group makes the payment without going through the campaign bank account. It is not a contribution but must still be reported in the contestant's return.

Note: After sending the Nomination Contestant's Statement of Expenses to the financial agent, if the contestant or others pay a litigation expense, the contestant must send details of the expense and proof of payment to the financial agent as soon as possible. The financial agent will need to submit a revised contestant's return. See Additional reporting in Chapter 13, Reporting.

• Previous
• Table of Contents
• Next