Appendix A: Questionnaire – Report on the Survey of Registered Third Parties for the 43rd General Election: Wave 2 Final Report

Programming notes – variables available

Currently available

• Application date [DD-MMM-YY]
• Registration date [DD-MMM-YY]
• If financial agent is also applicant [Y/N]
• Province […]
• Type of third party [Individual (1), Group without a governing body (2), Group with a governing body (3), Corporation (4)]
• Number of interim returns submitted [0 - 4]

Available in the electoral campaign returns

• Amount of contributions
• Amount of expenses by category

May be available in the future

• If registered in 2015 [Y/N]

Introduction

Hello! Thank you for participating in this follow-up survey of Financial Agents of Registered Third Parties. Your input is important and your continued participation in this research is much appreciated. This survey is being conducted by Forum Research on behalf of Elections Canada. The purpose of this survey is to understand registered third parties' experiences, opinions and attitudes about the third-party political financing regime. This survey should take about 5–10 minutes to complete. It is anonymous and voluntary, and your responses will not be used to identify you in any way.

To verify that this survey is run by Elections Canada, you can call their toll-free number at 1-800-463-6868. Their hours of operation are Monday to Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time).

Any personal information collected is subject to the federal Privacy Act and will be held in strict confidence. By taking part in this survey, you consent to the use of your answers for research and statistical purposes. The anonymous database of all responses may be shared with external researchers under the strict condition that no personal information is ever distributed or made public.

Screening

If you were the financial agent for more than one registered third party, please base your answers on the one that had the highest amount of expenses.

In this survey, we will ask you about a number of the tasks that registered third parties are required to undertake, the services that are offered to them, and your thoughts and opinions about the third-party regime in general. Please answer to the best of your knowledge on behalf of your third party as a whole. If you have no knowledge of something that is touched upon, please feel free to respond that you don't know.

Electoral campaign return

Ease of electoral campaign return process

First, we would like to ask you about the electoral campaign return that your third party completed within four months of election day.

Ease of finding electoral campaign return form

1. Were you the person responsible for finding the electoral campaign return form on the Elections Canada website?
   1. Yes
   2. No [Terminate]
   3. Don't know [Terminate]
2. How easy or difficult was it to find the electoral campaign return form on the Elections Canada website?
   1. Very easy
   2. Somewhat easy
   3. Somewhat difficult
   4. Very difficult
   5. Don't know

Ease of completing and submitting electoral campaign return form

3. How easy or difficult was it to figure out how to fill out the electoral campaign return form?
   1. Very easy
   2. Somewhat easy
   3. Somewhat difficult
   4. Very difficult
   5. Don't know
4. How easy or difficult was it to figure out by what date your third party needed to submit the electoral campaign return to Elections Canada?
   1. Very easy
   2. Somewhat easy
   3. Somewhat difficult
   4. Very difficult
   5. Don't know
5. How easy or difficult was it to figure out how to submit the electoral campaign return to Elections Canada?
   1. Very easy
   2. Somewhat easy
   3. Somewhat difficult
   4. Very difficult
   5. Don't know

Burden of electoral campaign return

Please rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement:

6. Completing and submitting the electoral campaign return did not require very much work.
   1. Strongly agree
   2. Somewhat agree
   3. Somewhat disagree
   4. Strongly disagree
   5. Don't know
7. Overall, would you say that the process of completing and submitting the electoral campaign return was…
   1. Very easy
   2. Somewhat easy
   3. Somewhat difficult
   4. Very difficult
   5. Don't know

[Ask if Q7 = 03 or 04]

8. What was difficult about completing and submitting the electoral campaign return? [open-ended]

Ease of electoral campaign return extension

9. Did your third party submit a request to extend the filing deadline for the electoral campaign return?
   1. Yes
   2. No
   3. I was not aware that we could request an extension
   4. Don't know

[Ask if Q9 = 01]

10. How easy or difficult was it to find the extension request form on the Elections Canada website?
    1. Very easy
    2. Somewhat easy
    3. Somewhat difficult
    4. Very difficult
    5. Don't know

[Ask if Q9 = 01]

11. How easy or difficult was it to figure out how to fill out the extension request form?
    1. Very easy
    2. Somewhat easy
    3. Somewhat difficult
    4. Very difficult
    5. Don't know

[Ask if Q9 = 01]

12. How easy or difficult was it to figure out by what date your third party had to submit the extension request?
    1. Very easy
    2. Somewhat easy
    3. Somewhat difficult
    4. Very difficult
    5. Don't know

Ease of auditor's report

13. Was your third party required to file an auditor's report with the electoral campaign return?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. Don't know
14. How easy or difficult was it to figure out whether an auditor's report was required with the electoral campaign return?
    1. Very easy
    2. Somewhat easy
    3. Somewhat difficult
    4. Very difficult
    5. Don't know

Ease of finding an auditor

[Ask if Q13 = 01]

15. How easy or difficult was it for your third party to hire an auditor?
    1. Very easy
    2. Somewhat easy
    3. Somewhat difficult
    4. Very difficult
    5. Don't know

[Ask if Q15 = 03 or 04]

16. What made it difficult to hire an auditor? [open-ended]

Elections canada's products and services

In the previous survey we asked you about some products and services that Elections Canada makes available for third parties.

17. In the time since you responded to the last survey, did you use any of the following Elections Canada products and services?

[GRID]

[ROWS]

1. The Political Financing Handbook for Third Parties, Financial Agents and Auditors
2. The "New Requirements for Third Parties" document
3. The Political Financing videos
4. The Political Entities Support Network 1-800 #

[COLUMNS]

1. Yes
2. No
3. Don't know
4. I was not aware of this product

HANDBOOK

[Ask if Q17a = 01]

18. Since the last survey, would you say that Elections Canada's Political Financing Handbook for Third Parties, Financial Agents and Auditors was…
    1. Very helpful
    2. Somewhat helpful
    3. Not very helpful
    4. Not helpful at all
    5. Don't know

Backgrounder

[Ask if Q17b = 01]

19. Since the last survey, would you say that Elections Canada's document entitled, "New Requirements for Third Parties", was…
    1. Very helpful
    2. Somewhat helpful
    3. Not very helpful
    4. Not helpful at all
    5. Don't know

Political financing videos

[Ask if Q17c = 01]

20. Since the last survey, would you say that the Political Financing videos on Elections Canada's website were…
    1. Very helpful
    2. Somewhat helpful
    3. Not very helpful
    4. Not helpful at all
    5. Don't know

Political entities support network (1-800 number)

[Ask if Q17d = 01]

21. Since the last survey, would you say that contacting Elections Canada through the 1-800 number for political entities was…
    1. Very helpful
    2. Somewhat helpful
    3. Not very helpful
    4. Not helpful at all
    5. Don't know

[Ask if Q17d = 01]

22. Aside from using the 1-800 number for political entities, did you contact Elections Canada in any other ways? [select all that apply]
    1. Yes, by phone
    2. Yes, by email
    3. No
    4. Don't know

[Ask if Q17d ≠ 01]

23. Since the last survey, did you contact Elections Canada for any reason? [select all that apply]
    5. Yes, by phone
    6. Yes, by email
    7. No
    8. Don't know

[Ask if Q22 or Q23 = 01]

24. How satisfied were you with the help you received on that call?
    1. Very satisfied
    2. Somewhat satisfied
    3. Somewhat unsatisfied
    4. Very unsatisfied
    5. Don't know

[Ask if Q24 = 03 or 04]

25. What caused you to be unsatisfied? [open-ended]

[Ask if Q22 or Q23 = 02]

26. How satisfied were you with the help you received following that email?
    1. Very satisfied
    2. Somewhat satisfied
    3. Somewhat unsatisfied
    4. Very unsatisfied
    5. Don't know

[Ask if Q26 = 03 or 04]

27. What caused you to be unsatisfied? [open-ended]

Anything else?

28. In the time since you responded to the last survey, is there any other kind of product or service that would have made the process easier for you? If so, what kind? [OPEN–ENDED]
29. Would you be interested in providing feedback as Elections Canada develops new products and services for registered third parties?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. Don't know

Other sources

30. In the previous survey we asked you about consulting other sources aside from Elections Canada. Since the last survey, did you consult any other sources aside from Elections Canada to understand the provisions of the Canada Elections Act as they relate to third parties and how they applied in your situation?
    1. Yes
    2. No
    3. Don't know

[Ask if Q30 = 01]

31. What sources did you consult? [open-ended]

Reporting regulated activities

Ease of determining regulated activities

Please rate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statements:

32. It was clear which of my third party's activities were regulated under the Canada Elections Act.
    1. Strongly agree
    2. Somewhat agree
    3. Somewhat disagree
    4. Strongly disagree
    5. Don't know
33. Reporting my third party's regulated spending under the right category (e.g. Partisan activity, election survey, election advertising) was easy.
    1. Strongly agree
    2. Somewhat agree
    3. Somewhat disagree
    4. Strongly disagree
    5. Don't know

Other comments

34. Thinking of the time since the last survey, is there anything else not covered here that you would like to share about your experience as a registered third party? [open-ended]

Thank you very much for your thoughtful feedback. It is much appreciated. [if Q29 = 01 add] Elections Canada will be contacting you at a later date for additional feedback on new products and services as they are developed.

If you have any reason to believe that your personal information is not being handled in accordance with the Privacy Act, you have a right to complain to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Toll-free: 1-800-282-1376

TTY: 819 994-6591

Web: Go to www.priv.gc.ca and click "Report a concern"