BILL C-83 - First Reading

Deregistra- tion - suspended party	398. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall deregister a suspended party, other than a party referred to in subsection (2), on the day on which the Chief Electoral Officer receives
	(a) the documents referred to in section 392, if the return of the registered party's financial transactions under subparagraph 392(a)(i) discloses no net balance of assets over liabilities; or
	(b) the amount remitted under subsection 397(1), in any other case.
Deregistra- tion - suspended party referred to in subsection 394(1)	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall deregister a suspended party referred to in subsection 394(1) on the day
	(a) that is six months after the end of the period for providing a return under subsection 396(1), if the return has not been provided;
	(b) on which subsection 396(3) applies;
	(c) on which the party withdraws its application under section 367; or
	(d) that is 48 hours after the closing of nominations for candidates in a subsequent general election, if the suspended party has not endorsed candidates in that general election.
Remittance of remaining balance or initial surplus	399. (1) A suspended party referred to in paragraph 398(2)(a) shall remit to the Chief Electoral Officer, who shall forward to the Receiver General, the amount of any net balance of its assets over liabilities as disclosed by
	(a) the immediately preceding statement of the party's expenses provided under paragraph 396(1)(a); or
	(b) the statement provided under paragraph 393(a), if the statement referred to in paragraph (a) has not been provided.
Remittance - eligible party	(2) A suspended party referred to in paragraph 398(2)(c) or (d) shall
	(a) provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a statement of the party's expenses under paragraph 396(1)(a) for the portion of its current fiscal period that has run since
	(i) the end of the fiscal period for which the suspended party last provided a statement under that paragraph, or
	(ii) the date for which the statement referred to in paragraph 393(a) has been provided, if no statement has been provided under paragraph 396(1)(a); and
	(b) remit to the Chief Electoral Officer, who shall forward to the Receiver General, the amount of any net balance of its assets over liabilities as disclosed by the statement to be provided under paragraph (a).
Period for remittance	(3) The remittance of an amount under subsection (1) or paragraph (2)(b), as the case may be, shall be made within six months after the deregistration of the suspended party from the registry of parties.
Period for production of statement	(4) The statement to be provided under paragraph (2)(a) shall be made within six months after the deregistration of the suspended party from the registry of parties.
Liability of chief agent	(5) The chief agent of the suspended party is liable for the remittance of an amount equal to the net balance of its assets over liabilities referred to in subsection (1) or paragraph (2)(b).
	Merger of Registered Parties
Merger application	400. (1) Two or more registered parties may, at any time other than during the period beginning 30 days before the issue of a writ for an election and ending on polling day, apply to the Chief Electoral Officer to become a single registered party resulting from their merger.
Contents	(2) An application to merge two or more registered parties must
	(a) be certified by the leaders of the merging parties;
	(b) be accompanied by a resolution from each of the merging parties approving the proposed merger; and
	(c) contain the information required from a registered party to be registered, except for the information referred to in paragraph 366(2)(i).
Registration for eligible merged parties	401. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall amend the registry of parties by replacing the names of the merging parties with the name of the merged party resulting from the merger if
	(a) the application for the merger was not made in the period referred to in subsection 400(1); and
	(b) the Chief Electoral Officer is satisfied that
	(i) the merged party is eligible for registration as a political party under this Act, and
	(ii) the merging parties have discharged their obligations under this Act, including their obligations to report on their financial transactions and their election expenses that have become due and to maintain valid and up-to-date information concerning their registration.
Notice	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer shall notify the officers of the merging parties in writing whether the registry of parties is to be amended under subsection (1).
Notice in Canada Gazette	(3) The Chief Electoral Officer shall cause to be published in the Canada Gazette a notice that the names of the merging registered parties have been replaced in the registry of parties with the name of the merged registered party.
Effective date of merger	402. (1) A merger of registered parties takes effect on the day on which the Chief Electoral Officer amends the registry of parties under subsection 401(1).
Consequen- ces of merger	(2) On the merger of two or more registered parties,
	(a) the merged party is the successor of each merging party;
	(b) the merged party becomes a registered party;
	(c) the assets of each merging party belong to the merged party;
	(d) the merged party is responsible for the liabilities of each merging party;
	(e) the merged party is responsible for the obligations of each merging party to report on its financial transactions and election expenses for any period before the merger took effect;
	(f) the merged party replaces a merging party in any proceedings, whether civil, penal or administrative, by or against the merging party; and
	(g) any decision of a judicial or quasi-judicial nature involving a merging registered party may be enforced by or against the merged party.
Returns	403. Within six months after the merger of two or more registered parties
	(a) each of the merging parties shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with the documents referred to in subsection 424(1)
	(i) with the modification that its current fiscal period ends on the day before the day on which the merger takes effect, and
	(ii) for any earlier fiscal year for which those documents have not been provided under that subsection; and
	(b) the merged party shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with
	(i) a statement of its assets and liabilities, including any surplus or deficit, as of the effective date of the merger,
	(ii) a report on that statement made by the merged party's auditor to its chief agent that contains the auditor's opinion as to whether that statement presents fairly the information on which the statement is based, and
	(iii) a declaration in the prescribed form by the chief agent of the merged party concerning that statement.
	DIVISION 2
	GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
	Contributions
Ineligible contributors	404. (1) The following are not eligible to be a contributor to a registered party, to one of its trust funds, to an electoral district association or to a candidate:
	(a) a person who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration Act;
	(b) a corporation or an association that does not carry on business in Canada;
	(c) a trade union that does not hold bargaining rights for employees in Canada;
	(d) a foreign political party; and
	(e) a foreign government or an agent of one.
Return to contributor or payment to Chief Electoral Officer	(2) A chief agent of a registered party or an official agent of a candidate, as the case may be, shall, within 30 days after becoming aware that a contribution was received from an ineligible contributor,
	(a) in the case of a monetary contribution, pay the amount of the contribution to the Chief Electoral Officer who shall forward it to the Receiver General, if it is not practicable to return it to the contributor; or
	(b) in the case of a non-monetary contribution, pay an amount of money equal to the value of the contribution to the Chief Electoral Officer who shall forward it to the Receiver General, if it is not practicable to pay that amount to the contributor or to return the contribution unused to the contributor.
Prohibition - making contributions	405. (1) No person or entity shall make a contribution to a registered party that comes from money, property or the services of another person or entity.
Exception	(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the registered party's electoral district associations or to candidates endorsed by the registered party who transfer contributions to the registered party.
Prohibition - accepting contributions	(3) No person, other than a chief agent or registered agent of a registered party, shall accept contributions to the registered party.
	Expenses
Candidate's expenses for electoral campaign	406. An electoral campaign expense of a candidate is an expense reasonably incurred as an incidence of the election, including
	(a) an election expense;
	(b) a personal expense; and
	(c) any fees of the candidate's auditor, and any costs incurred for a recount of votes cast in the candidate's electoral district, that have not been reimbursed by the Receiver General.
Election expenses	407. (1) An election expense of a registered party or candidate is a cost incurred or a non-monetary contribution in relation to an electoral campaign, to the extent that the property or service for which the cost was incurred, or the non-monetary contribution, is used during an election period to directly promote or oppose a registered party, its leader or a candidate.
Exclusions - certain fund-raising and nominations	(2) Expenses for a fund-raising activity and expenses to directly promote the nomination of a person as a candidate or for the leadership of a registered party, other than expenses referred to in paragraph (3)(a) that are related to such fund-raising and promotional activities, are not election expenses under subsection (1).
Inclusions	(3) An election expense referred to in subsection (1) includes a cost incurred for or a non-monetary contribution in relation to
	(a) the production of advertising or promotional material and its distribution, broadcast or publication in any media or by any other means;
	(b) the acquisition of the services of a person, including the payment of remuneration and expenses to the person or on the person's behalf as an official agent or registered agent or in any other capacity;
	(c) securing a meeting space or the supply of light refreshments at meetings; and
	(d) any product or service provided by a government, a Crown corporation or any other public agency.
Definition of ``cost incurred''	(4) In subsection (1), ``cost incurred'' means an expense that is incurred by a registered party or a candidate, whether it is paid or unpaid.
Contributions for ticketed fund-raising functions	408. If a fund-raising activity is held for the primary purpose of soliciting a monetary contribution for a registered party or a candidate by way of selling a ticket, the amount of a monetary contribution received is the difference between the price of the ticket and the fair market value of what the ticket entitles the bearer to obtain.
Personal expenses of a candidate	409. (1) Personal expenses of a candidate are the candidate's expenses in relation to an electoral campaign, other than election expenses, that are reasonably incurred for the candidate's travel, living and other related expenses, and in the case of a candidate who has a disability, include any of those expenses that are related to his or her disability.
Categories and maximums	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may establish categories of personal expenses for candidates and fix maximum amounts of personal expenses that may be incurred in each of those categories.
Evidence of payment - $50 or more	410. (1) A payment of $50 or more made on behalf of a registered party or a candidate must be documented by an invoice prepared by the person who was paid or by a claim prepared by the person making the claim that indicates the nature of the payment, and proof that the payment was made by
	(a) the chief agent, the registered agent or a person authorized under subsection 411(1), as the case may be; and
	(b) the official agent of a candidate or a person authorized under subsection 411(1), as the case may be.
Evidence of payment - under $50	(2) A payment of less than $50 made on behalf of a registered party or a candidate must be documented by a statement that indicates the nature of the payment, and proof that the payment was made by the person referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), as the case may be.
Petty expenses	411. (1) A person may pay a petty expense incurred for office supplies, postage, courier services and other incidental expenses under the written authorization of
	(a) a registered agent of a registered party, as an expense incurred by the registered party; or
	(b) the official agent of a candidate, as an expense incurred for the candidate's electoral campaign.
Authorized maximum	(2) The written authorization referred to in subsection (1) must specify a maximum amount for the total of petty expenses that the person is authorized to pay.
Statement and evidence of payment	(3) A person who is authorized to pay a petty expense shall provide the registered agent or official agent who authorized it with the documentation referred to in section 410
	(a) in the case of a petty expense incurred for a candidate's electoral campaign, within three months after polling day; and
	(b) in the case of a petty expense incurred by a registered party, within three months after incurring it.
Prohibition	(4) No person who is authorized to pay petty expenses shall, in total, pay more than the maximum amount of petty expenses that the person is authorized to pay.

DIVISION 2

GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS