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Financial Administration of Registered
Parties
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General
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| Duty of chief
agent
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415. The chief agent of a registered party is
responsible for administering its financial
transactions and for reporting on them, in
accordance with the provisions of this Act.
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| Prohibition -
paying
expenses
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416. (1) No person or entity, other than the
chief agent of a registered party or one of its
registered agents or a person authorized under
subsection 411(1), shall pay the registered
party's expenses.
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| Prohibition -
incurring
expenses
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(2) No person or entity, other than the chief
agent of a registered party or one of its
registered agents, shall incur the registered
party's expenses.
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Processing of Expense Claims
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| Three months
to send
expense
claims
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417. (1) A person with a claim to be paid for
an expense of a registered party shall, within
three months after the expense was incurred,
send the invoice or other document
evidencing the claim to the registered party or
one of its registered agents.
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| Bar to
recovery
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(2) A claimant is barred from recovery of a
claim that is sent after the three-month period.
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| Deceased
claimant
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(3) If a claimant dies before the end of the
three-month period, a new three-month period
begins, for the purposes of subsection (1), on
the day on which the claimant's legal
representative becomes entitled to act for the
claimant.
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| Payment
within six
months
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418. A claim that has been sent in
accordance with section 417 must be paid
within six months after payment of it is due.
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| Irregular
claims or
payments -
Chief
Electoral
Officer
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419. (1) On the written application of a
claimant with a claim to be paid for an expense
of a registered party or registered agent, the
Chief Electoral Officer may, on being
satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for
so doing, in writing authorize the registered
agent of the registered party to pay the amount
claimed if
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(a) the claim was not sent in accordance
with subsection 417(1); or
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(b) the payment was not made in
accordance with section 418.
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| Terms and
conditions
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(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may fix any
term or condition that he or she considers
appropriate on a payment authorized under
subsection (1).
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| Irregular
claims or
payments -
judge
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420. On the application of a person who has
a claim to be paid for an expense of a
registered party or of a registered agent of the
registered party, a judge who is competent to
conduct a recount, on being satisfied that there
are reasonable grounds for so doing, may by
order authorize the registered agent to pay the
amount claimed if
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(a) the applicant establishes that an
authorization under subsection 419(1) has
been refused and that the claim was sent
after the three-month period mentioned in
subsection 417(1) or the payment has not
been made in the six-month period
mentioned in section 418; or
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(b) the amount claimed has not been paid in
accordance with an authorization obtained
from the Chief Electoral Officer under
subsection 419(1) and the applicant
establishes that he or she was unable to
comply with that authorization for reasons
beyond his or her control.
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| Proceeding to
recover
claimed
payments
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421. (1) A person who has sent a claim in
accordance with section 417 may commence
proceedings in a court of competent
jurisdiction to recover any unpaid amount
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(a) at any time, if the registered agent
refuses to pay that amount or disputes that
it is payable; or
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(b) after the end of the period mentioned in
section 418 or any extension of that period
authorized by subsection 419(1) or section
420, in any other case.
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| Payment
deemed
properly made
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(2) An amount paid by a registered agent of
a registered party as a result of proceedings
referred to in subsection (1) is deemed to have
been paid in accordance with this Act.
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Maximum Election Expenses
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| Maximum
election
expenses
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422. (1) The maximum amount that is
allowed for election expenses of a registered
party for an election is the product of
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(a) $0.62 multiplied by the number of
names on the preliminary lists of electors
for electoral districts in which the registered
party has endorsed a candidate or by the
number of names on the revised lists of
electors for those electoral districts,
whichever is greater, and
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(b) the inflation adjustment factor
published by the Chief Electoral Officer
under section 414 that is in effect on the date
of the issue of the writs for the election.
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| Amounts not
included in
election
expenses
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(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), an
election expense of a registered party does not
include
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(a) a contribution made by or on behalf of
it for the use of candidates in the election;
or
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(b) an expense incurred by it through a
registered agent or person authorized under
subsection 411(1) who was not acting
within the scope of the registered agent's
authority.
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| Prohibition -
election
expenses
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423. (1) No chief agent of a registered party
shall incur election expenses on its behalf the
total amount of which is more than the
maximum amount calculated under section
422.
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| Prohibition -
collusion
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(2) No registered party and no third party,
within the meaning of section 349, shall
collude with each other for the purpose of
circumventing the maximum amount referred
to in subsection (1).
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Financial Reporting
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| Return on
financial
transactions
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424. (1) For each fiscal period of a
registered party, its chief agent shall provide
the Chief Electoral Officer with
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(a) a financial transactions return,
substantially in the prescribed form, on the
registered party's financial transactions;
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(b) the auditor's report on the financial
transactions return made under subsection
426(1);
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(c) a declaration in the prescribed form by
the chief agent concerning those financial
transactions; and
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(d) a trust fund return prepared under
section 428 and the auditor's report on it
made under subsection 426(1).
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| Contents of
return
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(2) A financial transactions return must set
out
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(a) a statement of contributions received
from the following classes of contributor:
individuals, businesses, commercial
organizations, governments, trade unions,
corporations without share capital other
than trade unions, and unincorporated
organizations or associations other than
trade unions;
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(b) the number of contributors in each class
listed in paragraph (a);
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(c) subject to paragraph (c.1), the name and
address of each contributor in a class listed
in paragraph (a) who made contributions of
a total amount of more than $200 to the
registered party for its use, either directly or
through one of its electoral district
associations or a trust fund established for
the election of a candidate endorsed by the
registered party, and that total amount;
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(c.1) in the case of a numbered company
that is a contributor referred to in paragraph
(c), the name of the chief executive officer
or president of that company;
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(d) in the absence of information
identifying a contributor referred to in
paragraph (c) who contributed through an
electoral district association, the name and
address of every contributor by class
referred to in paragraph (a) who made
contributions of a total amount of more than
$200 to that electoral district association in
the fiscal period to which the return relates,
as well as, where the contributor is a
numbered company, the name of the chief
executive officer or president of that
company, as if the contributions had been
contributions for the use of the registered
party;
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(e) a statement of contributions received by
the registered party from any of its trust
funds;
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(f) a statement of the registered party's
assets and liabilities and any surplus or
deficit in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles, including a
statement of
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(i) disputed claims under section 421,
and
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(ii) unpaid claims that are, or may be, the
subject of an application referred to in
subsection 419(1) or section 420;
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(g) a statement of the registered party's
revenues and expenses in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles;
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(h) a statement, for each electoral district,
of transfers of funds by the registered party
to the candidate endorsed by the registered
party, one of its electoral district
associations or a trust fund established for
the election of the candidate endorsed by
the registered party;
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(i) a return for election expenses incurred
for each by-election during the fiscal period
that sets out
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(i) expenses incurred by the registered
party, whether paid or unpaid, and
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(ii) non-monetary contributions used by
it;
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(j) a statement of loans or security received
by the registered party, including any
conditions on them; and
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(k) a statement of contributions received by
the registered party but returned in whole or
in part to the contributors or otherwise dealt
with in accordance with this Act.
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| Loans
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(3) For the purpose of subsection (2), other
than paragraph (2)(k), a contribution includes
a loan.
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| Period for
providing
documents
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(4) The chief agent of a registered party
shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with
the documents referred to in subsection (1)
within six months after the end of the fiscal
period.
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| When
contributions
forwarded to
Receiver
General
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425. A registered agent of a registered party
shall, without delay, pay an amount of money
equal to the value of a contribution received
by the registered party, to the Chief Electoral
Officer who shall forward it to the Receiver
General, if
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(a) the registered agent cannot determine to
which of the classes specified in paragraph
424(2)(a) the contributor belongs; or
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(b) the amount is more than $200 and the
name or address of a contributor referred to
in paragraph 424(2)(c) or the name of the
chief executive officer or president of a
contributor referred to in paragraph
424(2)(c.1) is not known.
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| Auditor's
report
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426. (1) The auditor of a registered party
shall report to its chief agent on its financial
transactions return and trust fund return
referred to in section 428 and shall make any
examination that will enable the auditor to
give an opinion in the report as to whether it
presents fairly and in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles the
information contained in the financial records
on which it is based.
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| Statement
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(2) An auditor shall include in the report
under subsection (1) any statement the auditor
considers necessary if
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(a) the financial transactions return that is
the subject of the report does not present
fairly and in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles the
information contained in the financial
records on which it is based;
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(b) the auditor has not received from
registered agents and officers of the
registered party all of the required
information and explanation; or
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(c) based on the examination, it appears that
proper accounting records have not been
kept by the registered party.
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| Right of
access
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(3) The auditor for a registered party shall
have access at any reasonable time to all
documents of the party, and may require the
registered agents and officers of the party to
provide any information or explanation that,
in the auditor's opinion, may be necessary to
enable the auditor to prepare the report.
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| Prohibition -
financial
reports
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427. No chief agent of a registered party
shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with
a financial transactions return that
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(a) the chief agent knows or ought
reasonably to know contains a materially
false or misleading statement; or
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(b) does not substantially set out the
information required by subsection 424(2).
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Trust Funds
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| Trust funds
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428. (1) If a registered party establishes a
trust fund to be used for an election, its chief
agent or one of its other registered agents shall
prepare a trust fund return in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles on
the financial transactions in relation to the
trust fund.
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| Contents of
report
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(2) A trust fund return must set out
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(a) a statement of contributions received
from the following classes of contributor:
individuals, businesses, commercial
organizations, governments, trade unions,
corporations without share capital other
than trade unions, and unincorporated
organizations or associations other than
trade unions;
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(b) the number of contributors in each class
listed in paragraph (a);
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(c) subject to paragraph (c.1), the name and
address of each contributor in a class listed
in paragraph (a) who made contributions of
a total amount of more than $200, and that
total amount;
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(c.1) in the case of a numbered company
that is a contributor referred to in paragraph
(c), the name of the chief executive officer
or president of that company;
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(d) a statement of contributions received
from the registered party, a trust fund
established for the election of a candidate
endorsed by the registered party or its
electoral district associations, by electoral
district;
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(e) a statement, in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles,
of the trust fund's assets and liabilities and
any surplus or deficit;
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(f) a statement, in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles,
of revenues and expenses;
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(g) a statement, for each electoral district,
of transfers of funds by the trust fund to an
electoral district association, the candidate
endorsed by the registered party or a trust
fund established for the election of that
candidate;
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(h) a statement of loans or security received,
including any conditions on them; and
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(i) a statement of contributions received but
returned to the contributors or otherwise
dealt with in accordance with this Act.
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| Loans
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(3) For the purpose of subsection (2), other
than paragraph (2)(i), a contribution includes
a loan.
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Election Expenses Reporting
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| Return on
election
expenses
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429. (1) For a general election, the chief
agent of a registered party shall provide the
Chief Electoral Officer with
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(a) an election expenses return on the
registered party's general election expenses
in the general election that substantially is
in the prescribed form;
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(b) the auditor's report referred to in
subsection 430(1) on that return; and
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(c) a declaration by the chief agent
concerning those election expenses, in the
prescribed form.
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| Contents of
return
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(2) An election expenses return must set out
as an election expense each of
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(a) the expenses incurred by the registered
party, whether paid or unpaid; and
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(b) the non-monetary contributions used by
the registered party.
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