Bill C-2

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Public availability	(2) A returning officer who receives documents under subsection (1) shall, on request, make them available for six months during reasonable times for public inspection. Copies may be obtained for a fee of up to $0.25 per page.
Retention	(3) A returning officer who receives documents under subsection (1) shall retain them for three years after the six-month period mentioned in subsection (2) or any shorter period that the Chief Electoral Officer considers appropriate.
	Inflation Adjustment Factor
Inflation adjustment factor	414. Before April 1 in each year, the Chief Electoral Officer shall cause to be published in the Canada Gazette an inflation adjustment factor that shall be in effect for one year from that date. It shall be a fraction with
	(a) a numerator that is the annual average Consumer Price Index, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, for the calendar year immediately before that date, calculated on the basis of 1992 being equal to 100; and
	(b) a denominator that is 108.6, which is the annual average Consumer Price Index, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, for 1998, calculated on the basis of 1992 being equal to 100.
	DIVISION 3
	Financial Administration of Registered Parties
	General
Duty of chief agent	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.
Prohibition - paying expenses	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.
Prohibition - incurring expenses	(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.
	Processing of Expense Claims
Three months to send expense claims	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.
Bar to recovery	(2) A claimant is barred from recovery of a claim that is sent after the three-month period.
Deceased claimant	(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.
Payment within six months	418. A claim that has been sent in accordance with section 417 must be paid within six months after payment of it is due.
Irregular claims or payments - Chief Electoral Officer	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
	(a) the claim was not sent in accordance with subsection 417(1); or
	(b) the payment was not made in accordance with section 418.
Terms and conditions	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may fix any term or condition that he or she considers appropriate on a payment authorized under subsection (1).
Irregular claims or payments - judge	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
	(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
	(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.
Proceeding to recover claimed payments	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
	(a) at any time, if the registered agent refuses to pay that amount or disputes that it is payable; or
	(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.
Payment deemed properly made	(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.
	Maximum Election Expenses
Maximum election expenses	422. (1) The maximum amount that is allowed for election expenses of a registered party for an election is the product of
	(a) $0.62 multiplied by the number of names on all preliminary lists of electors at the election for electoral districts in which the registered party has endorsed a candidate, and
	(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.
Amounts not included in election expenses	(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), an election expense of a registered party does not include
	(a) a contribution made by or on behalf of it for the use of candidates in the election; or
	(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.
Prohibition - election expenses	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.
Prohibition - collusion	(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).
	Financial Reporting
Return on financial transactions	424. (1) For each fiscal period of a registered party, its chief agent shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with
	(a) a financial transactions return, substantially in the prescribed form, on the registered party's financial transactions, other than election expenses in relation to a general election;
	(b) the auditor's report made to the chief agent under subsection 426(1);
	(c) a declaration in the prescribed form by the chief agent concerning those financial transactions; and
	(d) a trust fund return prepared under section 428.
Contents of return	(2) A financial transactions return must set out
	(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;
	(b) the number of contributors in each class listed in paragraph (a);
	(c) 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, and that total amount;
	(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 if the contributions had been contributions for the use of the registered party;
	(e) a statement of contributions received by the registered party from any of its trust funds;
	(f) a statement of the registered party's assets and liabilities and any surplus or deficit, including a statement of
	(i) disputed claims under section 421, and
	(ii) unpaid claims that are, or may be, the subject of an application referred to in subsection 419(1) or section 420;
	(g) a statement of the registered party's revenues and expenses;
	(h) a statement, for each electoral district, of transfers of funds by the registered party to one of its electoral district associations or candidates;
	(i) a return for election expenses incurred for each by-election during the fiscal period that sets out
	(i) expenses incurred by the registered party, whether paid or unpaid, and
	(ii) non-monetary contributions used by it;
	(j) a statement of loans or security received by the registered party, including any conditions on them; and
	(k) a statement of contributions received by the registered party but returned to the contributors or otherwise dealt with in accordance with this Act.
Loans	(3) For the purpose of subsection (2), other than paragraph (2)(k), a contribution includes a loan.
Period for providing documents	(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.
When contributions forwarded to Receiver General	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
	(a) the registered agent cannot determine to which of the classes specified in paragraph 424(2)(a) the contributor belongs; or
	(b) the amount is more than $200 and the name or address of a contributor referred to in paragraph 424(2)(c) is not known.
Auditor's report	426. (1) The auditor of a registered party shall report to its chief agent on its financial transactions return and shall make any examination that will enable the auditor to give an opinion in the report as to whether it presents fairly the information contained in the financial records on which it is based.
Statement	(2) An auditor shall include in the report under subsection (1) any statement the auditor considers necessary if
	(a) the financial transactions return that is the subject of the report does not present fairly the information contained in the financial records on which it is based;
	(b) the auditor has not received from registered agents and officers of the registered party all of the required information and explanation; or
	(c) based on the examination, it appears that proper accounting records have not been kept by the registered party.
Right of access	(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.
Prohibition - financial reports	427. No chief agent of a registered party shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a financial transactions return that
	(a) the chief agent knows or ought reasonably to know contains a materially false or misleading statement; or
	(b) does not substantially set out the information required by subsection 424(2).
	Trust Funds
Trust funds	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 on the financial transactions in relation to the trust fund.
Contents of report	(2) A trust fund return must set out
	(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;
	(b) the number of contributors in each class listed in paragraph (a);
	(c) 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;
	(d) a statement of contributions received from the registered party or its electoral district associations, by electoral district;
	(e) a statement of the trust fund's assets and liabilities and any surplus or deficit;
	(f) a statement of revenues and expenses;
	(g) a statement, for each electoral district, of transfers of funds by the trust fund to an electoral district association or candidate of the registered party;
	(h) a statement of loans or security received, including any conditions on them; and
	(i) a statement of contributions received but returned to the contributors or otherwise dealt with in accordance with this Act.
Loans	(3) For the purpose of subsection (2), other than paragraph (2)(i), a contribution includes a loan.
	Election Expenses Reporting
Return on election expenses	429. (1) For a general election, the chief agent of a registered party shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with
	(a) an election expenses return on the registered party's general election expenses in the general election that substantially is in the prescribed form;
	(b) the auditor's report referred to in subsection 430(1) on that return; and
	(c) a declaration by the chief agent concerning those election expenses, in the prescribed form.
Contents of return	(2) An election expenses return must set out as an election expense each of

Bill C-2

DIVISION 3