Bill C-2

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Extension or correction - judge	434. (1) The chief agent of a registered party or, if there is no chief agent, its leader, may apply to a judge who is competent to conduct a recount for an order
	(a) relieving the party from complying with a request referred to in subsection 432(2); or
	(b) authorizing an extension referred to in paragraph 433(1)(a) or correction referred to in paragraph 433(1)(b).
	The applicant shall notify the Chief Electoral Officer of the application.
Deadline	(2) An application may be made
	(a) under paragraph (1)(a), within the specified period referred to in subsection 432(2) or within the two weeks after the expiration of that period; or
	(b) under paragraph (1)(b), within two weeks after, as the case may be,
	(i) the rejection of an application, made in accordance with section 433, for the extension or correction, or
	(ii) the expiration of the extended period or specified period authorized under paragraph 433(1)(a) or (b).
Grounds	(3) A judge may not grant an order unless he or she is satisfied that the circumstances giving rise to the application arose by reason of one of the factors referred to in paragraph 433(3)(a) to (c).
Contents of order	(4) An order may require that the applicant satisfy any condition that the judge considers necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
Date of authorization	(5) For the purposes of this Act, an extension or correction referred to in subsection (1) is authorized on the date of the order or, if the order specifies that conditions are to be met, the date as of which the applicant has met them.
	Reimbursement of Election Expenses
Certificate	435. (1) On receipt from a registered party of the documents referred to in subsection 429(1), the Chief Electoral Officer shall provide the Receiver General with a certificate that sets out the amount that is 22.5% of the registered party's election expenses that were paid by its registered agents as set out in the return for its general election expenses, if
	(a) the Chief Electoral Officer is satisfied that the registered party and its chief agent have complied with the requirements of sections 429 to 434;
	(b) the auditor's report does not include a statement referred to in subsection 430(2); and
	(c) candidates endorsed by the registered party received at least
	(i) 2% of the number of valid votes cast at the election, or
	(ii) 5% of the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts in which the registered party endorsed a candidate.
Reimburse- ment	(2) On receipt of the certificate, the Receiver General shall reimburse the amount set out in it to the registered party by paying that amount out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
	DIVISION 4
	Financial Administration of Candidates
	Powers, Duties and Functions of Official Agents
Duty of official agent	436. The official agent of a candidate is responsible for administering the candidate's financial transactions for his or her electoral campaign and for reporting on those transactions in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
Bank account	437. (1) An official agent of a candidate shall open a separate bank account in a Canadian financial institution as defined in section 2 of the Bank Act, or in an authorized foreign bank as defined in that section, that is not subject to the restrictions and requirements referred to in subsection 524(2) of that Act.
Account holder and year of opening	(2) The account must indicate the date on which it was opened and name the account holder as follows: ``(name of official agent), official agent for (name of candidate, year)''.
Payments and receipts	(3) All financial transactions of the candidate in relation to an electoral campaign that involve the payment or receipt of money are to be paid from or deposited to the account.
Closure of bank account	(4) The official agent of a candidate shall close the account after the election or the withdrawal or death of the candidate, and the subsequent disposal of any surplus of electoral funds in accordance with this Act.
Final statement of bank account	(5) The official agent shall, on closing the account, provide the Chief Electoral Officer with the final statement of the account.
Prohibition - making contributions	438. (1) No person or entity, other than an electoral district association or a registered party , shall make
	(a) a contribution to a candidate's electoral campaign that comes from money, property or the services of another person or entity; or
	(b) a loan to a candidate's electoral campaign that comes from money of another person or entity.
Prohibition - accepting contributions	(2) No person, other than an official agent of a candidate, shall accept contributions to the candidate's electoral campaign.
Prohibition - issuing tax receipts	(3) No person, other than an official agent of a candidate, shall provide official receipts to contributors of monetary contributions to a candidate for the purpose of subsection 127(3) of the Income Tax Act.
Prohibition - paying electoral expenses	(4) No person or entity, other than the official agent of a candidate, shall pay expenses in relation to the candidate's electoral campaign except for petty expenses referred to in section 411 and the candidate's personal expenses.
Prohibition - incurring electoral expenses	(5) No person or entity, other than a candidate, his or her official agent or a person authorized under paragraph 446(c) to enter into contracts, shall incur expenses in relation to the candidate's electoral campaign.
Prohibition - candidate's personal expenses	(6) No person, other than a candidate or his or her official agent, shall pay the candidate's personal expenses.
Exception	(7) Subsection (4) or (5), as the case may be, does not apply to a registered agent of a registered party who pays or incurs expenses in relation to the electoral campaign of the leader of the registered party.
	Notice of Nomination Meeting
Limits on expenses	439. (1) The amount that may be spent on providing notice of meetings that are to be held during an election period for the principal purpose of nominating a candidate for an election in an electoral district cannot be more than 1% of the maximum election expenses
	(a) that were allowed for a candidate in that electoral district during the immediately preceding general election, if the boundaries for the electoral district have not changed since then; or
	(b) that the Chief Electoral Officer determines, in any other case.
Prohibition on official agents, candidates and authorized persons	(2) No candidate, official agent of a candidate or person who is authorized under paragraph 446(c) to enter into contracts shall incur or cause to be incurred expenses on account of notices referred to in subsection (1) that are in excess of the amount determined under that subsection.
	Election Expenses Limit
Maximum election expenses allowed	440. The election expenses limit that is allowed for a candidate's election expenses in an electoral district is the product of the base amount for an electoral district determined under section 441 and the inflation adjustment factor referred to in section 414 as of the day of the issue of the writ.
Base amount of expenses	441. (1) The base amount of a candidate's election expenses in an electoral district is the aggregate of the following amounts, based on the number of electors on the preliminary lists of electors for the electoral district or on the revised lists of electors for the electoral district, whichever is greater :
	(a) $2.07 for each of the first 15,000 electors,
	(b) $1.04 for each of the next 10,000 electors, and
	(c) $0.52 for each of the remaining electors.
Less than average population districts	(2) If the number of electors on the preliminary lists of electors for an electoral district is less than the average number of such electors for all electoral districts in a general election or, in the case of a by-election, in the immediately preceding general election, then, for the purpose of subsection (1), the number of electors is deemed to be the number that is half-way between the number referred to in that subsection and that average number.
Low population- density districts	(3) If the number of electors per square kilometre on the preliminary lists of electors for an electoral district is less than 10, the base amount for that electoral district is increased by the lesser of $0.31 per square kilometre and 25% of the base amount.
Death of candidate of registered party	(4) If a candidate for an electoral district whose nomination was endorsed by a registered party dies in the period beginning at 2:00 p.m. on the 5th day before the closing day for nominations and ending on polling day, the base amount for that electoral district is increased by 50%.
Estimated expenses	442. (1) On October 15 in each year, the Chief Electoral Officer shall calculate the maximum amount referred to in section 440 for each electoral district, based on the lists of electors in the Register of Electors, as if an election were then to be held.
Availability of estimates	(2) The maximum amount for an electoral district must be sent
	(a) to any person on request; and
	(b) to the member and each registered party that endorsed a candidate in the electoral district in the last election, together with the copy of the lists of electors referred to in subsection 45(1).
Maximum amount not guaranteed	(3) The maximum amount calculated under subsection (1) is an estimate and, as such, may be increased or decreased for an electoral district in the subsequent election period.
Prohibition - expenses more than maximum	443. (1) No candidate, official agent of a candidate or person authorized under paragraph 446(c) to enter into contracts shall incur election expenses in an amount that is more than the election expenses limit calculated under section 440.
Prohibition - collusion	(2) No candidate, official agent of the candidate, person authorized under paragraph 446(c) to enter into contracts or third party, within the meaning given that expression by section 349, shall collude with each other for the purpose of circumventing the election expenses limit calculated under section 440.
	Recovery of Claims
Claim for payment	444. (1) A person who has a claim to be paid for an expense in relation to an electoral campaign shall send the invoice or other document evidencing the claim to
	(a) the candidate's official agent; or
	(b) the candidate, if there is no official agent.
Bar to recovery	(2) A claimant is barred from recovery of a claim to be paid if the invoice or other document evidencing the claim is sent more than three months after
	(a) the day set for polling day; or
	(b) the publication of a notice of the withdrawal or deemed withdrawal of the writ for the election in the Canada Gazette, in any other case.
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 four months	445. (1) A claim for electoral campaign expenses that has been sent in accordance with section 444 must be paid within four months after
	(a) the day set for polling day; or
	(b) the publication in the Canada Gazette of a notice of the withdrawal or deemed withdrawal of the writ for the election.
Exceptions	(2) The requirement to pay a claim within four months does not apply to a claim in respect of which
	(a) the documents may be sent within a new period under subsection 444(3);
	(b) the Chief Electoral Officer has authorized payment under section 447;
	(c) a judge has authorized payment under section 448; or
	(d) proceedings have been commenced under section 449.
Unenforce- able contracts	446. A contract involving an expense in relation to a candidate's electoral campaign is not enforceable against the candidate unless entered into by
	(a) the candidate personally;
	(b) the candidate's official agent; or
	(c) a person whom the official agent may, in writing, have authorized to enter into the contract.
Irregular claims or payments - Chief Electoral Officer	447. (1) On the written application of a person with a claim to be paid for a candidate's electoral campaign expense or of the candidate's official agent or the candidate in relation to such a claim, the Chief Electoral Officer may, on being satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for so doing, in writing authorize the payment, through the candidate's official agent, of the amount claimed if
	(a) the invoice or other document evidencing the claim was not sent in accordance with section 444; or
	(b) the payment was not made in accordance with subsection 445(1).
Conditions	(2) The Chief Electoral Officer may impose any term or condition that he or she considers appropriate on a payment authorized under subsection (1).
Irregular claims and payments - judge	448. (1) On the application of a person with a claim to be paid for a candidate's electoral campaign expense or on the application of the candidate's official agent or the candidate, as the case may be, a judge who is competent to conduct a recount may, on being satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for so doing, by order authorize the payment, through the candidate's official agent, of the amount claimed if
	(a) the applicant establishes that an authorization under subsection 447(1) has been refused and that the invoice or other document evidencing the claim was not sent in accordance with section 444 or the payment has not been paid in the four-month period mentioned in subsection 445(1); or
	(b) the amount claimed has not been paid in accordance with an authorization obtained under subsection 447(1) and the applicant establishes their inability to comply with the authorization for reasons beyond their control.
	The applicant shall notify the Chief Electoral Officer that the application has been made.
Proceedings to recover payment	449. (1) A person who has sent a claim in accordance with section 444 may commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover any unpaid amount
	(a) at any time, if the candidate or his or her official agent refuses to pay that amount or disputes that it is payable;

Bill C-2

DIVISION 4