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Bill C-24

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	(c) the nomination campaign returns of nomination contestants and any updated versions of them.
	(2) Subsection 412(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Publication of returns and statements of expenses of deregistered parties	(4) As soon as practicable after receiving a return on financial transactions under subparagraph 392(a)(i) from a deregistered political party, the Chief Electoral Officer shall publish it in the manner that he or she considers appropriate.
	31. Section 416 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
Prohibition - accepting contributions	(3) No person or entity, other than a registered agent of a registered party, shall accept contributions to the registered party.
	32. (1) Paragraph 422(1)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
	(a) $0.70 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
	(2) Paragraph 422(2)(a) is replaced by the following:
	(a) a transfer made by or on behalf of it to candidates in the election; or
	33. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 423:
	Deemed Contributions
Deemed contributions	423.1 (1) An unpaid claim mentioned in the financial transactions return referred to in subsection 424(1) or in an election expenses return referred to in subsection 429(1) that remains unpaid in whole or in part on the day that is 18 months after the end of the fiscal period to which the return relates or in which the polling day fell, as the case may be, is deemed to be a contribution on that day of the unpaid amount to the registered party.
When no deemed contribution	(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to an unpaid claim that, on the day referred to in that subsection,
	(a) is the subject of a binding agreement to pay;
	(b) is the subject of a legal proceeding to secure its payment;
	(c) is the subject of a dispute as to the amount the party was liable to pay or the amount that remains unpaid; or
	(d) has been written off by the creditor as an uncollectable debt in accordance with the creditor's normal accounting practices.
Notice by party	(3) The chief agent of a registered party who believes that any of paragraphs (2)(a) to (d) applies to a liability to pay an amount shall so notify the Chief Electoral Officer before the day referred to in subsection (1).
Publication of deemed contributions	(4) As soon as practicable after the day referred to in subsection (1), the Chief Electoral Officer shall, in any manner that he or she considers appropriate, publish the list of claims that are deemed under subsection (1) to be contributions.
	34. (1) Paragraph 424(1)(d) of the Act is repealed.
	(2) Paragraphs 424(2)(a) to (e) of the Act are replaced by the following:
	(a) the total contributions received by the registered party and the number of contributors;
	(b) the name and address of each contributor who made contributions of a total amount of more than $200 to the registered party, that total amount, as well as the amount of each such contribution and the date on which it was received by the party;
	(c) the name and address of each contributor who has made a contribution to the party that includes a directed contribution as defined in subsection 404.3(2), the amount of the contribution, the amount of the directed contribution and the date of the receipt of the contribution;
	(3) Paragraph 424(2)(h) of the Act is replaced by the following:
	(h) a statement, for each electoral district, of the commercial value of goods or services provided and of funds transferred by the registered party to a candidate or the electoral district association;
	(h.1) a statement of each amount transferred to a leadership contestant out of a directed contribution as defined in subsection 404.3(2), the information referred to in paragraph (c) with respect to the contributor and the name of the leadership contestant to whom the amount has been transferred;
	(h.2) a statement of the commercial value of goods or services provided and of funds transferred to the registered party from any of its registered associations, a candidate, a leadership contestant or a nomination contestant;
	35. Section 425 of the Act is replaced by the following:
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 the name of the contributor of a contribution of more than $10, or the name or the address of the contributor having made contributions of a total amount of more than $200, is not known.
	36. Subsection 426(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Auditor's report	426. (1) The auditor of a registered party shall report to the party's chief agent on the financial transactions return of the party and shall make any examination in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards that will enable the auditor to give an opinion in the report as to whether the return presents fairly the information contained in the financial records on which the return is based.
	37. Section 428 of the Act and the heading before it are repealed.
	38. Subsection 430(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Auditor's report on return on election expenses	430. (1) As soon as practicable after a general election, the auditor of a registered party shall report to its chief agent on its return on general election expenses and shall make any examination in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards that will enable the auditor to give an opinion in the report as to whether the return presents fairly the information contained in the financial records on which the return is based.
	39. The portion of subsection 435(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
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 50% 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
	40. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 435:
	Quarterly Allowances
Quarterly allowance	435.01 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall determine, for each quarter of a calendar year, an allowance payable to a registered party whose candidates for the most recent general election preceding that quarter received at that election at least
	(a) 2% of the number of valid votes cast; or
	(b) 5% of the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts in which the registered party endorsed a candidate.
Computation of fund	(2) An allowance fund for a quarter shall be computed by multiplying the number of valid votes cast in the election referred to in subsection (1) by $0.375.
Computation of party's allowance	(3) Each such registered party's allowance for a quarter is that part of the allowance fund for that quarter that corresponds to its percentage of valid votes cast in the election mentioned in subsection (1).
Merger of parties	(4) A merged party is entitled to the aggregate of the allowances to which the merging parties of which it is composed would have been entitled had they not merged.
Certificate	435.02 (1) As soon as practicable after the end of each quarter, the Chief Electoral Officer shall provide the Receiver General with a certificate that sets out the amount of the allowance payable to a registered party for that quarter.
Delay for non-complian ce	(2) If a registered party has not filed all documents that it is required to file under sections 424 and 429, the Chief Electoral Officer shall postpone providing the certificate for any quarter until the party has filed those documents.
Payment	(3) The Receiver General shall, on receipt of a certificate, pay to the registered party out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund the amount set out in the certificate.
	Division 3.1
	Registration and Financial Administration of Leadership Contestants
	Registration
Definition of ``personal expenses''	435.03 In this Division, ``personal expenses'' of a leadership contestant means his or her expenses that are reasonably incurred in relation to his or her leadership campaign and include
	(a) travel and living expenses;
	(b) childcare expenses;
	(c) expenses relating to the provision of care for a person with a physical or mental incapacity for whom the contestant normally provides such care; and
	(d) in the case of a contestant who has a disability, additional personal expenses that are related to the disability.
Notice of leadership contest	435.04 (1) If a registered party proposes to hold a leadership contest, the chief agent of the party shall file with the Chief Electoral Officer a statement setting out the dates on which the leadership contest is to begin and end.
Variation and cancellation	(2) A registered party that proposes to vary the leadership contest period or to cancel a leadership contest shall file with the Chief Electoral Officer a statement setting out, as the case may be, the amended beginning date or ending date or the fact of its cancellation.
Publication	(3) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, in the manner that he or she considers appropriate, publish a notice containing the information referred to in subsections (1) and (2).
Duty to register	435.05 (1) Every person who accepts contributions for, or incurs leadership campaign expenses in relation to, his or her campaign for the leadership of a registered party shall register as a leadership contestant.
Deeming	(2) For the purposes of this Part, a leadership contestant is deemed to have been a leadership contestant from the time he or she accepts a contribution or incurs a leadership campaign expense.
Contents of application	435.06 (1) An application for registration as a leadership contestant must include the following:
	(a) the name of the leadership contestant;
	(b) the address of the place at which the records of the leadership contestant are maintained and to which communications may be addressed;
	(c) the name and address of the leadership contestant's financial agent; and
	(d) the name and address of the leadership contestant's appointed auditor.
Accompanyin g documents	(2) The application must be accompanied by the following:
	(a) the signed consent of the financial agent to so act;
	(b) the signed consent of the auditor to so act;
	(c) a declaration signed by the chief agent of the registered party holding the leadership contest certifying that the party accepts the applicant as a leadership contestant; and
	(d) a statement containing the information referred to in paragraphs 435.3(2)(d) and (e) with respect to contributions received before the application for registration.
Examination of application	(3) The Chief Electoral Officer shall register a leadership contestant who meets the requirements set out in subsections (1) and (2). In the case of a refusal to register, the Chief Electoral Officer shall indicate which of those requirements have not been met.
Registry	435.07 The Chief Electoral Officer shall maintain a registry of leadership contestants that contains the information referred to in subsection 435.06(1).
Appointments	435.08 (1) A leadership contestant may, subject to any terms and conditions that the contestant specifies, appoint leadership campaign agents authorized to accept contributions and incur leadership campaign expenses for the contestant.
Report of appointment	(2) Within 30 days after the appointment of a leadership campaign agent, the leadership contestant shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a written report, certified by the contestant's financial agent, that includes the name and address of the leadership campaign agent and any terms and conditions to which the appointment is subject. The Chief Electoral Officer shall enter that information in the registry of leadership contestants.
Agents - ineligible persons	435.09 The following persons are not eligible to be the financial agent or a leadership campaign agent of a leadership contestant:
	(a) an election officer or a member of the staff of a returning officer;
	(b) a leadership contestant;
	(c) an auditor appointed as required by this Act;
	(d) a person who is not an elector;
	(e) an undischarged bankrupt; and
	(f) a person who does not have the capacity to enter into contracts in the province in which the person ordinarily resides.
Auditor - eligibility	435.1 (1) Only the following are eligible to be an auditor for a leadership contestant:
	(a) a person who is a member in good standing of a corporation, an association or an institute of professional accountants; or
	(b) a partnership of which every partner is a member in good standing of a corporation, an association or an institute of professional accountants.
Auditor - ineligible persons	(2) The following persons are not eligible to be an auditor for a leadership contestant:
	(a) election officers and members of the staff of returning officers;
	(b) chief agents of registered parties or eligible parties and registered agents of registered parties;
	(c) candidates and official agents of candidates;
	(d) electoral district agents of registered associations;
	(e) leadership contestants and their leadership campaign agents;
	(f) nomination contestants and their financial agents; and

Bill C-24

Division 3.1

Registration and Financial Administration of Leadership Contestants