Canada Elections Act (S.C. 2000, c. 9)

424.1 [Repealed, 2014, c. 12, s. 86]

SUBDIVISION BFinancial Administration of Registered Parties

General

Marginal note:Duty of chief agent

425 The chief agent of a registered party is responsible for administering its financial transactions and for reporting on them in accordance with this Act.

Marginal note:Prohibition — paying expenses

• 426 (1) No person or entity, other than a registered agent of a registered party or a person authorized under subsection 381(1), shall pay the registered party’s expenses.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — incurring expenses

  (2) Subject to section 348.02, no person or entity, other than a registered agent of a registered party, shall incur the registered party’s expenses.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — accepting contributions, borrowing

  (3) No person or entity, other than a registered agent of a registered party, shall accept contributions to the registered party or borrow money on its behalf.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — accepting or providing goods, services or funds

  (4) No person or entity, other than a registered agent of a registered party, shall, on behalf of the registered party,

  • (a) accept a provision of goods or services, or a transfer of funds, if the provision or transfer is permitted under section 364; or

  • (b) provide goods or services, or transfer funds, if the provision or transfer is permitted under that section.

Recovery of Claims for Debts

Marginal note:Claim for payment

427 A person who has a claim to be paid for a debt of a registered party shall send the invoice or other document evidencing the claim to the registered party or one of its registered agents.

Marginal note:Payment within three years

428 If a claim for an expense is evidenced by an invoice or other document that has been sent under section 427, the claim shall be paid within three years after the day on which payment of it is due.

Marginal note:Proceedings to recover payment

429 A person who has sent an invoice or other document evidencing a claim under section 427 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 referred to in section 428, in any other case.

Maximum Election Expenses

Marginal note:Maximum election expenses

• 430 (1) The maximum amount that is allowed for election expenses of a registered party for an election is the product of

  • (a) $0.735 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

  • (b) the inflation adjustment factor published by the Chief Electoral Officer under section 384 that is in effect on the date of the issue of the writ or writs for the election.

• Marginal note:Election period longer than 37 days

  (2) If an election period is longer than 37 days, then the maximum amount calculated under subsection (1) is increased by adding to it the product of

  • (a) one thirty-seventh of the maximum amount calculated under subsection (1), and

  • (b) the number of days in the election period minus 37.

• Marginal note:Amounts not included in election expenses

  (3) For the purpose of subsections (1) and (2), an election expense of a registered party does not include

  • (a) a transfer made by or on behalf of it to candidates in the election; or

  • (b) an expense incurred by it through a registered agent, or person authorized under subsection 381(1), who was not acting within the scope of the registered agent’s authority.

Marginal note:Prohibition — election expenses more than maximum

• 431 (1) No chief agent of a registered party shall incur election expenses on the party’s behalf of a total amount of more than the maximum amount calculated under section 430.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — collusion

  (2) No registered party and no third party, as defined in section 349, shall act in collusion with each other for the purpose of circumventing the maximum amount referred to in subsection (1).

Financial Reporting

Marginal note:Financial transactions return

• 432 (1) For each fiscal period of a registered party, its chief agent shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with

  • (a) a financial transactions return, in the prescribed form, on the registered party’s financial transactions;

  • (b) the auditor’s report on the return made under subsection 435(1); and

  • (c) a declaration in the prescribed form by the chief agent that the return is complete and accurate.

• Marginal note:Contents of return

  (2) A financial transactions return shall set out

  • (a) the total amount of contributions received by the registered party;

  • (b) the number of contributors;

  • (c) 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 of those contributions and the date on which the party received it;

  • (d) the name and address of each contributor who has made a contribution to the registered party that includes a directed contribution as defined in subsection 365(2), the amount of the contribution, the amount of the directed contribution and the date on which the party received it;

  • (e) 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

    • (i) claims that are the subject of proceedings under section 429, and

    • (ii) unpaid claims, including those resulting from loans made to the registered party under section 373;

  • (f) a statement of the registered party’s revenues and expenses in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

  • (g) 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) a statement of each amount transferred to a leadership contestant out of a directed contribution as defined in subsection 365(2), the information referred to in paragraph (d) with respect to the contributor and the name of the leadership contestant to whom the amount has been transferred;

  • (i) 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 nomination contestant, a candidate or a leadership contestant;

  • (j) a return for election expenses incurred for each by-election during the fiscal period that sets out

    • (i) a statement of expenses incurred by the registered party, whether paid or unpaid, including a statement of expenses incurred for voter contact calling services as defined in section 348.01, provided by a calling service provider as defined in that section, that indicates the name of that provider and the amount of those expenses, and

    • (ii) a statement of non-monetary contributions used by it;

  • (k) a statement of the terms and conditions of each loan made to the registered party under section 373, including the amount of the loan, the interest rate, the lender’s name and address, the dates and amounts of repayments of principal and payments of interest and, if there is a guarantor, the guarantor’s name and address and the amount guaranteed; and

  • (l) 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.

• Marginal note:Report

  (3) If there is any amendment to the information in a statement referred to in paragraph (2)(k), including with respect to the giving of a guarantee or suretyship, then the registered party’s chief agent shall without delay provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a report on the amendment in the prescribed form.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (4) The Chief Electoral Officer shall, in the manner that he or she considers appropriate, publish the information in a statement referred to in paragraph (2)(k) and any report provided under subsection (3) as soon as feasible after receiving the information or report.

• Marginal note:Period for providing documents

  (5) The documents referred to in subsection (1) shall be provided to the Chief Electoral Officer within six months after the end of the fiscal period.

• Marginal note:Statement of unpaid claims

  (6) The statement of unpaid claims referred to in subparagraph (2)(e)(ii) shall include information indicating

  • (a) each unpaid claim in the statement for the previous fiscal period that has been paid in full since that statement was provided; and

  • (b) each claim that remains unpaid 18 months after the day on which it was due and each claim that remains unpaid 36 months after the day on which it was due.

• Marginal note:Unpaid claims — 18 months or more

  (7) The statement shall include the following information concerning claims referred to in paragraph (6)(b):

  • (a) whether any part of the unpaid amount is disputed and, if so, what steps the parties have taken to resolve the dispute;

  • (b) whether the claim is the subject of proceedings under section 429;

  • (c) whether the unpaid amount of a loan is the subject of proceedings to secure its payment, or of a dispute as to the amount that was to be paid or the amount that remains unpaid;

  • (d) whether the parties have agreed on a repayment schedule and, if so, whether repayments are being made according to the schedule;

  • (e) whether the unpaid amount has been written off by the creditor as an uncollectable debt in accordance with the creditor’s normal accounting practices; and

  • (f) any other relevant information that could help explain why the amount is unpaid.