Elections Modernization Act (S.C. 2018, c. 31)

Marginal note:Prohibition — false or misleading declaration

478.921 No leadership contestant shall send to their financial agent a declaration referred to in paragraph 478.8(1)(d) that they know or ought reasonably to know is false or misleading.

Marginal note:Prohibition — false, misleading or incomplete document

478.93 No financial agent of a leadership contestant shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a document referred to in subsection 478.8(1), (10), (11), (12) or (15) that

• (a) the financial agent knows or ought reasonably to know contains a material statement that is false or misleading; or

• (b) in the case of a document referred to in paragraph 478.8(1)(a), does not substantially set out the information required under subsection 478.8(2) and, in the case of a document referred to in subsection 478.8(10), (11), (12) or (15), does not substantially set out the information required under that subsection.

Payment of Audit Expenses

Marginal note:Certificate

• 478.931 (1) On receipt of the documents referred to in subsection 478.8(1), including the auditor’s report, and a copy of the auditor’s invoice for the report, the Chief Electoral Officer shall provide the Receiver General with a certificate that sets out the greater of

  • (a) the amount of the expenses incurred for the audit, up to a maximum of the lesser of 3% of the leadership contestant’s leadership contest expenses and $1,500, and

  • (b) $250.

• Marginal note:Payment

  (2) On receipt of the certificate, the Receiver General shall pay the amount set out in it to the auditor out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

• Marginal note:Inflation adjustment factor

  (3) The $1,500 amount set out in paragraph (1)(a) and the $250 amount set out in paragraph (1)(b) shall be multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor referred to in section 384 that is in effect on the day on which the leadership contest ends.

Marginal note:Surplus of leadership campaign funds

• 478.94 (1) The surplus amount of leadership campaign funds that a leadership contestant receives for a leadership contest is the amount by which the sum of the following is more than the sum of the contestant’s leadership campaign expenses paid from the bank account referred to in subsection 478.72(1) and any transfers referred to in paragraph 364(5)(b):

  • (a) contributions accepted by the leadership campaign agents on behalf of the contestant;

  • (b) money received from the sale referred to in subsection (2);

  • (c) amounts referred to in subsection 365(3); and

  • (d) any other amounts received by the contestant for their leadership campaign that are required to be deposited into the bank account referred to in subsection 478.72(1) and are not repayable.

• Marginal note:Sale of capital assets

  (2) Before the surplus amount of leadership campaign funds is disposed of in accordance with sections 478.95 and 478.96, a leadership contestant’s financial agent shall sell, at their fair market value, any capital assets whose acquisition constitutes a leadership campaign expense.

Marginal note:Obstruction, etc., of electoral process

• 480 (1) Every person is guilty of an offence who, with the intention of delaying or obstructing the electoral process, contravenes this Act, otherwise than by committing an offence under subsection (2) or section 480.1, 481, 482 or 482.1 or contravening a provision referred to in any of sections 484 to 499.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) A person does not commit an offence under subsection (1) if they establish that the representation was manifestly for the purpose of parody or satire.

Marginal note:Misleading publications

• 481 (1) Every person or entity is guilty of an offence that, during an election period, distributes, transmits or publishes any material, regardless of its form, that purports to be made, distributed, transmitted or published by or under the authority of the Chief Electoral Officer, or a returning officer, political party, candidate or prospective candidate if

  • (a) the person or entity was not authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer or that returning officer, political party, candidate or prospective candidate to distribute, transmit or publish it; and

  • (b) the person or entity distributes, transmits or publishes it with the intent of misleading the public into believing that it was made, distributed, transmitted or published by or under the authority of the Chief Electoral Officer, or that returning officer, political party, candidate or prospective candidate.

• Marginal note:Factors

  (2) In determining whether a person or entity has committed an offence under subsection (1) the court may consider whether the material included the use of

  • (a) a name, logo, social media account identifier, username or domain name that is distinctive and commonly associated with the Chief Electoral Officer, a returning officer, or the political party, candidate or prospective candidate, as the case may be; or

  • (b) the name, voice, image or signature of the Chief Electoral Officer, a returning officer, or the candidate or prospective candidate or of a public figure who is associated with the political party.

• Marginal note:Exception — parody or satire

  (3) A person or entity does not commit an offence under subsection (1) if they establish that the material was manifestly distributed, transmitted or published for the purpose of parody or satire.

Marginal note:Unauthorized use of computer

• 482 (1) Every person or entity is guilty of an offence that, fraudulently, and with the intention of affecting the results of an election,

  • (a) by means of an electro-magnetic, acoustic, mechanical or other device, intercepts or causes to be intercepted, directly or indirectly, any function of a computer system;

  • (b) uses or causes to be used, directly or indirectly, a computer system with intent to

    • (i) commit an offence under paragraph (a),

    • (ii) destroy or alter computer data,

    • (iii) render computer data meaningless, useless or ineffective,

    • (iv) obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the lawful use of computer data, or

    • (v) obstruct, interrupt or interfere with a person or entity in the lawful use of computer data or deny access to computer data to a person or entity that is entitled to access to it;

  • (c) uses, possesses or traffics in, or permits another person or entity to have access to, a computer password that would enable a person or entity to commit an offence under paragraph (a) or (b); or

  • (d) attempts to commit any offence referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c).

• Marginal note:Words and expressions

  (2) Words and expressions used in subsection (1) have the same meaning as in subsection 342.1(2) of the Criminal Code.