ELECTORAL FINANCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
corporations and unions are prohibited from lending funds to political parties, electoral district associations and candidates. Most recently, significant reforms were made in 2014 when Parliament passed the Fair Elections Act. In addition to making significant changes to voter identification rules, vouching procedures, and the role of Elections Canada, the Fair Elections Act amended electoral finance rules. Specifically, the reforms increased individual contribution limits from C$1,000 to C$1,500 annually, increased election spending limits for political parties, candidates and nomination contestants, imposed new financial penalties for candidates and political parties that exceed the election spending limit, imposed tighter
regulation of campaign loans, and placed new limits on loans by individuals.
Canadian Electoral Finance at a glance in 2015
In Canada, federal electoral campaigns are financed through public funding and individual contributions.
Regarding individual contributions, as a result of the 2014 amendments to the Canada Elections Act, individuals may contribute C$1,500 per calendar year to each registered political party, C$1,500 in total to electoral district associations, nomination contestants and candidates, and C$1,500 to each independent candidate.3 The most significant source of public funding for federal candidates and political parties
is the partial reimbursement of election expenses. Like individual contributions, such reimbursements are subject to limits. A candidate who receives at least 10% of the votes cast in his or her riding is entitled to a maximum of 60% reimbursement for election expenses. Registered political parties that received at least 2% of the votes cast nationally or 5% of the votes cast in the electoral district in which they have candidates are entitled to a reimbursement of up to 50% of election expenses.
For candidates, election expenses are defined broadly and are divided into three primary categories: election expenses (i.e. any expense reasonably incurred for property or service used during the
election period), the candidate’s personal expenses (i.e. travel and living expenses or child care expenses) and other expenses. Another way in which public funding helps finance electoral campaigns is through the Political Contribution Tax Credit. This is a tax credit for individual contributions to registered federal political parties or candidates. Depending on the amount of the contribution, individuals are entitled to a tax credit of between 50% and 75%. The amount this credit costs the public purse annually varies between election and non-election years. For example, in 2011, the year of Canada’s last general election, tax credits worth C$31 million in tax credits went to individuals for their contributions to political parties.
162 | The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue Three
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