Special Interest Groups Election Advertising Transparency Act, 2013 Nicholls, Rick — Bill 101 (40th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 101, 40-2

Ontario — Bills

role="main" class="main-container container js-quickedit-main-content" id="main-content">

Bill 101, Special Interest Groups Election Advertising Transparency Act, 2013

Nicholls, Rick

Please select

View bill

Status

Debates

Acts affected

Original

[40] Bill 101 Original (PDF)

Bill 101 2013

Act to amend the Election Finances Act with respect to third party election

advertising

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

(1) Section

37.1 of the Election Finances Act is amended by striking

out "37.13" in the portion before the definition of "election period" and

substituting "37.14".

(2) Section 37.1 of the Act is amended by adding

the following definition:

"issue advertising" means advertising in any broadcast,

print, electronic or other medium with the purpose of taking a position on any

issue within the legislative competence of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario;

("publicité d'opinion")

(3) The definition of "third party election

advertising" in

section 37.1 of the Act is amended by adding "or issue

advertising" after "political advertising".

2. The

following provisions of the Act are amended by striking out "37.13" wherever

that expression appears and substituting in each case "37.14":

Section 37.2 in the portion before paragraph

Section 37.3.

3. Subsection 37.10 (5).

3. The

Act is amended by adding the following section:

Limitation

on amount of third party election advertising

37.14

(1) A

third party shall not incur third party election advertising expenses in

relation to a general election if the total amount of the expenses exceeds $150,000

multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor prescribed under subsection

(4) that is in effect on the day of the issue of the writs for the election.

Same,

electoral district

(2) Out of the amount that a third party

incurs in third party election advertising expenses in relation to a general

election, the third party shall not incur third party election advertising

expenses in relation to a given electoral district if the total amount of the

latter expenses exceeds $3,000 multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor prescribed

under subsection (4) that is in effect on the day of the issue of the writ for

the election in the given electoral district.

Same,

by-election

(3) A third party shall not incur third

party election advertising expenses in relation to a by-election if the total

amount of the expenses exceeds $3,000 multiplied by the inflation adjustment

factor prescribed under subsection (4) that is in effect on the day of the

issue of the writ for the by-election.

Inflation

adjustment factor

(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may

make regulations prescribing the inflation adjustment factor for the purposes

of subsection (1), (2) and (3).

combination to exceed limit

(5) A third party shall not circumvent, or

attempt to circumvent, a limit set out in this

section in any manner, including

by splitting itself into two or more third parties for the purpose of circumventing

the limit or acting in collusion with another third party so that their

combined third party election advertising expenses exceed the limit.

4. (1) Subsection

38 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out the portion before clause (

a) and

substituting the following:

Limitation

on campaign expenses

(1) The expenses of a registered party that

are described in subsection (1.1) shall not exceed the amount determined by

multiplying the applicable amount by,

. . . .

(2) Section 38 of the Act is amended by

adding the following subsection:

Total

expenses

(1.1) The expenses of a registered party

that are mentioned in subsection (1) are the total of,

(

a) the

total campaign expenses that the party and any person, corporation, trade union,

unincorporated association or organization acting on behalf of the party incurs

during a campaign period; and

(

b) the

total expenses that a person, corporation, trade union, unincorporated

association or organization acting with the express or implied knowledge and

consent of the party incurs during a campaign period in relation to producing

an election advertisement in support of the party or acquiring the means of

transmitting such an election advertisement to the public.

(3) Subsection 38 (3) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

Limitation:

candidate, constituency association

(3) The expenses of a

registered candidate and a constituency association endorsing the candidate that

are described in subsection (3.0.1) shall not exceed the amount determined by

multiplying the applicable amount by the number of electors in the candidate's

electoral district.

Total

expenses

(3.0.1) The expenses of a registered

candidate and a constituency association endorsing the candidate that are mentioned

in subsection (3) are the total of,

(

a) the

total campaign expenses that the candidate, the constituency association and any

person, corporation, trade union, unincorporated association or organization

acting on behalf of the candidate or constituency association incurs during a

campaign period; and

(

b) the

total expenses that a person, corporation, trade union, unincorporated

association or organization acting with the express or implied knowledge and

consent of the candidate or constituency association incurs during a campaign

period in relation to producing an election advertisement in support of the

candidate or acquiring the means of transmitting such an election advertisement

to the public.

(4) Subsection 38 (4) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

Reduction

of subsidy

(4) If the expenses of a

registered party that are described in subsection (1.1) exceed the amount

determined under subsection (1) or if the expenses of a registered candidate

and a constituency association endorsing the candidate that are described in

subsection (3.0.1) exceed the amount determined under subsection (3), the

amount of the subsidy, if any, payable to the political party's chief financial

officer under subsection 44 (6) or to the candidate's chief financial

officer under subsection 44 (1), as the case may be, shall be reduced by

an amount equal to such excess.

5. Subsection

42 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out "and" at the end of clause (

b) and

by adding the following clause:

(b.1) of

all expenses that a person, corporation, trade union, unincorporated

association or organization acting with the express or implied knowledge and

consent of the party, constituency association or candidate incurred during the

campaign period and that related to producing an election advertisement in

support of the party, constituency association or candidate or acquiring the

means of transmitting such an election advertisement to the public; and

6. The

Act is amended by adding the following section:

Third

party election advertising expenses

46.2

(1) A

third party that contravenes subsection 37.14 (1), (2) or (3) is guilty of an

offence and on conviction is liable to a fine equal to 10 times the amount of

the third party election advertising expenses that it has incurred in relation

to the election to which the applicable subsection relates.

Definition

(2) In this section,

"third party election advertising expense" has the same

meaning as in

section 37.1.

Commencement

7. This

Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

8. The

short title of this Act is the Special Interest Groups

Election Advertising Transparency Act, 2013 .

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill amends the Election Finances Act to expand the

definition of third party election advertising to include issue advertising,

which is defined as advertising with the purpose of taking a position on any

issue within the legislative competence of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

The Bill imposes the following limits on third party election advertising

expenses: $150,000 in relation to a general election and $3,000 in relation to

a given electoral district in a general election or a by-election. Those

amounts are multiplied by an inflation adjustment factor. It is an offence to contravene

the limits. The penalty for the offence is a fine equal to 10 times the full

amount of the expenses incurred, not just the amount in excess of the

applicable limit.

present,

section 38 of the Act limits the campaign expenses that a registered political

party, a registered candidate, a constituency association endorsing the

candidate or a person or body acting on their behalf is allowed to incur during

a campaign period and

section 42 requires each political party to file a

financial statement of those expenses with the Chief Electoral Officer. The

Bill expands those expenses to cover expenses that a person or body acting with

the express or implied knowledge and consent of the party, candidate or

constituency association incurs during a campaign period in relation to

producing an election advertisement in support of the party or acquiring the

means of transmitting such an election advertisement to the public.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

October 3, 2013

Second Reading

Lost on division

October 3, 2013

Second Reading

Debate

September 18, 2013

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

September 18, 2013

Committee

Second Reading

October 3, 2013

Mr. Rick Nicholls, Mr. Taras Natyshak, Mr. Steven Del Duca, Mr. Ted Chudleigh, Mr. Rosario Marchese, Mr. Ted Arnott, Mr. John O’Toole

October 3, 2013

October 3, 2013

Lost on recorded division.

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

Acts affected - Bill 101

Most Ontario public acts are available electronically; to view copies of the Acts to be amended by this bill visit e-laws

Election Finances Act

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Was this page helpful? Yes , I found this page helpful. An optional survey will open in a new tab. No , I didn’t find this page helpful. An optional survey will open in a new tab.

Back to top

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 101, 40-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p40 s2 bill 101 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	12a9c7e424eaccbc86172cef41f4e17a9728ecbb

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (html).