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

Marginal note:Fiscal period and returns

473 The financial agent of a deregistered electoral district association shall, within six months after the day of its deregistration, provide the Chief Electoral Officer with the documents referred to in subsection 475.4(1) for

• (a) the portion of its current fiscal period ending on the day of its deregistration; and

• (b) any earlier fiscal period for which those documents have not already been provided under that subsection.

SUBDIVISION BFinancial Administration of Registered Associations

General

Marginal note:Duty of financial agent

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

Marginal note:Prohibition — paying expenses

• 475 (1) No person or entity, other than an electoral district agent of a registered association, shall pay the registered association’s expenses.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — incurring expenses

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

• Marginal note:Prohibition — accepting contributions, borrowing

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

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

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

  • (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

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

Marginal note:Payment within three years

475.2 If a claim for an expense is evidenced by an invoice or other document that has been sent under section 475.1, the claim shall be paid within three years after the day on which payment of it is due.

Marginal note:Proceedings to recover payment

475.3 A person who has sent an invoice or other document evidencing a claim under section 475.1 may commence proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover any unpaid amount

• (a) at any time, if the electoral district agent refuses to pay that amount or disputes that it is payable; or

• (b) after the end of the period referred to in section 475.2, in any other case.

Financial Reporting

Marginal note:Financial transactions return

• 475.4 (1) For each fiscal period of a registered association, its financial agent shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with

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

  • (b) the auditor’s report on the return, if one is required under subsection 475.6(1); and

  • (c) a declaration in the prescribed form by the financial 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 association;

  • (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 association, that total amount, as well as the amount of each of those contributions and the date on which the association received it;

  • (d) a statement of the registered association’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 475.3, and

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

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

  • (f) a statement of the commercial value of goods or services provided and of funds transferred by the registered association to the registered party, to another registered association or to a candidate endorsed by the registered party;

  • (g) a statement of the commercial value of goods or services provided and of funds transferred to the registered association from the registered party, another registered association, a nomination contestant, a candidate or a leadership contestant;

  • (h) a statement of the terms and conditions of each loan made to the registered association 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

  • (i) a statement of contributions received by the registered association 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)(h), including with respect to the giving of a guarantee or suretyship, then the registered association’s financial 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)(h) 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 five 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)(d)(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 475.3;

  • (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.

Marginal note:When contributions forwarded to Receiver General

475.5 If the name of the contributor of a contribution of more than $20 to a registered association, or the name or address of a contributor who has made contributions of a total amount of more than $200 to a registered association, is not known, the registered association’s financial agent shall, without delay, pay an amount of money equal to the value of the contribution to the Chief Electoral Officer, who shall forward it to the Receiver General.

Marginal note:Auditor’s report

• 475.6 (1) The auditor of a registered association that has, in a fiscal period, accepted contributions of $10,000 or more in total or incurred expenses of $10,000 or more in total shall report to the association’s financial agent on the association’s financial transactions return and shall, in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, make any examination 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 it is based.

• Marginal note:Statement

  (2) The auditor shall include in the report any statement that the auditor considers necessary if

  • (a) the financial transactions return that is the subject of the report does not present fairly and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles the information contained in the financial records on which it is based;

  • (b) the auditor has not received all of the information and explanations that the auditor required; or

  • (c) based on the examination, it appears that the registered association has not kept proper financial records.

• Marginal note:Right of access

  (3) The auditor shall have access at any reasonable time to all of the association’s documents, and may require the association’s electoral district agents to provide any information or explanation that, in the auditor’s opinion, may be necessary to enable the auditor to prepare the report.

Marginal note:Prohibition — false, misleading or incomplete document

475.7 No financial agent of a registered association shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a document referred to in paragraph 475.4(1)(a) that

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

• (b) does not substantially set out the information required under subsection 475.4(2) or, in the case of a statement of unpaid claims referred to in subparagraph 475.4(2)(d)(ii), does not substantially set out information required under subsection 475.4(6) or (7).

Payment of Audit Expenses

Marginal note:Certificate — audit expenses

• 475.8 (1) On receipt of the documents referred to in subsection 475.4(1) and a copy of the auditor’s invoice, the Chief Electoral Officer shall provide the Receiver General with a certificate that sets out the amount, up to a maximum of $1,500, of the expenses incurred for the audit made under subsection 475.6(1).

• 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 subsection (1) shall be multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor referred to in section 384 that is in effect on the last day of the registered association’s fiscal period to which the auditor’s report relates.

Corrections, Revisions and Extended Reporting Periods

Marginal note:Minor corrections — Chief Electoral Officer

• 475.9 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer may correct a document referred to in subsection 475.4(1) if the correction does not materially affect its substance.

• Marginal note:Corrections or revisions at request of Chief Electoral Officer

  (2) The Chief Electoral Officer may in writing request a registered association’s financial agent to correct or revise, within a specified period, a document referred to in subsection 475.4(1).

• Marginal note:Deadline for corrections or revision

  (3) If the Chief Electoral Officer requests the correction or revision, the registered association’s financial agent shall provide him or her with the corrected or revised version of the document within the specified period.

Marginal note:Extensions — Chief Electoral Officer

• 475.91 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer, on the written application of a registered association’s financial agent or, if the financial agent is absent or unable to perform their duties, its chief executive officer, shall authorize the extension of a period referred to in subsection 475.4(5) unless he or she is satisfied that the financial agent’s failure to provide the required documents was deliberate or was the result of their failure to exercise due diligence.

• Marginal note:Deadline

  (2) The application may be made within the period referred to in subsection 475.4(5) or within two weeks after the end of that period.

Marginal note:Corrections or revisions — Chief Electoral Officer

• 475.92 (1) The Chief Electoral Officer, on the written application of a registered association’s financial agent or, if the financial agent is absent or unable to perform their duties, its chief executive officer, shall authorize the correction or revision of a document referred to in subsection 475.4(1) if he or she is satisfied by the evidence submitted by the applicant that the correction or revision is necessary in order for the requirements of this Act to be complied with.

• Marginal note:Application made without delay

  (2) The application shall be made immediately after the applicant becomes aware of the need for correction or revision.

• Marginal note:Deadline for corrections or revisions

  (3) The applicant shall provide the Chief Electoral Officer with the corrected or revised version of the document within 30 days after the day on which the correction or revision is authorized or within any extension of that period authorized under subsection (4) or (5).

• Marginal note:New deadline

  (4) The Chief Electoral Officer, on the written application of the applicant made within two weeks after the end of the 30-day period referred to in subsection (3), shall authorize the extension of that period, unless he or she is satisfied that the applicant’s failure to provide the corrected or revised version of the document was deliberate or was the result of their failure to exercise due diligence.

• Marginal note:Extension of new deadline

  (5) The Chief Electoral Officer, on the written application of the applicant made within two weeks after the end of an extension authorized under subsection (4) or under this subsection, shall authorize the further extension of that period, unless he or she is satisfied that the applicant’s failure to provide the corrected or revised version of the document was deliberate or was the result of their failure to exercise due diligence.