Whereas local elections are conducted under the Local Government Act, the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, the School Act and other bylaws and legislation; And whereas effective in 2014 Elections BC administers campaign financing and advertising rules under the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act; And whereas all candidates putting their name forward for local government elections must abide by the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act regardless of the size of the jurisdiction in which they are running and the amount of funds used in their campaign, which can be expensive, time consuming and intimidating, which could result in some potential candidates deciding not to put their name forward for local office: Therefore be it resolved that the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act be amended to recognize that requirements to run a campaign in a community of 2,000 voters is considerably different than those required for a large centre; And be it further resolved that changes to the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act be in place prior to the 2018 general local election.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs Housing In developing campaign financing rules for local elections, an important consideration has been to balance the unique attributes of local governments with consistency across British Columbia. Allowing local rules to vary according to community needs is important, but this flexibility must be balanced by principles like consistency, to ensure that basic democratic standards are the same and candidates and electors are treated fairly across communities. Balancing flexibility with consistency of rules has played an important role in guiding changes to local elections legislation. The 2018 general local elections will be the first elections in which both expense limits and contribution limits will apply to local elections campaigns across the province. The experience of the 2018 general local elections will provide an opportunity to gather information and data about how the rules work in a variety of communities, which can then be used to inform further conversations and considerations for campaign financing rules. There are a variety of resources and organizations dedicated to helping local elections participants in applying campaign financing rules to their local elections campaigns, including Elections BC, the Local Government Management Association and staff from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. These organizations are working together to develop and update education materials, as well as organize outreach activities, to assist candidates, elector organizations, and other local elections participants in understanding and complying with the rules.