Whereas the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act LECFA only applies to elector organizations and candidates during an election year for the specific purpose of campaigning; And whereas, third-party advertising sponsors are only required to include sponsorship information on election advertising in the last 28 days leading up to General Voting Day; And whereas in order to ensure fairness in the local government election process: - all financial transactions, both during a campaign and outside of campaign periods, should be reported; and - there should be full and transparent reporting of financial contributions to elector organizations and candidates, including reporting by third party entities that engage in significant campaign activities in support of candidates or endorsed candidates: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the Province amend LECFA to: - require all elector organizations, as defined under the Local Government Act to register with Elections BC, similar to how provincial political parties are registered with Elections BC; - require real time disclosure of in-kind support and financial contributions made to local government election candidates in election years, as well as to sitting elected officials in non-election years; - apply contributor and contribution limits to operating accounts of elector organizations and candidates for operational purposes at all times, and to require that annual disclosure reports of contributions received in operating bank accounts, in election years and non-election years; and - establish a pre-campaign period during which time all election advertising must include sponsorship information.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs The 2018 general local elections were the first elections in which the full suite of campaign financing rules applied under the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act LECFA. Amendments in 2016 and 2017 established expense limits for candidates and elector organizations and spending limits for third party advertising sponsors, a ban on out-of-province contributions and contributions made by organizations, and limits for campaign contributions provided to candidates and elector organizations. Ministry of Municipal Affairs monitored the 2018 general local elections to observe any issues or concerns with the application of the campaign financing laws in LECFA. In addition to these observations, there were numerous other inputs, including: the changes requested through this resolution; the experiences of local governments; and the observations of partner organizations such as Elections BC -- which is responsible for administering the campaign financing rules under LECFA and completed a report on its experiences with the 2018 general local elections. All of these inputs were considered in preparing the amendments to LECFA in Bill 9, Local Elections Statutes Amendment Act, 2021, that passed third reading on March 11, 2021. The amendments in Bill 9 address most of the changes requested in this resolution. Elector organizations will be required to register with Elections BC and file annual financial reports. Registration is required before an elector organization can accept campaign contributions, incur election expenses, enter into a campaign financing arrangement or endorse a candidate. Registration and reporting requirements for elector organizations will be similar to those for political parties under the Election Act. Further to the registration and reporting requirements, elector organizations will be prohibited from accepting contributions for operational or administrative expenses. These expenses will now need to be paid from a campaign account of an elector organization, with campaign contributions. This will remove the ability of organizations, such as corporations and unions, from contributing to elector organizations to pay for expenses in non-election years. The amendments will also establish a 60-day pre-campaign period during which time election advertising must include information identifying the sponsor of the advertising. This change will align LECFA with the Election Act and ensure the transparency and accountability of any advertising done during the 60 days before the start of the campaign period. The addition of these new rules is accompanied by new investigative tools for Elections BC and administrative monetary penalties for contraventions of LECFA. The new investigative tools will support Elections BC in investigating potential non-compliance with LECFA and the new monetary penalties will provide Elections BC with more options when taking compliance actions under LECFA. With the diverse nature of local elections in BC, campaign financing rules need to be established that could apply universally across all local governments in the province. Real-time disclosure of campaign contributions made to sitting elected officials, as well as candidates for local elections, is not contained in the package of amendments in Bill 9. There are many practical and administrative challenges with implementing real-time disclosure in local elections due to the number of candidates who participate and the diversity of the local bodies and communities where local elections are held. However, all contributions and expenses from non-election years must be reported alongside campaign contribution and expense reports. The amendments to LECFA in Bill 9 reflect the Provinces commitment to continue to seek to balance the key principles of the local elections campaign financing framework, as identified by the Local Elections Task Force in their 2010 report. These include ensuring that the campaign financing framework continues to support, among other things, the transparency, accountability, and accessibility of local elections in BC. We look forward to continuing to work with Elections BC, UBCM and all partners in strengthening the local elections campaign financing framework.