Bill 2 explained in plain English
Election Finances Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Election Finances Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016, amends various Ontario laws to change rules around election financing, including contribution limits, third-party advertising, and government advertising during election periods.
This Ontario bill, the Election Finances Statute Law Amendment Act, 2016, makes several changes to laws related to election financing. Key changes include prohibiting corporations and trade unions from making political contributions, lowering contribution limits for individuals, and bringing 'nomination contestants' (those seeking to be a party's official candidate) under the rules of the Election Finances Act starting July 1, 2017. It also introduces quarterly allowances for registered parties and constituency associations, tightens rules on loans and loan guarantees, and restricts who can attend fundraising events. Additionally, it places limits on spending by third parties on political advertising during elections and the six months before scheduled general elections, and also restricts political advertising spending by registered parties in that same six-month period. The bill also adjusts how the indexation factor for inflation adjustments is calculated and reduces the threshold for candidates to receive partial reimbursement of campaign expenses from 15% to 5% of the popular vote. The Government Advertising Act is amended to extend the prohibition on government advertising to 60 days before an election writ is issued for scheduled general elections. The Taxation Act, 2007 is modified to make contributions to leadership contestants eligible for tax credits and to address the prohibition on corporate contributions.
- Prohibits corporations and trade unions from making contributions to political parties, constituency associations, nomination contestants, candidates, and leadership contestants.
- Lowers contribution limits for individuals.
- Brings 'nomination contestants' (those seeking to be a party's official candidate) under the Election Finances Act starting July 1, 2017.
- Introduces quarterly allowances for registered parties and constituency associations.
- Tightens rules regarding loans and loan guarantees.
- Restricts who may attend fundraising events.
- Places limits on third-party spending on political advertising during elections and in the six months before scheduled general elections.
- Restricts political advertising spending by registered political parties in the six months before scheduled general elections.
- Changes how the indexation factor for inflation adjustments is calculated.
- Reduces the threshold for candidates to receive partial reimbursement of campaign expenses from 15% to 5% of the popular vote.
- Extends the prohibition on government advertising to 60 days before an election writ is issued for scheduled general elections.
- Makes contributions to leadership contestants eligible for tax credits and addresses the prohibition on corporate contributions.
- Individuals making political contributions.
- Corporations and trade unions (prohibited from making contributions).
- Political parties (registered and unregistered).
- Constituency associations.
- Candidates in general elections.
- Nomination contestants (persons seeking to be nominated as a party's candidate).
- Leadership contestants.
- Third parties engaged in political advertising.
- Government offices during election periods.
- Taxpayers (regarding tax credits for contributions).
- Obligation for individuals to only contribute funds that actually belong to them and have not been given by another entity for the purpose of contributing.
- Requirement for third parties to register if they incur a total of $500 in third-party political advertising expenses during a specific period.
- Requirement for third parties incurring $5,000 or more in political advertising expenses to appoint an auditor.
- Obligation for registered third parties to certify in their reports that they did not act in coordination with registered parties, candidates, or other related entities.
- Requirement for registered parties and constituency associations to file annual financial statements.
- Requirement for the chief financial officer of a registered third party to file a political advertising report.
- Right for candidates to receive partial reimbursement of campaign expenses if they achieve 5% of the popular vote (reduced from 15%).
- The Act comes into force on January 1, 2017.
- Rules for nomination contestants apply on and after July 1, 2017.
- The prohibition on government advertising is extended to 60 days before an election writ is issued for scheduled general elections.
- Reductions in contribution limits for individuals.
- Introduction of quarterly allowances for registered parties and constituency associations.
- Changes to tax credits for contributions to leadership contestants.
- New spending limits for third parties on political advertising during election periods and the six months prior to general elections.
- New spending limits for registered political parties on political advertising in the six months prior to general elections.
- Lowered threshold for candidate reimbursement of campaign expenses (5% of popular vote).
- A third party that contravenes spending limits under section 37.10.1 is liable for a fine not exceeding five times the amount by which they exceeded the limit.
- The bill text does not specify the exact amounts for the quarterly allowances for registered parties and constituency associations, beyond the initial calculation rules for 2017 onwards.
- The bill does not detail specific penalties for contraventions of all provisions, though it does specify a penalty for third-party spending limit violations.
- The exact application of 'coordination' rules for third-party advertising is described but may require interpretation in specific cases.
- The definition of 'political advertising' for third parties and the factors to consider when determining if an advertisement is political may require interpretation.
- The bill indicates that indexation factors will be used to adjust certain financial limits annually, but the specific factors for future years beyond those explicitly stated are not provided within the bill text itself.
Makes numerous changes to the rules governing election financing, including who can contribute, contribution limits, registration of candidates and parties, third-party advertising, and reporting requirements. It also introduces new provisions for nomination contestants and quarterly allowances for parties and constituency associations.
Source: Various sections of the Act
Extends the prohibition on government advertising to 60 days before an election writ is issued for scheduled general elections.
Source: Subsection 8 (3)
Makes contributions to leadership contestants eligible for tax credits and modifies rules related to corporate contributions.
Source: Subsections 53.1 (2), 53.2 (b), and 102 (6)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced