Bill 150 explained in plain English
Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act, 2019
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 42nd Parliament, 1st 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
Bill 150 enacts the Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act, 2019, establishing rules and reporting requirements for Ontario political party elections, creating offences with penalties, and allowing candidates to contest election validity in court.
This bill, called the Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act, 2019, creates new rules for elections within political parties in Ontario. It requires parties to report details about candidate selections, leadership races, and party president elections to the Chief Electoral Officer, who will then publish this information online. The bill also outlines offences related to these party elections, such as voting when ineligible or mishandling ballots, with penalties including fines and potential imprisonment for certain knowing violations. Additionally, it allows candidates to challenge the validity of an election by starting a legal action in the Superior Court of Justice within 30 days of the election. Provisions in the Election Finances Act that required reporting for nomination contests are repealed and re-enacted under this new Act. The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Enacts the Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act, 2019.
- Establishes rules for the election of official party candidates, party leaders, and party presidents.
- Requires political parties to file reports with the Chief Electoral Officer after candidate, leadership, or president elections.
- Mandates the Chief Electoral Officer to publish election reports online.
- Defines offences related to party elections, including improper voting, ballot handling, and providing false information.
- Sets penalties for these offences, ranging from fines to imprisonment for knowing violations.
- Allows candidates to initiate legal actions in the Superior Court of Justice to contest the validity of an election.
- Repeals certain reporting and publication requirements for nomination contests from the Election Finances Act.
- Re-enacts these reporting and publication requirements within the new Ensuring Transparency and Integrity in Political Party Elections Act.
- Political parties registered in Ontario
- Leaders of registered political parties
- Chief financial officers of registered political parties
- Candidates for election as official party candidates, party leaders, or party presidents
- Nomination contestants
- Leadership contestants
- Candidates for president or equivalent positions in registered parties
- Voters in political party elections
- The Chief Electoral Officer
- The Superior Court of Justice
- The Court of Appeal
- Political parties must file specific reports with the Chief Electoral Officer within seven days of an election for candidates, leaders, or presidents.
- Candidates have the right to contest the validity of an election by commencing an action in the Superior Court of Justice.
- A candidate must provide security of $2,000 when commencing an action to contest an election.
- Individuals are prohibited from various actions, including voting when not eligible, voting more than once, mishandling ballots, and providing false information.
- Individuals responsible for counting ballots must not wilfully miscount them or make up a false statement of the poll.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Reports must be filed with the Chief Electoral Officer within seven days after an election.
- An action to contest the validity of an election must be commenced within 30 days following the date of the election.
- A fine of not more than $5,000 for various offences.
- A fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day, or both, for wilful miscounting of ballots.
- A fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day, or both, if an offence under sections 12, 14, 15, or 16 is committed knowingly.
- A fine of $50 for each day a default continues, imposed on a registered party for failure to file reports.
- Security of $2,000 must be provided by a plaintiff when commencing an action to contest an election.
- Fines of up to $5,000 for general offences, including voting when not qualified, voting more than once, mishandling ballots, furnishing false information, or inducing unqualified persons to vote.
- Fines of up to $25,000 or imprisonment for up to two years less a day, or both, for wilfully miscounting ballots.
- Fines of up to $25,000 or imprisonment for up to two years less a day, or both, for certain offences committed knowingly.
- A registered party may be fined $50 for each day a reporting default continues.
- Prosecutions can be initiated against registered political parties or constituency associations in their own name.
- The exact date of Royal Assent is not specified in the provided text, which determines the commencement date of the Act.
- The specific 'practice in cases where a plaintiff resides out of Ontario' for providing security for costs is not detailed within the bill text, but is referenced.
- The bill refers to 'rules of court' which are not provided within this text but would govern the practice and procedure in the Superior Court of Justice for election actions.
- The bill refers to 'registered party' and 'registered constituency association' without providing a definition or criteria for registration within the provided text.
This is a new Act that sets out rules for political party elections, reporting requirements, offences, and penalties.
Source: Section 1
Subsections 41.1 (1), (2) and (2.1) of the Election Finances Act, which required reporting and publication of information related to nomination contests, are repealed.
Source: Section 21
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 is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
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