Bill 201 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, 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 201 amends the Election Finances Act and the Taxation Act, 2007, to regulate election financing, introduce rules for nomination contestants, and change rules for third-party political advertising.
This bill makes several changes to Ontario's election financing laws, primarily the Election Finances Act. It introduces rules for 'nomination contestants' (people seeking to become a party's candidate), restricts contributions from corporations and trade unions, and changes limits on individual contributions. It also sets spending limits for third parties on political advertising and modifies rules for political parties regarding advertising during election periods. The bill also makes changes to the Taxation Act, 2007, regarding tax credits for contributions to leadership contestants. The changes are set to take effect on January 1, 2017.
- Introduces a regulatory framework for 'nomination contestants', including registration requirements and rules for accepting and reporting contributions.
- Prohibits corporations and trade unions from making contributions to political parties, constituency associations, nomination contestants, candidates, and leadership contestants.
- Reduces contribution limits for individuals.
- Places restrictions on the amounts that third parties can spend on political advertising during election periods and the six months prior to scheduled general elections.
- Places restrictions on the political advertising spending of registered political parties during the six months before scheduled general elections.
- Changes the threshold for candidates to receive partial reimbursement of campaign expenses from 15 per cent to 10 per cent of the popular vote.
- Amends the Election Finances Act to define 'nomination contestant' and 'nomination contest period'.
- Amends the Taxation Act, 2007, to make contributions to leadership contestants eligible for tax credits.
- Political parties
- Registered constituency associations
- Nomination contestants
- Candidates
- Leadership contestants
- Individuals making contributions
- Corporations
- Trade unions
- Third parties involved in political advertising
- Chief Electoral Officer
- The general public (as voters and recipients of political advertising)
- Nomination contestants must register under the Act.
- Third parties face spending limits for political advertising.
- Corporations and trade unions are prohibited from making contributions.
- Individuals have reduced contribution limits.
- Political parties and registered constituency associations must file financial statements and reports.
- Third parties must file political advertising reports.
- Candidates are entitled to reimbursement of campaign expenses if they achieve 10% of the popular vote.
- The Act comes into force on January 1, 2017.
- Changes to limits on contributions that individuals can make.
- Changes to spending limits for third parties on political advertising.
- Changes to the threshold for candidate expense reimbursement.
- Amendments to the Taxation Act, 2007, making contributions to leadership contestants eligible for tax credits.
- Introduction of quarterly allowances payable to registered parties.
- Changes to how inflation adjustments (indexation factor) are calculated and applied to various monetary limits.
- The bill introduces an additional fine for third parties that contravene spending limits on political advertising, which can be up to five times the amount by which they exceeded the limit.
- The bill text does not specify the exact amounts of all contribution limits or spending limits, as many are subject to an indexation factor that is updated annually.
- The specific rules and calculations for the indexation factor, while described, may require further interpretation.
- The exact date for the commencement of some provisions is not explicitly stated beyond the general commencement date of January 1, 2017, which might lead to uncertainties about when specific changes take effect if not proclaimed on that date.
This is the primary act being amended by this bill. Numerous sections are modified to include 'nomination contestants' and to change rules regarding contributions, spending limits, and reporting requirements.
Source: Various sections
This act is amended to make contributions to leadership contestants eligible for tax credits.
Source: Section 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 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