B.C. government introduces legislation to ban corporate and union donations from recall campaigns

Attorney General David Eby says the changes to recall campaigns follow amendments to the Elections Act implemented by the NDP last year. (Mike Mcarthur/CBC)

The B.C. government has introduced legislation to ban corporate and union donations from campaigns to recall members of the legislative assembly (MLAs).

Recall is a process through which a registered voter can petition to remove an MLA from office. It is exclusive to B.C.

A voter can only petition to recall the Member for the electoral district in which they are registered to vote. The voter must collect signatures from more than 40 per cent of voters eligible to sign the petition in that electoral district. Applications for recall petitions cannot be submitted to Elections BC during the 18 months after the member was elected.

Under the Recall and Initiative Act, when a recall petition is issued by the chief electoral officer, the voter becomes the proponent of the recall petition and has up to 60 days to gather signatures and submit the petition for verification.

“Recall campaigns have the potential of removing people from elected office, and it’s only fair that the rules for elections apply to recall campaigns as well,” B.C. Attorney General David Eby said.

“Following the changes our government made last year, this legislation will ensure that we remove the influence of big money for those in favour and opposed to a recall of an MLA.”

Under the Recall and Initiative Amendment Act 2018, corporate and union contributions will be banned. Individual British Columbians will only be able to give $1,200 to a petition proponent, an MLA subject to a petition, or to any one third-party advertising sponsor. The $1,200 annual limit will apply to political contributions made to the MLA, the MLA’s political party or constituency association during an election. This means that individuals cannot give more than $1,200 annually for any combination of recall and political contributions.

Third-party advertisers will have a spending limit of $5,000 during a recall petition limit.

The amendments will also prohibit concurrent recall petitions in a single electoral district, meaning that only one petition can be circulating in a district at any given time. Applying for a recall petition in the six months immediately before general voting day for a scheduled general election would also be prohibited.

There are currently no restrictions on who can contribute to the recall proponents, MLAs or third-party advertising sponsors, or how much they may contribute. Third-party advertising sponsors have no spending limits during a petition period, but recall proponents and MLAs do.

Nov. 13, 2018, would be the earliest opportunity to apply to recall an MLA elected in the May 9, 2017, provincial general election.

Here are all the proposed amendments to the Recall and Initiative Act: 

• Prohibit concurrent recall petitions in a single electoral district. Currently, there can be more than one recall petition circulating in a district at any given time, which could be used to unfairly increase spending limits.
• Restrict recall contributions to authorized participants so that they may be made only by eligible individuals, i.e., Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are also residents of British Columbia.
• Limit recall contributions to proponents and MLAs to $1,200 in a calendar year. This is the same contribution limit for political contributions in the Election Act.
• Provide that contributions from an eligible individual to an MLA facing a recall must not exceed $1,200 alone or in combination with any political contributions made in that calendar year to the MLA’s political party or constituency association.
• Require advertising sponsors to obtain from contributors a confirmation that the contributor is an eligible individual, and consent to use a contribution for recall advertising.
  Provide for transfers of money from an MLA’s political party or constituency association to the MLA for the purpose of the recall campaign. Currently, these transfers are permitted but are classified as recall contributions.
• Require loans for proponents and MLAs to be obtained only from financial institutions at a rate of interest no lower than prime rate.
• Prohibit applications for recall petition during the six months immediately before general voting day for a scheduled general election.
• Expand the definition of recall advertising to include paid canvassing and direct mail, similar to the definition in the Election Act.
• Require recall advertising sponsors to be independent of the petition proponent and the MLA who is subject of the recall, with the exception of the political party the MLA represents.
• Require advertising sponsors to obtain from contributors a confirmation that the contributor is an eligible individual, and consent to use a contribution for recall advertising, as in the Election Act.
• Limit recall contributions to third-party advertising sponsors to $1,200 in a calendar year. This is the same contribution limit for advertising sponsorship contributions in the Election Act.
• Limit spending by recall advertising sponsors to $5,000 during a 60-day recall petition period.
• Require anyone who engages in direct recall advertising (i.e., explicitly advocating the recall of an MLA at any time outside a petition period) to register with Elections BC and report their expenses and contributions, similar to the rules for the pre-campaign period under the Election Act.
• Update requirements regarding the responsibilities of financial agents and the content of financing reports for all participants.
• Create monetary penalties similar in scale to Election Act monetary penalties that may be imposed by the chief electoral officer.
• Update the offence provisions to include the new rules and restrictions and increase the maximum fine from $5,000 to $10,000.
• Provide the chief electoral officer with regulation-making authority.

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