7 Things to Know about Canadian Election Laws

Last week, millions of people were anxiously watching Canada’s election results to see which party would form government, whether the candidate of their choosing in their riding was going to have a say in Parliament, and whether there would be a new Prime Minister. It’s a bit odd though that today there are still many who don’t understand the system and its rules. There has been a big push to encourage eligible citizens to vote, but is it fair to abstain if you simply don’t know how it works? Here are some basic things you might know, and some you might not know or that may pique your interest.

1. How does our federal election system work?

Believe it or not, some people still don’t understand what they are voting for and how it works, but perhaps that’s one reason there are people who don’t vote. This is fair, because they simply don’t understand the system. It can be confusing, as people are seeing these political figures on tv and people are being told that they could be the Prime Minister, yet they get a door knock, a phone call, a piece of literature in the mail, and see lawn signs of some other person they don’t recognize. If they get to a ballot they might wonder why none of the people on TV are listed. So, let’s review how it works, because elections decide who forms our government, which in turn decides what new laws and amendments to laws come out.

Today there are 338 Federal Electoral districts or “ridings.” So, what are these “ridings”? We continue to hear the term “ridings,” which refers to when people rode horses (it’s a historical thing). Ridings relate to the seats in the lower House of Commons in Parliament and electoral districts or areas that are grouped by their location and population. This could be your village, town, city, municipality, an overlap of municipalities, or a subsection of one. Every 10 years, the Constitution requires the boundaries of the electoral districts and the number of districts or ridings to be reviewed to reflect changes and movement in Canada’s population. Instead of everyone in the country going to Parliament and voicing what they want, citizens vote for a representative to represent their community in their riding. The representative may be part of a “political party.” A political party refers to an association of people with common values, views, and objectives. The leader of the association submits a party application to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada so they can become an “eligible party” to be registered. A “registered party” refers to a party that has a voice or seat in Parliament. This means if the party wins one riding, they are a registered party.

When a political party registers to be an eligible party, they cannot have the word “independent” in their party name. Why? Because “independent” refers to people who are unaffiliated with any party. What are some of the benefits to being part of a political party for candidates in ridings, and why does being part of a political party matter to voters? Party members will help one another out and can use their combined resources to get messages out to the public. Party members who get elected and get to go to Parliament to speak may lean on their party to help them raise issues, as it may be difficult for one individual to speak over 338 others. Representatives who belong to a party can allow their riding to have a say, even if he/she doesn’t get to speak at every meeting or debate, because parties make their values and views known; party members speaking in Parliament will try to advance what they want for all of their ridings or what change they want to see in the country.

So, candidates in each riding campaign to get elected to represent a riding in Parliament. Citizens vote for these candidates, and the candidate with the most votes is elected as the representative for their riding. These representatives become Members of Parliament (“MPs”) and gain a right to speak during parliamentary debates.

Voters should also care if their representative is part of a party, because the leader of the party becomes the Prime Minister if most other ridings also elect candidates of that party. Unlike in other countries such as in the United States, citizens do not directly vote for the Prime Minister of the country, but instead vote for a representative who may belong to a party that elects their own leader who then may become the Prime Minister. This in turn also means that ridings who elect an independent candidate, rather than someone who belongs to a party, do not really voice who they think should be Prime Minister.

2. What are the rules for leadership? Can anyone really be Prime Minister?

As mentioned, the leader of the party with the most party members elected as MPs becomes the Prime Minister, so how is the leader or Prime Minister candidate chosen? Each political party must have their own constitution that sets out their principles and values, their general framework including nomination rules for candidates of ridings, leadership powers, and rules for leadership conventions. Leadership conventions are announced and registered members of parties who are interested in becoming the leader, who are eligible to be an MP in the next election, and who are qualified in accordance to the party’s constitution can campaign to be voted leader by the party members. In most party constitutions, there is a requirement to get a certain number of nominations or signatures from registered members or supporters of their party from multiple provinces and territories in order to be an eligible leader candidate. So, in terms of just anyone being leader and then prime minister, that doesn’t happen here. You have the right as a citizen to be elected, but you have to go through the party and get nominations. Campaigning to be a leader requires funds, endorsements, and nominations from many. As a result of the two-tier system and the processes, unlike in other countries, it is unlikely that the Prime Minister will be someone who isn’t familiar with politics, running to lead the country out of the blue. So far, Canada’s Prime Ministers have all been involved in the government, politics, and their respective parties long before they became Prime Minister; they all technically “qualify” with a background or experience in politics.

3. Campaign Funds – How are federal election campaigns funded?

We watched the American election in 2016 where we heard about record campaign costs, with Hillary Clinton’s campaign spending $768 million after raising $1.4 billion. It was announced that Donald Trump contributed $66 million of his own money to his presidential campaign. We see commercials, ads, flyers, radio shows, rallies, and more during elections, so how are all these funded? Do the wealthiest always win? Is it different in Canada? In Canada, there are rules governing how candidates can be funded. But unlike in the U.S. and other countries, there is a strict cap of $5,000 that a candidate may contribute to their own campaign.

So where is the majority of the money coming from for these campaigns? Money is often donated by individuals to candidates and parties in exchange for tax credits. Over the years, there have been more restrictions added to funding election campaigns, in that corporations are excluded from being able to participate in contributing campaign funds to political parties (this wasn’t the case prior to 2004). Parties and candidates can only rely on raising money from individuals willing to donate. In 2015, it was decided that the limit would be $1,500 with an increase of $25 each year after, thus in 2019 the maximum contribution a donor could give to a political party, leadership contestant, or individual riding candidate was $1,600. Donors are given tax credits of 75% for the first $400, then 50% for an amount between $400 and $750, and 33% if they contribute more than $750 but their tax credit cannot be more than $650. Candidates who receive more than $200 from a donor are required to disclose that donor’s name.   

Spending limits for individual riding candidates varies depending on the duration of the election campaign and the riding population. Political parties can spend 73.5c on each of the voters in ridings in which they have candidates running. If they win, will a candidate get reimbursed? A candidate who wins 10% of the votes or more can get 15% of their expenses reimbursed. If they spent 30% of their spending limit, then they can get 60% of what they spent reimbursed. Parties who were able to secure 2% of the national vote or 5% for the districts in which they ran (e.g., Bloc Quebecois only runs in Quebec) can get 50% of their expenses reimbursed.

4. It is YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to Vote if you are a Canadian Citizen

In accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in our Constitution Act (1982), all Canadian citizens have the right to vote in an election. This includes citizens who have been convicted and/or who are prisoners. This was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Sauvé v. Canada, 2002.

What if you have to work all day on election day? If you are employed, a Canadian citizen, and your work hours on election day don’t allow you time during poll hours to vote, your employer must accommodate time for you to exercise your right to vote on election day. If you are an employer, then you should keep in mind that every employee is entitled to up to 3 consecutive hours in order to cast their vote if their current scheduled hours don’t accommodate time to vote. This is to be accommodated without any pay deduction or penalty to the employee, however when the three hours are given to the employee to vote, this is at the convenience of the employer. In addition to accommodations for employees to vote, there are advance polls to make it more convenient for everyone if they know who they want to vote for and feel they may be too busy on election day.

5. Can you or someone assist a family member or friend in voting? What if someone has a disability that makes it difficult to cast his/her ballot?

If a voter needs assistance, a friend, a spouse including a common law spouse, or a relative of the voter or spouse can assist a voter by accompanying them to the voting compartment and assist with marking their ballot. However, this assistant will be required to make a solemn declaration beforehand that they will only mark the ballot as directed by the voter, will not try to influence the voter in choosing a candidate, that they have not assisted anyone else in the current election in marking their ballot, and that they promise to keep the name of the candidate the voter selected confidential.   

An election officer at the polling station can also assist a citizen voter if they are unable to vote without assistance because of a disability. If you are blind or illiterate, you can still vote! The election officer is required to assist with another election officer supervising. An election officer is also able to appoint a language or sign language interpreter if needed to communicate necessary information for a voter to vote.

6. It is illegal to take a photo/selfie/video of your marked ballot

I totally get that it can be exciting to vote for the first time. Or maybe it is your son/nephew/baby cousin/daughter/niece that is voting for their first time. You can take photos going to the polls or outside your polling facility next to a sign and you can post that overly gushy Facebook status, but you cannot take a photo of your ballot or of yourself with the marked ballot. This means NO SELFIES with your marked ballot!  Sorry! Take the photo outside with the vote poster. This is because election laws state that your ballot is subject to secrecy. So, this also means you cannot shout out who you voted for at the polling station after you mark your ballot. (Seriously, it’s under Part 11.1 Prohibitions in Relation to Voting in the Canada Elections Act.)

7. No loud devices and campaigning at the polling stations

It is totally great that you’re an activist and want to express your political speech leading up to elections, or regularly show how involved you are in politics, but leave that megaphone in the car when you go to vote, and leave that lawn sign on your lawn, because there is no political campaigning allowed at the polling station. Political campaign literature, including flyers, posters, signs, and loudspeakers that promote a candidate, are prohibited at polling stations. You’re not allowed to use megaphones to promote a candidate within hearing distance of a polling station on Election Day. Also please leave that shirt promoting the candidate of your choice behind too. You can’t wear that at the polling station on Election Day.

So, there you have 7 things to know about election laws. If you want to dig deeper, feel free to check out some of my additional source links.  

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. I am not responsible for any damages resulted from using information in this article. Please consult a lawyer for advice on your unique circumstances.

Sources – Not in any specific reference style

Election Canada FAQs on Voting: https://elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=faq&document=faqvot&lang=e#vot9

Election Canada’s Article titled “The Electoral System of Canada Political Financing”: https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=ces&document=part6&lang=e

An Article in the Canadian Encyclopaedia on The Political Party Financing in Canada: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/party-financing

Canada Elections Act 2000 – Current as of 2019-07-29: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-2.01/index.html

Interesting sections I mentioned in my post:

Part 9- S. 127, 128, 132,150,154,163, 165, 166

Part 11.1 Prohibitions in Relation to Voting, s. 281

CBC News Post titled “Can Prisoners vote or not?” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/can-prisoners-vote-or-not-1.705746

Sauvé v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer), [2002] 3 SCR 519, 2002 SCC 68 (CanLII): https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2002/2002scc68/2002scc68.html

Fortune Magazine, “Here’s How Much of His Own Money Donald Trump Spent on His Campaign”: https://fortune.com/2016/12/09/donald-trump-campaign-spending/

The Washington Post Election 2016 Money Raised as of Dec. 31: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/campaign-finance/

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 3, Part 1 of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c 11 : https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-15.html

The Washington Post, “Somebody just put a price tag on the 2016 election. It’s a doozy.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/04/14/somebody-just-put-a-price-tag-on-the-2016-election-its-a-doozy/

Image source credit for use in feature image: Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay