Candidate Financial Responsibilities
The information presented here is a summary of the requirements contained in the
Municipal Elections Act (MEA). Each candidate is responsible for
ensuring that they are familiar with all requirements of the MEA and must
satisfy themselves that they are in full compliance with the MEA. This includes
filing Financial Statements with the City
Clerk's Office which requires completing
Auditor’s Report: Form 4. For information on other financial aspects of
running for election, please refer to the following pages:
Contributions & Fundraising,
Campaign Expenses and
Financial Reporting,
Information contained on this site should not be used by candidates in
isolation of a thorough review of the MEA.
As a candidate, what are my responsibilities with respect to campaign
financing?
- Open an account at a financial institution that is exclusively for the purposes
of your election campaign, and in the name of the election campaign;
- Deposit all contributions into that account;
- Ensure that all campaign expenses are made from this account (with the exception
of the nomination filing fee);
- Ensure that receipts are issued for every contribution and obtained for every
expense;
- If you authorize someone to accept or solicit contributions on your behalf, or
make expenditures on your behalf, make sure they are given proper direction;
- If you receive an anonymous contribution, you must pay it to the City Clerk;
- If you become aware that your campaign has received a contribution in
contravention of the Municipal Elections Act, return it to the contributor
as soon as possible; and
- Keep records of all contributions and expenses.
What do I need to keep records of?
-
Receipts issued for contributions, the value of every contribution, whether it
was in the form of money, goods, or services, and the contributors’ names and
addresses;
- Every expense, including the receipts from each expense;
- Any claim for payment of expenses that the candidate disputes or refuses to pay;
- The gross incoming from a fundraising function, and totally amount received at a
fundraising function by donations of $10 or less; and
- Any loan and its terms.