Legislative History: Adopted October 30, 2017 (By-law No. CPOL.-230-519); Amended July 24, 2018 (By-law No. CPOL.-230(a)-405); Amended August 27, 2019 (By-law No. CPOL.-230(b)-231
Last Review Date: August 10, 2021
Service Area Lead: City Clerk
1. Policy Statement
1.1 This policy clarifies the restrictions pertaining to the use of City of London resources for directly or indirectly benefitting municipal, school board, provincial and federal election campaigns or campaigns related to a question on a ballot.
2. Definitions
For the purposes of this policy
2.1 Campaign-related activities – shall mean any activities that may directly or indirectly benefit a municipal, provincial, or federal election campaign.
2.2 Campaign-related signs – shall mean any material, regardless of format, that promotes or opposes any Candidate, Third Party Advertiser or a question on a ballot, or any material that may directory or indirectly benefit an election campaign.
2.3 Candidate – means any person who has filed and not withdrawn a nomination for an elected office at the municipal, provincial or federal level in an election or by-election.
2.4 City - shall mean The Corporation of the City of London.
2.5 City resources - shall include, but not be limited to City employees, events organized or funded solely or jointly by the City, City facilities, City funds, City information and City infrastructure.
2.6 Election Campaign – shall mean any campaign related to an election or by-election at the municipal, provincial and federal level of government, or a campaign related to the submission of a question on the ballot to the electors.
2.7 Third Party Advertiser means any individual, corporation or trade union registered in accordance with Section 88.6 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 Section 37.5 of the Election Finances Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.E.7, or Section 353 of the Canada Elections Act, S. C. 2000, c. 9.
3. Applicability
3.1 This policy shall apply to the use of City resources by any party in a manner that would directly or indirectly benefit a municipal, provincial, or federal election campaign or campaigns related to a question on a ballot.
4. The Policy
4.1 This policy sets out provisions for the use of City facilities, resources and infrastructure to indirectly or directly benefit an election campaign, in order to preserve the integrity in the elections process and to comply with the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, the Election Finances Act and the Canada Elections Act. This policy allows the City to satisfy its legal responsibility to ensure that no Candidate, registered Third Party Advertiser or political party is provided with an unfair advantage.
Without exception, all parties shall adhere to the applicable provisions of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, as amended, the Election Finances Act (Ontario), the Canada Elections Act (Canada), the Declaration of Office for Members of Council, the Code of Conduct for Members of Council, and the Code of Conduct for Employees regarding the use of City resources.
4.2 City resources, assets and funding that shall not be used by any party to directly or indirectly benefit an election campaign include, but are not limited to:
a) City staff
b) City property, facilities and/or equipment, except in those cases where use of the property, facilities and/or equipment are rented in accordance with City procedures applicable to the general public and/or use of the property, facilities and/or equipment is permitted under other legislation (e.g. Election Sign By-law, etc.)
c) City funds
d) Print or electronic materials paid for by the City promoting an individual
e) Any photos or videos produced by the City, including electronic images and videos
f) City mail room supplies and services
g) City print room supplies and services
h) City technical services and equipment (e.g. computers, laptops, mobile devices and applications such as voice mail, e-mail, Internet and Intranet, City web pages and domains, etc.)
i) City brand (e.g. logos, crest, etc.)
j) Lists and files produced using City resources, with the exception of lists produced for election purposes in accordance with the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (e.g. Voters List).
4.3 City staff shall not engage in any campaign-related activities during business hours unless they are on paid or unpaid leave.
4.4 Campaign-related signs or materials shall not be displayed at or in City-owned or leased facilities, unless otherwise permitted by legislation, and, where permitted for display, shall comply with the provisions of the Election Sign By-law.
4.5 No individual shall distribute, in print or electronic form, material paid for by the City that illustrates, references, promotes, profiles or otherwise relays information about an individual that may directly or indirectly benefit an election campaign. This does not limit a Member of Council from communicating with constituents on matters of interest that are relevant to the business of the City and fall within the fiduciary responsibility of the Member of Council, providing that these do not promote the personal interests of a Member of Council.
4.6 No individual shall host a town hall or ward meeting that would directly or indirectly benefit an election campaign. Rather, town hall or ward meetings shall be focused on the interests of the constituency regarding City business.
4.7 Nothing in this Policy is intended to prohibit a Member of Council from performing their job as an elected representative to represent the interests of their constituents regarding City business, during their period of office.