The Alberta provincial election is now entering the final stretch. As candidates, parties and third-party advertisers prepare for the final push to get their messages out and get voters to the polls, corporations need to be mindful to avoid unintended contributions to those efforts.
Under Alberta’s Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act (EFCDA), both monetary and non-monetary contributions from corporations, unions and other organizations are prohibited in election campaigns and election advertising. Contributions can only be made by real people who are ordinarily resident in Alberta.[1]
Political participants, including candidates, parties and third-party advertisers, need to track and report all monetary and non-monetary contributions and they must stay within their legislated spending limits.[2] Spending limits are strict and even things like reusing signs from previous elections and borrowing folding tables from a friend’s basement for the campaign office must be accounted for.[3]
Volunteer labour does not count against spending limits, but volunteer time must truly be a volunteer’s own time. It cannot directly or indirectly be time that they are being compensated for by their employer or anyone else.[4]
Avoiding unintended, prohibited corporate contributions
The two most common ways corporations unintentionally end up offside election contribution restrictions are employees volunteering on company time and the use of corporate resources to support campaigns.
Avoiding paid volunteering
Ensure your employees understand and comply with the prohibition on spending any of their working hours on election campaign activities:
- Regular working hours cannot be used for campaigning, even if that is just making calls while at the office. All time spent on election campaigns must be unpaid time. Strictly separating regular working hours from volunteer hours is the most effective way to avoid problems. Those taking on larger roles in campaigns should be using vacation time or unpaid leaves if their volunteering will be overlapping with their work hours.
- Professionals and others who may not have regular working hours per se, still need to be cautious to avoid any campaigning during what is, or could be viewed as, paid time. For example, lawyers who docket hours to account for their time should not be docketing time spent volunteering on campaigns as business development. Business development is a work activity. True volunteer time should be docketed as vacation or not docketed at all because it is personal time being volunteered, not a work-related activity.
Avoiding monetary and non-monetary contributions
Avoiding prohibited monetary contributions is easy – do not cut corporate cheques and do not reimburse anyone for personal contributions to candidates, parties or election third-party advertisers.
To ensure unintended non-monetary contributions do not occur, make sure employees understand that corporate resources cannot be used or borrowed to assist in their personal volunteer efforts:
- Use of corporate vehicles – many people who have corporate vehicles do not return them at the end of the day and may also use them for personal errands on the way home or other activities that their employer may not require reimbursement for. While it may not seem like a big deal and a pickup truck can really be useful for putting up and taking down election signs, that is a prohibited corporate contribution. Work vehicles should not be used to assist campaigns unless the campaign is paying the corporation fair market value for the use of the vehicle(s). [5]
- Use of corporate equipment – “I can just print those flyers out at work,” “there is a microphone and speaker at my office we can use for that event,” “I can borrow a printer from work to use over the weekend to print door knocking maps” – while these things may seem harmless, these are all prohibited corporate contributions.[6]
Encouraging your employees’ participation in the electoral process is a good thing. With a little forethought, caution and clear communication, corporations can make sure they remain compliant with Alberta’s election laws while facilitating that engagement.
If you are an organization who requires advice on complying with Alberta election laws, please contact the authors, Laurie Livingstone and Tina Shaygan.
[1] EFCDA, ss. 1(1)(j), 16 and 44.2(1).
[2] The election period expense limits for the 2023 Alberta provincial election are: for registered parties, $3,208,127 [EFCDA, s.41.2 (1)]; for individual candidates, $53,100 [EFCDA, ss.41.3 (1)(a)]; and for election third-party advertisers, $159,200 [EFCDA, ss.44.11 (1)(b)].
[3] EFCDA, ss. 22(1) and 44.31, Candidate Guide to the EFCDA at pp. 7 and 22, Political Party Guide to the EFCDA at p. 11, Third-Party Advertiser Guide to the EFCDA at p. 17.
[4] EFCDA, ss. 1(5) and 44.1(2), Candidate Guide to the EFCDA at pp. 8, Political Party Guide to the EFCDA at p. 11, and Third-Party Advertiser Guide to the EFCDA at p. 17.
[5] Candidate Guide to the EFCDA at pp. 7, Political Party Guide to the EFCDA at p. 11, and Third-Party Advertiser Guide to the EFCDA at p. 17.
[6] Candidate Guide to the EFCDA at pp. 7, Political Party Guide to the EFCDA at p. 11, and Third-Party Advertiser Guide to the EFCDA at p. 17.
