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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OTTAWA 000305 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM CA
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS IN CANADA: A "HOW TO" PRIMER 
 
REF:  A. Ottawa 257 
- -       B. Ottawa 221 and previous 
 
¶1.  (U)  Summary:  In Canada's parliamentary system, governments 
must retain the "confidence" of the House of Commons to govern.  The 
Governor General may dissolve the House of Commons -- on the advice 
of the prime minister - if a sitting government fails to win a 
"confidence" measure.  Minority governments, such as the current 
one, are especially vulnerable to such defeats.  During a federal 
election, the Prime Minister and Cabinet remain in place, but the 
Commons ceases to meet and all pending legislation dies.  New 
elections usually take place about 36 days after dissolution in all 
"ridings," with the Governor General then calling upon the leader of 
whichever party wins a majority, or the largest minority, to form a 
new government.  There are strict limits on campaign financing, 
spending, and advertising.  The current government under Prime 
Minister Stephen Harper faces at least four upcoming confidence 
measures by the end of March.  If it survives them, it might remain 
in office until October 19, 2009 under a 2007 law that established a 
fixed date for elections on a four-year cycle.  Canada's free and 
fair elections set an outstanding model for the world; Elections 
Canada has organized over 400 international democratic development 
missions in 100 countries to share its expertise.  End summary. 
 
"DROPPING THE WRIT" 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  Canada inherited a parliamentary system from the United 
Kingdom, in which the leader of the political party that wins a 
majority of seats -- at least 155 out of 308 -- in the House of 
Commons becomes the Prime Minister and forms a Cabinet.  In the 
event that there is no majority, the Governor General (representing 
the Queen) asks the leader of the party that wins the largest number 
of seats (even though still only a minority) to form a government. 
(The ruling Conservatives currently have 126 seats, the Liberal 
Party 94, the Bloc Qubcois 49, and the New Democratic Party 30. 
There are four Independents and five vacancies.)  The Governor 
General dissolves Parliament on the advice of the prime minister 
when a ruling government loses a vote of "confidence" in the House 
of Commons, i.e., on significant fiscal bills, the Speech from the 
Throne (the government's overall policy blueprint), and on any other 
major bills or motions that the government may designate as 
confidence measures, or at any other time the prime minister may 
advise.  Since passage of new legislation on elections in 2007, the 
Governor General must also call for new elections on a fixed four 
year cycle for the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar 
 
year following the previous federal election.  The first such 
election will be on October 19, 2009 if the government of Prime 
Minister Stephen Harper survives all upcoming confidence votes 
(reftels). 
 
¶3.  (U)  To call a new federal election, the Governor General signs 
a Royal Proclamation  ordering separate writs (orders) -- called 
"dropping the writ" -- authorizing Elections Canada (a non-partisan, 
independent agency that reports to Parliament) under the Canada 
Elections Act to conduct elections in each of the 308 federal 
"ridings," the Canadian equivalent of a U.S. Congressional district 
or a constituency.  The Governor General sets the date of the 
election and the date when Parliament will reconvene.  The campaign 
must last a minimum of thirty-six days, and polling date must fall 
on a Monday, although it may fall on a Tuesday if the desired date 
is a public holiday.  There is no maximum length for these 
campaigns, but the custom is to stick to thirty-six days. 
Qcampaigns, but the custom is to stick to thirty-six days. 
 
REGISTERED PARTIES 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U)  Political parties must register with Elections Canada, have 
a minimum of 250 members, and field at least one candidate.  In the 
2006 federal election, there were fifteen registered parties, of 
which only four won seats.  The Bloc Qubcois runs candidates only 
in the province of Quebec.  Approximately 5 per cent of candidates 
run as independents.  Elections Canada conducts the election, trains 
and funds election officers, and monitors financing and other rules. 
 Voter turn out in the 2006 election was 64.7% (60.9% in 2004). 
 
FINANCING 
---------------- 
 
¶5.  (U)  There is no limit on the amount of money that parties and 
individual candidates may raise, but total election spending is 
capped.  Parties and individual candidates are subject to separate 
limits that vary according to the number of voters in each riding. 
For registered parties, the formula is C$.70 (adjusted annually for 
inflation) multiplied by the number of registered electors in each 
 
riding in which each party is running a candidate.  In the 2006 
federal election, the total spending cap per party was 
C$18,278,278.64.  For candidates, the formula is C$2.07 for each of 
the first 15,000 electors in the riding; C$1.04 for each of the next 
 
OTTAWA 00000305  002 OF 003 
 
 
100,000 electors; and C$0.52 for each of the remaining electors (all 
figures adjusted annually for inflation).  Only Canadian citizens 
and permanent residents may donate to registered parties, to a 
maximum of C$1,100 per individual per calendar year; contributions 
in cash are limited to C$20 to allow Elections Canada to track 
financing.  Tax credits are available for political donations.  The 
law prohibits all donations from corporations, trade unions, and 
other associations. 
 
¶6.  (U)  Parties that receive at least 2 per cent of valid votes 
cast nationally, or 5 per cent in the ridings they have contested, 
are entitled to a refund of fifty per cent of their eligible 
election expenses from public funds.  Candidates who receive at 
least ten per cent of votes cast in their riding are eligible for 
reimbursement of sixty per cent of their election expenses.  In 
addition, registered parties that receive 2 per cent of valid votes 
nationally, or 5 per cent in ridings they have contested, are 
eligible for an ongoing annual allowance of C$1.75 for each vote won 
(indexed to inflation) in the previous federal election. 
 
BROADCASTING AND ADVERTISING 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶7.  (U)  Elections Canada regulates and allocates media broadcasting 
time -- both paid and free -- in consultation with the political 
parties.  Broadcasters are legally required collectively to provide 
429 minutes of paid time in prime time periods at subsidized rates. 
Networks that receive public funding (e.g., CBC) must collectively 
also provide free time at least equal to the time they provided in 
the previous election (654 minutes in 2006) and divide it among the 
parties.  No party may exceed a 50% share of regulated broadcasting 
time, but parties may buy extra time at the discretion of 
broadcasters at market rates.  All election advertising expenses are 
subject to the maximum spending cap per candidate and party. 
Election advertising and the broadcasting of previously unreleased 
public opinion surveys is prohibited on election day. 
 
¶8.  (U)  Election advertising by third parties is limited to 
C$179,400 per organization and to C$3,588 per riding.  Third parties 
-- defined as a person or group, including an unincorporated trade 
union, trade association, corporation, or other group of persons 
acting together by mutual consent for a common purpose -- must 
register with Elections Canada upon incurring C$500 in 
election-related advertising expenses.  Such advertising must 
identify the third parties and state that they funded the ad.  Third 
parties must also appoint a financial auditor for election 
advertising expenses over C$5,000, may not accept anonymous or 
foreign-sourced funds, and must submit detailed financial accounts 
-- including names of all donors -- to Election Canada of all 
election advertising spending within four months after election day. 
 
 
¶9. (U) The Conservative Party and Elections Canada are currently in 
litigation in the Federal Court of Canada over Elections Canada's 
decision to disallow expense claims for election advertising for at 
least thirty-eight Conservative candidates in 2006.  Elections 
Canada alleges that the Conservative Party transferred more than C$1 
million -- in so-called "in-and-out" transactions -- between itself 
and its candidates' campaigns to buy advertising that actually 
promoted the national party, although candidates subsequently filed 
for reimbursement under personal campaign expenses.  If the 
Conservative Party cannot prove that the expenses were legitimately 
incurred by its candidates, the payments will push the national 
Qincurred by its candidates, the payments will push the national 
Conservative campaign over the spending cap, put the party in 
violation of the Elections Act, and subject it to a maximum fine of 
C$25,000.  Any party convicted of the serious charge of willful 
collusion to exceed expense limits also faces possible 
deregistration.  The Conservative Party denies that it broke the 
law. 
 
 GOING TO THE POLLS 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U)  Canada practices a "single-member plurality" or 
"first-past-the-post" system, in which the candidate with the most 
votes in each riding wins the seat.  All Canadian citizens aged 
eighteen or over are eligible to vote.  Elections Canada maintains a 
permanent voters' list -- the National Register of Electors -- with 
information (name, address, gender, and date of birth) that it 
continuously updates based on federal, provincial, and territorial 
data sources.  Citizens may choose not to be included in the list, 
but then must register for each election at a polling station or 
with an election official by providing evidence of eligibility. 
Voters do not register as members of a political party and there are 
no fees to vote.  Voting is by secret ballot.  Elections Canada 
appoints an impartial returning officer in each electoral riding to 
rent space for polling stations, hires non-partisan poll clerks to 
staff the stations, and oversees the conduct of the election.  On 
polling day, each political party may also assign one representative 
to each polling station as a "scrutineer" to observe the election. 
 
 
OTTAWA 00000305  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶11.  (U)  On election day, polling stations are open for twelve 
consecutive hours, with hours of voting staggered across time zones 
to allow the majority of results to become available at 
approximately the same time nationwide (9:30 p.m. EST).  Election 
results from other ridings or regions are blacked out until all 
polls close in that riding.  Elections Canada officially validates 
results within seven days of the election, returns the writs six 
days after validation, and publishes the results, at which point 
they are considered official.  The House of Commons reconvenes on 
the date set by the Governor General in the initial Royal 
Proclamation, or at a later date if so authorized in a new 
Proclamation on the advice of the prime minister.  There is no rule 
regarding how quickly Parliament should meet after an election, but 
the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires that Parliament 
sit at least once every twelve months. 
 
CONTINUITY OF GOVERNMENT 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (U)  The prime minister and Cabinet continue to exercise their 
duties throughout a campaign and election.  If the party of an 
incumbent prime minister wins the election, the prime minister and 
Cabinet do not need to be sworn in again, with the exception of 
ministers who change portfolios or new ministers appointed to 
Cabinet for the first time.  If the governing party loses the 
election, the prime minister and cabinet remain in office during a 
transition period, the length of which is negotiated between the 
incoming and outgoing governments (usually ten to fourteen days). 
The outgoing Cabinet resigns en masse immediately prior to the 
swearing-in of an incoming Cabinet. 
 
A MODEL FOR THE WORLD 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶13.  (U)  Canada upholds a high standard for free and fair 
elections.  It is in the first tier of Freedom House's index of 
countries that protect and promote the political and civil rights of 
their citizens, including organization of truly democratic 
elections.  Since 1980, Elections Canada has organized some 400 
international democratic development missions in 100 countries. 
WILKINS