The First Election Under Alberta’s New Rules

Campaigning and advertising are an expected part of any election, and in each election, millions of dollars can be spent in an effort to secure votes.  Our American neighbours to the south may be able to spend countless amounts of money on elections; however, Canada and its provinces therein have made it a point to cap elections spending from various avenues.

This year, however, it would behove third-party advertisers to pay close attention to the changing rules this election season.

With the passing of Bill 81, the Government of Alberta has implemented several changes to the way third party advertisers may operate, introducing contribution limits and limiting who may count themselves amongst contributors to third party advertisers.  They also addressed what has been deemed “the AFL loophole” among third-party advertisers.

In Alberta, a third-party advertiser (“TPA”) is defined as “an individual person, corporation, trade union or group who advertises to promote or oppose a registered political participant.”  In Alberta, there are six types of TPAs, all of whom engage in different forms of advertising.  The six TPAs are: Political TPAs, Election TPAs, Senate TPAs, Referendum TPAs, Initiative Petition TPAs, and Recall TPAs.

Currently, only Election Third Party Advertisers can advertise during the election advertising period in provincial general elections.  This period runs from January 1, 2023, until the end of the general election in May 2023; however, Bill 81 still applies to all TPAs.  Per Elections Alberta, Election TPAs engage in “election advertising to promote or oppose, or take a position on an issue associated with, a registered party or candidate in an MLA election.”

The “AFL loophole,” meanwhile, addresses a situation wherein the Alberta Federation of Labour (“AFL”), one such third-party advertiser, also controlled two seats on the provincial NDP council. Bill 81 sought to remedy that by directly targeting the purported loophole, prohibiting any individuals or groups “affiliated” with a registered party being able to register as third-party advertisers.

In 2021, during the Calgary municipal election, complaints were filed following accusations surrounding Jeff Davison and his connection to the TPA Calgary Tomorrow. This situation, and others like the AFL, likely contributed to the decision to change the rules surrounding TPAs.

This has been met with criticism, as the prohibition cast what has been deemed a “wide net”, catching not just the AFL but any other groups that may meet the Bill’s admittedly vague definition of “affiliation”, which is never set out in the Bill beyond stating that the Chief Elections Officer must consider certain factors when determining whether a third-party advertiser is “affiliated” with a registered party.

In their 2021-2022 annual report, however, Elections Canada gave an example as to why they wished to implement these changes, stating “for example, if a third-party can purchase lawn signs promoting a candidate and then give them to the candidate, this expense goes unrecorded for the candidate and effectively renders any expense limit or candidate campaign expense reporting as meaningless.”

Still, while that is an aspect of the Bill that has garnered much controversy, it is not the only limitation or change Bill 81 places on third party advertisers—and their contributors.

Under the new election financing rules, the new bill allows only those who live in Alberta to contribute to third-party advertising.  Furthermore, Bill 81 wholly prohibits those not living in Canada, as well as any non-Canadian corporation, from donating to a third party for the purposes of political advertising.  With these implementations in place, the hope is to limit any foreign influence on Alberta’s elections, particularly as foreign influence is a hot topic these days.  This is especially important to Albertans, as Alberta has many business dealings with corporations outside of Canada - and not just in the United States.

In this same vein (and perhaps in an effort to further prevent even Canadian corporations and other third-party advertisers from having an undue and unfair influence on the upcoming election), Bill 81 also updated election financing rules by setting an annual $30,000 contribution limit for donations to third parties—often called political action committees.  Furthermore, the Bill prohibits political parties, candidates, and constituency associations from contributing to third parties.  This is to lessen the monetary power third-party advertisers can wield during the election seasons.

While it remains to be seen whether or not these changes will drastically change the upcoming election in May, they are still rules that must be abided by any third party wishing to operate and advertise during the election season, and it would be wise to take notice.