[fvc-wat-disc] CPC op-ed on the referendum

[Paul Nijjar]

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007, Derek Kraan wrote:

> The relevant sections are, I believe:

 	I've been reading as well. One other interesting aspect concerns 
the "blackout" period. Our last information night (Oct 9) is in that 
period! I think we may have to change the date.


>>       *3.  *(1)  No person or entity shall organize a campaign to promote
>> a particular result in the referendum or advertise for that purpose unless
>> the person or entity is registered with the Chief Election Officer under
>> section 4.
>>
>>       (2)  Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of,
>>
>>          (a)    pre-referendum advertising; or
>>
>>          (b)    referendum advertising if the related referendum
>> advertising expense does not exceed $500.

 	So this means that parties can do whatever they want *before* the 
start of the campaign period, I think -- but they can't do things like 
tell us to vote for MMP in their campaign literature. They also can't say 
anything about the referendum in their own ads.


> Now, I'm not an expert or anything, but it seems to me that this would
> prevent parties registering as referendum campaigns. This therefore means
> that they cannot spend over $500 on campaign advertising.
 	That is my understanding as well.

> As far as I can
> tell, they can campaign up to $500 worth, which also means, I'm sure, that
> any advertising which is free can be used to mention the referendum
> campaign. I don't see anything here about candidates having to keep their
> mouths shut.

 	So they can talk about the referendum at all-candidates events and 
when going door-to-door (or can they? Canvassing costs money for 
transportation...).

> And here's something which may apply to us. Note the time period. July 10 is
> this Tuesday.
>
>> Duties of chief financial officer
>> 
>> *      9.  *(1)  Every contribution that is made to a registered
>> referendum campaign organizer shall be accepted by its chief financial
>> officer if,
>>
>>          (a)    it is made during the period that begins on July 10, 2007
>> and ends on January 10, 2008; and
>>
>>          (b)    it is made for the purpose of referendum advertising.

 	Note the words: "referendum advertising". Not "pre-referendum 
advertising". So my understanding is that we can raise money for things 
like festival fees without the paperwork, so long as those festivals are 
not during the campaign period. Maybe I am wrong.

 	It does look as if we may need to put even more load on our new 
Treasurer's shoulders, though.

> I hope I haven't bored you all and have actually summarized the document in
> a sane way (so that you won't be forced to go read it all yourself)

 	It may be worth some of us putting in the work to understand this. 
I have skimmed over bits, but have not looked at the entire thing yet.

- Paul

--
Paul Nijjar - http://www.fairvotecanada.org/WaterlooRegion
Next electoral reform info night: Tuesday July 10, 7pm