EDMONTON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) responded today to the release of the final report of the Alberta government's Local Authorities Election Act Review committee, calling the entire exercise a "squandered opportunity."

In its submission to the committee, entitled "Clearing the Cloud of Doubt," the CTF recommended the Alberta government open up the municipal electoral process by implementing pre-election disclosure of campaign donations, mandatory voter identification at the polls, and the right for taxpayers to recall municipal politicians.

The committees' final report makes 43 recommendations, eight of which explicitly recommend no change be made, others offering small technical changes, and some suggesting municipalities be allowed to continue current practices. Recommendations include allowing municipalities to accept special ballot requests via e-mail, allowing candidates to appoint official agents, and allowing municipalities to publish voting instructions in languages other than English.

"It's disappointing the LAEA review committee chose the status quo over any real change," said CTF-Alberta director Scott Hennig.

Particularly telling was the fact that of the ten recommendations made by the CTF, the only one accepted by the committee happened to be the CTF's only status quo recommendation, being that the municipal term office not be increased, and remain at three years.

Among others, one of the main principles behind the LAEA review was to: promote integrity and public confidence in the election process by setting appropriate election standards that result in a more secure and transparent election process.

"The committee should be embarrassed to have spent so much time and $40,000 of taxpayers money to produce a report that recommends not one single substantive change to increase transparency and accountability in Alberta's local election process," continued Hennig.

"At this point, taxpayers can only hope the Minister of Municipal Affairs appoints a new committee with the sole mandate to make substantial recommendations on transparency and accountability, because it's obvious that this LAEA review committee has been a failure," concluded Hennig.

Copies of the CTF's submission to the Local Authorities Election Act Review committee can be downloaded in pdf on the CTF website here

Backgrounder

Election Financing

The CTF recommended:

• No candidate be allowed to accept a campaign contribution until such time they are officially nominated as a candidate.
  
• No candidate be allowed to accept a contribution after the seventh day prior to Election Day, and a full disclosure of all contributions greater than $300 be publicly declared five days prior to Election Day.
  
• A full public disclosure of all expenditures be submitted to the election officer or clerk within 90 days of the election.
  
• All campaign surpluses be declared and held in trust for future election campaigns. If the candidate opts not to run for re-election the surplus be donated to a charity.
  
• All campaign contributions and expenditures be independently audited and that audit be submitted along with candidate disclosure forms to the election officer or clerk's office for public disclosure within 90 days of a municipal election.
  
• All campaign assets and credits be disclosed and a fair-market value be established. If the value of the assets and credits puts a candidate into a surplus situation, those assets should be held in trust for use only upon next election or auctioned off with the proceeds being held in trust.
  

The LAEA review committee recommended the Alberta government:

• allow an elected authority, in its campaign contributions and expenses bylaw, the discretion to have the audited statement of a candidate's campaign contributions and expenses reviewed by an independent third party to ensure compliance with the bylaw;
  
• allow an elected authority the discretion to include in its campaign contribution and expense bylaw provisions regarding how surplus campaign funds are to be addressed.
  

Both of these recommendations are redundant and are already in place.

Municipalities already have the option to require a candidate's campaign contributions and expenses be reviewed by an independent third party to ensure compliance. Section 118(2) of the Local Authorities Election Act states: An elected authority may, by a bylaw passed prior to April 15 of a year in which a general election is held require that candidates prepare and disclose to the public audited statements of all their campaign contributions and campaign expenses

The City of Calgary already requires candidates whose campaign expenses or contributions exceed $2,500 to provide an audit preformed "by a recognized professional accountant".

Municipalities also already have the option to create provisions regarding how surplus campaign funds are to be addressed. The City of Edmonton already requires candidates to hold any surplus campaign contributions in Trust for future election campaigns or donated to a registered charitable organization.

Democratic Reform

The CTF recommended:

• The municipal term of office not be increased, and remain at three years.
  
• Any change to the term of office be approved by provincial referendum.
  
• Citizens recall legislation be introduced for the municipal level.
  

The LAEA review committee recommended the Alberta government:

• the current provision in the Act should remain at 3 years for the time being, and further consultation should occur before any amendments to change the term be considered;
  
• a review group should be formed consisting of representatives from municipalities and the Province to examine alternative voting methods, as well as consider the potential security, privacy, validation and process issues that may arise as a consequence of implementing alternative voting methods.
  

Voter Identification

The CTF recommended:

• It be mandatory for election officers to request an elector to produce at least one piece of photo identification.
  

The LAEA review committee recommended the Alberta government:

• provide an elected authority the discretion to make a bylaw no later than 6 months prior to nomination day regarding the use of voter identification, including the type and number of documents that may be required for all voters to verify identity and age;
  
• if an elected authority wishes to pass a bylaw regarding voter identification requirements, the bylaw must be advertised and the requirements must also be included in the notice of election;
  
• if an elected authority passes such a bylaw, and a person cannot produce the required identification to verify his or her identity or age, then that person cannot make a statement of eligibility to vote under section 53.