Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Election Expense Rebate
The Northwest Territories Elections and Plebiscites Act limits the allowable amount of personal funds a candidate may spend on her or his candidacy to $30,000. Committee heard a proposal to reduce this amount to $20,000 because first, this high amount sets a bar and may have potential candidates shy away from running, and secondly, in the past, very few candidates in the Northwest Territories have spent more than $20,000 on their campaign.
"A suggestion I would make is to lower that amount so that the total of expenses isn't $30 grand. It could be brought to $20. I mean, look at the last election, the average for a winning seat of spending has been something like $15,000 dollars. So spending $30 grand doesn't happen to win you anything, but having that out there as the upper layer certainly does set a tone and that can very easily scare somebody off." (David Waslyciw, Public Hearing Yellowknife, 8 May 2019).
In most of Canada's jurisdictions, the definition of election expenses includes all costs incurred to promote the election of a candidate or a political party and is determined in legislation. Reimbursement of part of the election expenses to candidates is provided in most jurisdictions with the exception of Alberta and British Columbia, and the three territories.
Where reimbursement is available, it is most often based on the candidate having received a minimum of votes, ranging between 5 (Prince Edward Island) and 15 percent (Saskatchewan) of the valid votes cast in their constituency. Candidates who qualify for reimbursements of election expenses may receive between 15 (Canada) and 60 percent (Saskatchewan) of their qualifying expenses, depending on jurisdiction and additional rules.
"It is more the financial issues, how do we run, how do we set up office, get campaign material, [...] a fund would make it easier." (Priscilla Canadian, Public Hearing Fort Providence, 10 January 2019)
Committee heard many comments on the subject of campaign funding and election expenses which is perceived by some women to be a barrier to entering politics. Participants noted that no legislation pertaining to women's access to political financing exists, nor are there organizations in place in the NWT to support women running for office as are found in other jurisdictions. Paying for campaigns was described as tough and fund-raising was also described as difficult. Women explained that they are not comfortable being fundraisers. Many mentioned they do not like the idea of going door-to-door and asking for money.
Women told the committee that they struggle with raising the money required to run an effective campaign. While initiatives like the Campaign Schools can help teach how to overcome this problem, financial incentives and assistance programs would provide additional help to women to run for elected seats.
The committee's research found that formal mechanisms to level the playing field between men and women do not exist in the Northwest Territories. Ideally, up-front financial support would enable non-privileged women to have the funds to run for office. However, it was noted a general mechanism reducing the financial burden after a campaign would also help women. One suggestion made to committee was to provide election expense rebates for women candidates.
Committee considered the recommendation of a NWT election expense rebate and conducted an analysis of how much a rebate program would cost. In the past three elections, candidate expenses varied among ridings and by candidate. The committee looked at how much a rebate program would cost, using certain parameters.
First, any money contributed to the campaign was not counted towards an eligible expense, with the exception of a donation by the candidate themselves, so only money spent by the candidate, that was not covered by a donation was considered an eligible expense for the rebate. Second, a candidate was required to receive a minimum of five percent of the total votes in that riding to be eligible for a rebate. Finally, the committee decided that a cap should be in place, and only allow a 50 percent rebate for eligible election expenses.
The committee looked at two options for this. The first cap was set at $10,000, so a candidate would be eligible for a maximum rebate of $5,000. The second cap was set at $6,000, meaning a candidate would receive a maximum of $3,000 back. In Appendix C, the results of the committee's research are presented, with expenses being listed and possible rebates calculated.
The committee found that women would benefit from a rebate, as female candidates have historically spent more out of pocket than male candidates. In both scenarios, the rebate amount calculated for women would have been higher than for men. Considering scenario two with a cap of $6,000, the average rebate for women would have been $1,430, while for men it would have been $910.
The benefit of a rebate appears larger for women than for men as committee's research has found that in the NWT, women expend more of their personal money for their campaigns. This result confirms the information committee heard from women and their expressed discomfort with raising funds and asking for money. Providing partial reimbursement of candidate election expenses under specified conditions contributes to the removal of barriers for women to run and maintains a fair regime for all candidates.
Based on numbers from the past three elections, the overall cost to government would come to about $60,000 every four years to allow for an election expense rebate.
Recommendation 2
The Special Committee to Increase the Representation of Women in the Legislative Assembly recommends to the Legislative Assembly to create an election rebate for candidates who receive at least 5 percent of the votes cast in her or his electoral district in the NWT, reimbursing 50 percent of eligible personal election expenditures up to a maximum rebate amount of $3,000.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to turn the reading over to the Member from Nunakput. Thank you.