Elections Officer recommends limiting third-party ad spending

TORONTO – Ontario’s chief electoral officer is recommending the province look into strengthening limits on third-party advertising in election campaigns.

In his report on the 2014 general election, Greg Essensa recommends a number of legislative changes the government could make to improve elections for voters and candidates, and a number of needed technological upgrades.

Essensa says of all the jurisdictions in Canada that regulate third-party advertising, Ontario is the only one in which third parties don’t face advertising spending or contribution limits.

He says this “could very well produce a situation in which parties and candidates campaign on an uneven playing field.”

Essensa recommends that an independent body be established to investigate options for strengthening third-party advertising rules, including spending and contribution limits, reporting requirements and registration and anti-collusion provisions.

He says that since third-party advertising regulations were introduced in 2007, the number of third parties has more than tripled and in recent elections, and certain third parties have “significantly” increased what they spend on advertising.