Election to be Called for York-Simcoe Seat of Ontario Legislative Assembly

On June 5, Ontario’s Chief Electoral Officer Greg Essensa received an official warrant from the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly confirming the seat for the York—Simcoe  electoral district was vacant. Caroline Anne Mulroney Lapham, who has held the seat since 2018, resigned on June 5, citing her intention to focus on her personal life. As required by law, a by-election for the seat must be called by December 2, 2026, which is within six months of the Chief Electoral Officer’s notice. The earliest possible date for the election is July 9, and the latest possible date would be December 31, 2026.

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On June 4, members of the Lobbyists Registrars and Commissioners Network announced support of lobbying reforms called for by the Commissioner of Lobbying of Quebec. The reforms, prepared by Commissioner of Lobbying of Quebec, Jean-François Routhier in a 99-page report,  proposes what Routhier calls the five main pillars for reform. These pillars emphasize refocusing the scope of the law towards the citizens’ right of transparency;  making information available to the public more rapidly; holding accountable organizations that initiate and benefit from lobbying efforts; engaging public institutions in transparency through prevention, training, reporting, and post-mandate rules; and better equipping the commissioner with administrative sanctions, education, and continuous development of the regime. Signatory members to the supporting announcement include officials overseeing lobbying regiments in Canada, the provinces in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and the cities of Ottawa and Toronto.

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A bill to change the ethics framework of the province’s city councils advanced through the legislature. On May 26, Bill 9, the Municipal Accountability Act, 2025, was carried on a vote for its third reading. The law would provide  that the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing a code of conduct for members of city councils and of local boards, including Toronto, which is currently controlled by the City of Toronto Act, 2006. The Act requires the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario to perform certain functions with respect to a city’s Integrity Commissioner, including providing education and training to the local Commissioner. Additionally, Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner may conduct inquiries, refer matters back to the local commissioner, and recommend that a member’s seat be declared vacant and require a city council to vote on such recommendation.

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On May 20, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced The Abolish Super PACs Act into the U.S. Senate. Senate Bill 4602 would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to limit contributions to independent expenditure-only political action committees (super PACs) to $5,000 per individual per calendar year. Sanders asserts that the cap would effectively abolish the financial power and influence of super PACs in elections. The effective date would begin on the first calendar year after enactment of the legislation.

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New Brunswick, Canada may soon be overhauling its provincial lobbying law. On May 12, legislation was introduced into parliament to amend the current Lobbyists’ Registration Act. Bill No. 44 would mandate monthly reporting and additional disclosures not currently required, including with whom a lobbyist met, when they met, and where they met. The Office of the Integrity Commissioner would have the authority to investigate violations and to impose financial penalties. The commissioner would also create a code of conduct for lobbyists. The code, with which lobbyists must comply, will detail the expected ethical standards, behaviors, and responsibilities of lobbyists.

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Beginning on April 1 and lasting until September 30, 2026, unregistered lobbyists will not face fines for certain violations of British Columbia’s Lobbyists Transparency Act. One of the main goals of the  “temporary fine freeze” is to encourage currently unregistered lobbyists and organizations to register with the province’s Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists. In order to avail oneself of this freeze, a person or organization must not have previously received a fine from the registrar’s office, not have been registered since May 4, 2020, and must be forthcoming with the registrar’s staff about all required information to be submitted into the registry. This freeze does not apply to violations related to the prohibition on lobbying by former public office holders or for previous lobbying performed in connection with a contract for providing paid advice to the government of British Columbia or another provincial entity. The fine freeze is not available to registered lobbyists, to unregistered lobbyists that the registrar believes may have committed flagrant violations of the law, or to unregistered lobbyists attempting to use the temporary fine freeze to delay or obscure transparency.

On April 7, the North Bay City Council will discuss the possible implementation of a formal registry of lobbyists. The interest in a potential authorization of a registry was driven by Integrity Commissioner Guy Giorno’s letter to council written last fall concerning some of the mayor’s expenses, according to the North Bay Nugget. While an existing council code of conduct already limits gifts from lobbyists, Giorno emphasized the city has no method for determining whether lobbying of public officials is even occurring. The code of conduct defines a lobbyist as a person communicating with a councilmember for the purpose of influencing or attempting to influence them respecting an issue that is or may be pending before council or one of its standing Committees.

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On March 9, the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, Nancy Bélanger, presented recommendations to lawmakers concerning the country’s lobbying laws and regulations. Bélanger appeared before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) of the Canadian House of Commons. Among Bélanger’s recommendations are clarification of who qualifies as in-house lobbyists; disclosure of all employees who lobby for their employer; disclosure of all funding provided to support lobbying activities; and disclosure of all entities that control and have a direct interest in the outcome of the lobbying. On February 12, the Canadian House of Commons had ordered ETHI to review the nation’s lobbying law. The law itself requires a comprehensive review of the provisions and operations of the law to be taken every five years. Within a year after the committee’s review is undertaken, the ETHI must submit a report on the review to parliament that includes a statement of any changes to the Lobbying Act or its operation that the committee recommends.

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By-elections will be held on April 13 in the electoral districts of Scarborough Southwest (Ontario), Terrebonne (Quebec) and University–Rosedale (Ontario) to fill vacancies in the House of Commons. On March 8, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called for the special elections for the three districts, which are all currently vacant. Former Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland, resigned her seat representing the University–Rosedale riding in January in order to become the Warden of Rhodes House and CEO of the Rhodes Trust, which is best known for granting the Rhodes Scholarship. In February, MP Bill Blair resigned his seat representing Scarborough Southwest  to become the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. A by-election for Terrebonne is being held after the riding’s result in the 2025 general election was annulled by the Supreme Court of Canada in February due to a printing error on the return envelopes used for mail-in ballots. The Elections Canada offices are now open in the three electoral districts.

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On March 6, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced in its press release digest it recently updated its electronic form for the submission of miscellaneous items by registered committees. The form, Form 99: Miscellaneous Report to the FEC, is now implemented with new functionality for the electronic filing of uncategorized items, such as letters and similar matters. Committees may upload PDF documents as part of their submissions. According to the FEC, the update form will allow committees to file Schedule C-1s (Loans and Lines of Credit from Lending Institutions), copies of loan agreements, loan forgiveness statements, and Form 8s (Debt Settlement Plans), electronically as attachments with electronic signatures, including required third-party signatures. Before the implementation of this new functionality, filers could be required to file documents with third-party signatures on paper.

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Today, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) published its price index adjustments for expenditure limitations and the federal lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold. The lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold has increased for 2026 from $23,300 to $24,000. This threshold amount is adjusted annually. Federal law requires authorized committees of federal candidates, leadership political action committees (PACs), and political party committees to disclose contributions bundled by lobbyists and lobbyists’ PACs. Additionally, the FEC published its adjusted Coordinated Party Expenditure Limits for political parties for 2026.

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On February 11, President Donald J. Trump nominated two members of the Republican Party, Ashley Stow and Andrew Woodson, to serve as commissioners on the Federal Election Commission (FEC).  Since April 30, 2025, the FEC has not had a quorum of four commissioners. Three of the six seats on the FEC became vacant when Commissioner Allen J. Dickerson resigned. Because all decisions must have four commissioners’ votes, no official action has been made by the FEC since then. Additionally, since October 3, 2025, when Commissioner James E. “Trey” Trainor III officially resigned, the FEC has had only two commissioners, Shana M. Broussard and Dara Lindenbaum, both members of the Democratic Party. No more than three commissioners of the six commission seats can be from the same party. The two newly announced nominees must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. While a quorum will be restored if they are both confirmed, two seats on the commission will remain vacant. 

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Sometime before July 8, 2026, a by-election will be announced for the seat in the House of Commons representing University–Rosedale in the province of Ontario. On January 9, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seat for University–Rosedale (Ontario) became vacant on January 9, following the resignation of Chrystia Freeland. Freeland left her seat in order to become the Warden of Rhodes House and CEO of the Rhodes Trust, which is best known for granting the Rhodes Scholarship. Under the law, the by-election date must be announced by July 8 and will signal the start of the by-election period. According to Elections Canada, the earliest date the by-election can be held is March 2, 2026.

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Sometime before August 1, 2026, a by-election will be announced for the seat in the House of Commons representing Scarborough Southwest in the province of Ontario. On February 3, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seat for Scarborough Southwest (Ontario) became vacant on February 2, following the resignation of Bill Blair. Blair left  his seat in order to become the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Under the law, the by-election date must be announced between February 13 and August 1, 2026, and will signal the start of the by-election period. According to Elections Canada, the earliest date the by-election can be held is March 23, 2026.

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