On September 12, California Gov. Jerry Brown was presented with a bill concerning political advertising in social media.

Assembly Bill 2188, the “Social Media DISCLOSE Act”, requires disclosure for advertisements made “via a form of electronic media that allows users to engage in discourse and post content, or any other type of social media”, and is paid for by a political party or a candidate-controlled committee. The disclosure obligations fall on both the registered political parties and committees and on the “online platforms.”

The online platform must maintain and make available for online public inspection a digital copy of a political advertisement, the number of impressions generated from the ad, information regarding the total amount spent on the advertisements, and other relevant information.

The bill defines an online platform as a “public-facing Internet Web site, web application, or digital application, including a social network, ad network, or search engine, that sells advertisements directly to advertisers. A public-facing Internet Web site, web application, or digital application is not an online platform for purposes of this [Act] to the extent that it displays advertisements that are sold directly to advertisers through another online platform.” The online platforms will be required to include with each political advertisement a disclosure of who funded the ad or a hyperlink to a website containing the required disclosures.

If signed by the governor, the bill takes effect on January 1, 2020.

On June 11, several significant amendments to Alberta’s provincial lobbying law took effect when the Lobbyists Amendment Act, 2018, came into force by Royal Assent. The most substantial change in the existing Lobbyist Act is the reduction of an organizational lobbyist’s time threshold from 100 hours annually to 50 hours annually.

For the purposes of determining whether lobbying amounts to 50 hours annually, time spent lobbying includes time spent preparing for communication and communicating with a public office holder. Contingency lobbying is now prohibited under the Act.

Another change to the law amends the definition of lobbying to statutorily include grassroots communication as a form of regulated lobbying requiring registration. Grassroots communication does not include communication between an organization and its members, officers or employees or between a person or partnership and its shareholders, partners, officers or employees.

A lobbyist gift ban has been enacted and reads as follows, “Lobbyists are prohibited from giving or promising any gift, favor or other benefit to the public office holder being, or intended to be, lobbied that the public office holder is prohibited from accepting or that, if given, would place the public office holder in a conflict of interest.”

An additional exemption to the requirement of registering as a lobbyist was added for individuals who are recognized as elders by their aboriginal community.

On May 7, Elections Canada announced a by-election for the House of Commons will be held for the seat for Leeds–Grenville–Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes (Ontario).

The seat was held by MP Gordon Brown, who died unexpectedly of a heart attack on May 2.

On May 3, Stéphane Perrault, Acting Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seat was vacant.

Canadian law requires the date of this by-election be announced between May 14, 2018, and October 30, 2018, which will signal the start of the by-election period.

On April 30, the Trudeau government, through the Minister of Democratic Institutions, introduced a bill intended to reform federal elections in Canada.

Bill C-76, the Elections Modernization Act, amends the Canada Elections Act to limit election periods to a maximum of 50 days, to establish spending limits for third parties and political parties during a defined period before the election period of a general election held on a day fixed, and to establish measures to increase transparency regarding the participation of third parties in the electoral process.

To achieve third party transparency, the bill adds reporting requirements for third parties engaging in partisan activities, partisan advertising, and election surveys to the reporting requirements for third parties engaging in election advertising and creates an obligation for third parties to open a separate bank account for expenses related those matters. In addition, the bill also creates an obligation for political parties and third parties to identify themselves in partisan advertising during the defined period before the election period.

The legislation also amends the Parliament of Canada Act to prevent the calling of a by-election when a vacancy in the House of Commons occurs within nine months before the day fixed for a general election under the Canada Elections Act.

Another other goal of the bill is to reduce barriers to both electoral and voting participation.

On March 7, former Manitoba premier Greg Selinger will officially resign from provincial politics. Selinger announced his resignation amid allegations of MLA Stan Struthers’s inappropriate behavior while Selinger was leader of the party.

A special by-election for Selinger’s St. Boniface constituency MLA seat will be called by Premier Brian Pallister in the next six months, as required by law. Pallister will not commit to calling the by-election before summer, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.

Pictured: Former Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger

On January 18, a lawsuit was filed challenging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent appointments to head the ethics and lobbying sections of the Canadian government.

The lawsuit, filed by Democracy Watch, a non-profit Canadian organization concerned with government accountability, alleges the Cabinet failed to consult with the opposition party, as required by law, before making the appointments. The lawsuit also asserts the Cabinet has a conflict of interest because of ongoing ethics investigations, which prevent it from legally allowing the appointments.

On January 9, Mario Dion was selected to replace Mary Dawson, whose term had expired, as Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. On November 30, Trudeau nominated Nancy Bélanger as the next Commissioner of Lobbying. Bélanger replaced Karen Shepherd, who occupied the position through term extensions following the expiration of Shepard’s seven-year term in June 2016.

Democracy Watch’s press release is available here.

On December 11, it was announced Mario Dion, chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, would replace Mary Dawson as Canada’s Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. Dawson’s appointment as commissioner was to have ended in the summer of 2016, but her term had been repeatedly extended by the government.

The announcement was made in the House of Commons by Government House Leader Bardish Chagger. Dion’s appointment still needs to be confirmed by a vote of the House.

Besides administering the federal conflict of interest laws for public office holders and members of the House of Commons, the Office of the Conflict and Ethics Commissioner provides confidential advice to the prime minister about conflicts of interest and ethics issues.

Pictured: Incoming Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion.

On December 5, Elections Canada announced a by-election for the House of Commons will be held for the seat for Chicoutimi–Le Fjord (Quebec). The seat was vacated by MP Denis Lemieux, who announced his plan to resign in November for family reasons.

On December 4, Stéphane Perrault, Acting Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seat was vacant. Canadian law requires the date of this by-election be announced between December 15, 2017, and June 2, 2018, which will signal the start of the by-election period.

On November 30, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the nomination of Nancy Bélanger as the next Commissioner of Lobbying.

Bélanger, if approved by the House of Commons and the Senate, will replace Karen Shepherd as the head of The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying. Shepard currently occupies the position through term extensions following the expiration of Shepard’s seven-year term in June 2016.

Bélanger’s has previously held the position of General Counsel for the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

On November 17, the 2017 Nunavut Leadership Forum will meet to select the speaker, premier, and members of the Executive Council. The selection will be made by secret ballot by all 22 Nunavut Legislative Assembly Members (MLAs), who were all recently elected this fall.

A vote for the speaker will be the first order of business, according to a press release by the Legislative Assembly’s Caucus. The Speaker-Elect will preside over the remainder of the proceedings, beginning with the election of the premier. Nominated candidates will be permitted to deliver formal speeches and MLAs who are not candidates will be permitted to ask questions.

The forum will be held in the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly, will be open to the public to observe from the Visitors’ Gallery, and will be televised live across the territory on local community cable stations and direct-to-home satellite services. The caucus has decided the Executive Council, also called the Cabinet, will consist of eight members (the premier and seven ministers).

The Legislative Assembly’s Caucus announced the date and format for the forum on November 14. The swearing-in ceremony for MLAs and the confirmations of the appointments will take place on November 21, the first sitting day of the 5th Legislative Assembly.

On October 30, a bill was introduced in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia banning corporate and union political contributions for local elections in the Canadian province. Bill 15, Local Elections Campaign Financing Amendment Act, 2017, was introduced by Municipal Affairs Minister Selina Robinson.

Among other related changes, the legislation also caps contributions from individual donors to $1,200 for the 2018 elections with contribution limits then indexed for inflation in sequent election years. If passed, the law would be in effect for British Columbia’s October 28, 2018, municipal elections and would be retroactive to October 31, 2017.

Today, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued a Legal Advisory memo explicitly stating the OGE’s view anonymous contributions to legal defense funds of federal employees are prohibited.

Legal Advisory LA-17-10 specifically refers to OGE Informal Advisory Opinion 93×21 (1993), which found employees who received anonymous donations would “be unable to favor the anonymous donors.” The new Legal Advisory memo acknowledges that shortly after the Informal Advisory Opinion was issued, the agency began “advising, and is continuing to advise, that the instruments establishing legal defense funds include a clause stating that ‘contributions shall not be accepted from anonymous sources.’”

The new memo reiterates the OGE’s position given in an interview by the head of the OGE with Politico earlier this month. The interview was made in reaction to an OGE note on the 1993 opinion that had been changed earlier this year to say the opinion’s original applicability had not changed.

Critics of the note change had said it opened the door up to lobbyists and other prohibited sources funding legal defenses for employees currently working in the White House.

On September 15, the head of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) said in an interview with Politico anonymous contributions to legal defense funds of federal employees are prohibited. David Apol, the acting director of the OGE, told Politico the policy had not changed, even though the note on a guidance document had been changed earlier this year.

In 1993, the OGE issued an opinion letter holding a fund established for the benefit of a government employee to pay the employee’s legal expenses, while administered by a person having no connection with the employee’s official duties, could accept anonymous contributions. The OGE guidance letter is not legally binding.

Walter Shaub, then director of the OGE, instructed his staff in May of this year to add a one-sentence note to the top of the document signaling the OGE’s long standing internal practice had diverged from the formal guidance, according to Politico. The note read in all caps and a red font, “NOTE: SOME STATEMENTS IN THIS OPINION ARE NOT CONSISTENT WITH CURRENT OGE INTERPRETATION AND PRACTICE.”

Subsequently, after Shaub left the OGE, the document’s note was changed to read, again in all caps and a red font, “NOTE: THE PRIMARY FINDING ABOUT THE LIMITED APPLICABILITY OF 18 U.S.C. §209 TO PAYMENTS MADE FOR AN EMPLOYEE’S LEGAL EXPENSES HAS NOT CHANGED. HOWEVER, BECAUSE EACH ANALYSIS IS VERY FACT-SPECIFIC, AGENCY ETHICS OFFICIALS SHOULD CONSULT WITH THEIR OGE DESK OFFICER BEFORE ADVISING EMPLOYEES ON THIS TOPIC.”

Critics of the note change had said this opens the door up to lobbyists and other prohibited sources funding legal defenses for employees currently working in the White House.

A change of a note regarding an Office of Government Ethics (OGE) guidance document from 1993 may open the door to allowing anonymous contributions, including from prohibited sources such as lobbyists, to government employees’ legal defense funds. In 1993, the OGE issued an opinion letter holding a fund established for the benefit of a government employee to pay the employee’s legal expenses, while administered by a person having no connection with the employee’s official duties, could accept anonymous contributions. The OGE guidance letter is not legally binding.

Walter Shaub, then director of the OGE, instructed his staff in May of this year to add a one-sentence note to the top of the document signaling the OGE’s long standing internal practice had diverged from the formal guidance, according to Politico. The note read in all caps and a red font, “NOTE: SOME STATEMENTS IN THIS OPINION ARE NOT CONSISTENT WITH CURRENT OGE INTERPRETATION AND PRACTICE.”

Subsequently, after Shaub left the OGE, the document’s note was changed to read, again in all caps and a red font, “NOTE: THE PRIMARY FINDING ABOUT THE LIMITED APPLICABILITY OF 18 U.S.C. §209 TO PAYMENTS MADE FOR AN EMPLOYEE’S LEGAL EXPENSES HAS NOT CHANGED. HOWEVER, BECAUSE EACH ANALYSIS IS VERY FACT-SPECIFIC, AGENCY ETHICS OFFICIALS SHOULD CONSULT WITH THEIR OGE DESK OFFICER BEFORE ADVISING EMPLOYEES ON THIS TOPIC.”

Critics of the note change say this opens the door up to lobbyists and other prohibited sources funding legal defenses for employees currently working in the White House. Richard Lucas, once counsel for a Clinton legal defense fund, told Politico, “Not knowing the source is a recipe for disaster.”