On February 25, a bill was introduced in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to increase the province’s contribution limits and make other changes to its election laws.

Bill 254, Protecting Ontario Elections Act, 2021, as introduced by Attorney General Doug Downey, proposes to amend the Election Act, the Election Finances Act, the Members’ Integrity Act, 1994, and the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.

Some of the changes in the bill include increasing contribution limits made to individual registered parties, party and non-party candidates, leadership candidates, constituency associations and nomination contestants of any one party or to the constituency association of any independent member. That amount increases from $1,650 to $3,300 per calendar year, with an increase of $25 for each calendar beginning on January 1, 2022.

Additionally, when selling a ticket for a fund-raising event, all, or any portion of its cost up to a maximum of $30, may be considered not to be a political contribution.

The time period on limiting third party advertisers’ spending would increase from six months to 12 months before an election. The proposed legislation also includes penalties for violations, allows members of the Assembly to endorse constituency associations, establishes the allowance of certain candidate electronic filings for municipalities, directs the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to establish an advisory committee on voting equipment and vote counting equipment, and expands powers of the CEO with respect to designating advance polls.

The bill also allows members of the Assembly to explicitly use social media for any matters a member wishes to bring to the attention of the public, including partisan matters.

At 1:00 p.m. on March 19, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario will meet in an emergency sitting to address the coronavirus pandemic.

The parliament is on a scheduled recess but is meeting to try and pass legislation related to dealing with the COVID-19 virus.

Following Ontario health officials’ recommendations of social distancing, lawmakers are planning on only 24 of the 124 members to actually be present in the legislative building, according to iPolitics.

In Ontario, individual contribution limits for the period from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, have be increased by $25, to $1,625.

This limit applies to contributions made as both money and goods or services given to a political party, candidate or constituency association to support the election of a candidate to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

The contribution limit is applicable to both party and non-party candidates in a campaign period and applies to a leadership contestant of a party in a year holding a leadership contest or a calendar year during which the contestant is required to be registered.

On April 29, a bill was introduced in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for purposes of clarifying certain contributions.

Bill 103, the Election Finances Amendment Act (Leadership Fundraising Loophole) 2019, amends the Election Finances Act and provides that contributions to a leadership campaign following a leadership vote may only be used for the purpose of paying off campaign debt.

If passed, the private member’s bill introduced by MPP John Fraser, will come into effect on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Today, MPP Glen R. Murray of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario announced his resignation from the Legislative Assembly and as Minister of the Environment and Climate Change effective September 1, 2017. Murray is leaving to work as the executive director at the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank.

Premier Kathleen Wynne announce she will not call a byelection to replace MPP Glen Murray in order to save the province the cost of administrating the election, according to CBC News. Murray’s legislative seat will remain vacant until the next general election set for June 7, 2018. Wynne announced MPP Chris Ballard will replace Murray as minister, according to the premier’s press release.