Press Releases and Media Advisories

Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Announces First Quarter
Allowances to Be Paid to Registered Political Parties

OTTAWA, Thursday, April 6, 2006 — The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Jean‑Pierre Kingsley, announced that the payment of the allowances that qualified registered parties are entitled to receive for the first quarter was made today.

A registered party that obtained at least 2 percent of all valid votes cast at a general election or at least 5 percent of the valid votes cast in the electoral districts in which it ran a candidate in a general election is eligible for a quarterly allowance, according to subsection 435.01(1) of the Canada Elections Act.

Each registered party that is eligible for the allowance will receive a quarterly payment that is equivalent to $0.4375 per valid vote it obtained in the most recent general election preceding the quarter for which the payment is being made, according to subsection 435.01(2) of the Act.

In accordance with section 435.01 of the Canada Elections Act, the quarterly allowance for the period from January 1, 2006, to March 31, 2006, was calculated based on the number of votes parties received in the 38th general election held on June 28, 2004, multiplied by the inflation adjustment factor in effect for the period from April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2006. The second quarterly allowance for the period from April 2006 to June 2006 will be calculated based on the results of the 39th general election held on January 23, 2006, and the inflation adjustment factor in effect for the period from April 1, 2006, to March 31, 2007.

Additional information is available at www.elections.ca under General Information > Backgrounders > Political Financing.

Elections Canada is an independent body set up by Parliament.

Information:
Elections Canada Media Relations
1 877 877-9515
or at www.elections.ca