Victoria, B.C.- The Province has put on hold the changes to the local elections rules until the municipal vote in 2014.

 

The changes to the local government election rules were recommendations from the Local Government Elections Task Force, and would have seen the following:

 

o Imposing expense limits on candidates, elector organizations and third-party advertisers.

o Requiring disclosure by third-party advertisers.

o Requiring sponsorship information on all election advertising.

o Making campaign finance disclosure statements available earlier and in an electronically searchable form.

o Establishing a key role for Elections BC in enforcement of campaign finance rules.

o Changing the date of the election from November to October.

o Enacting a separate act for campaign finance rules.

 

The province says the timeline for legislation to enact the changes is too tight to make it all happen in time for the municipal vote this fall, especially since there needs to be an “education” component to ensure everyone is aware of the changes.