Thanks for this opportunity to speak to this committee today.
I'm the class of 1965 professor in leadership at the Royal Military College of Canada, and I hold cross appointments at Queen's University and the University of East Anglia in the U.K. I am also the co-director of the Electoral Integrity Project, an international network of scholars and practitioners seeking to improve the quality of elections with academic evidence. My current Canadian research agenda focuses on political financing and public trust in elections.
In this vein, I want to address in my opening remarks the issue of the third party financing regime that has come up in previous discussions of this committee. I hope to give some additional context from the broader study of electoral integrity.
Third party financing regimes in Canada seek to balance two democratic principles. On the one hand, there is the freedom for all groups and individuals to engage in deliberation. On the other hand, there's a desire to see that firstly, these conversations are not drowned out by a small number of well-funded groups or individuals and, more recently, that only Canadians are engaging in this debate, rather than foreign actors.
There is reason to be wary of overly limiting third party spending in elections. Third parties come together as Canadians to share beliefs or concerns about issues. The organization of citizens around common goals is important for a robust civil society and thus a robust democracy. Third parties have included advocacy organizations, medical or trade associations, unions or corporations. These are all groups and people who we want to engage in the conversation during elections and who may have expertise or experience that can enrich the political debate.
To put this debate in context, it is important to remember that third party spending limits in Canada are among the lowest in comparable democracies. In the U.K., limits were approximately 700,000 pounds, and there are no third party spending limits currently in effect in Australia. To put this into perspective, third party spending limits, if an election were held this year, are about $630,000 overall, or a little over $5,000 in a specific riding, compared to spending limits of over $35 million for a major political party. We are talking about an already quite limited amount of money.
From listening to the discussions about Bill C-25 that have already taken place, my understanding is that the main concern identified is less about the strength of third party voices and the deliberative space of elections and more about whether the funds used to contribute to this debate are authentically Canadian. Bill C-25 makes really important steps in this regard. First, the prohibition against donations of less easily traceable contributions, including anonymous contributions, can help provide transparency. Also, the addition that third parties must not simply be based in Canada to influence elections helps to close a potential means for foreign actors to gain access to the system.
One concern that has been brought up in this committee is whether to allow third parties to use their own funds if the contributions they receive are not over 10% of their annual budget. This could open the door to allowing foreign entities to fund third party campaigns via other revenue streams such as general donations or payment for work or services; however, I believe this to be an entirely reasonable balance between the principles of freedom of debate and freedom from foreign interference that I mentioned earlier for a few practical reasons.
First, not all third parties are contribution-based organizations. They may use membership dues or the revenues of a corporation. Thus, the 10% rule seeks to ensure that these types of third parties are not pushed out of the electoral conversation and can engage in the debate with their own revenues.
Second, third parties do not register until the pre-electoral or electoral period in the current regime. Since elections can take place at largely any point in Canada, third parties must be allowed some flexibility to use their own funds in engaging in the electoral debate.
All this being said, I am enthusiastic about the steps towards further strengthening Canada's third party financing regime. It is already one of the most stringent and well respected around the world, and this bill will enhance the safeguards already in place.
In the Q and A section, I will also be pleased to discuss other parts of the bill, including measures put in place to ensure the seriousness of candidates and their nominators, measures to include the nomination process in electoral safeguards, and means to address disinformation. However, I'll leave it there for now.
Thank you.