Candidate’s eligibility to run after failing to submit financial disclosure

The rules around a candidate's eligibility to run after failing to file a financial disclosure statement are complex and involve provisions in both the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA) and the Municipal Government Act (MGA).

In response to questions from members, ABmunis sought the help of Municipal Affairs to describe the process listed below.

The LAEA requires candidates to file a disclosure statement.

Section 147.4(1) of the LAEA states that in the case of a general election, on or before March 1 of each year, a candidate who received contributions in the previous year shall file with the secretary of the candidate’s local jurisdiction a disclosure statement in the prescribed form.

If a candidate fails to file & does not get a court reprieve from this requirement, they are deemed ineligible to run for local office.

Section 147.7 of the LAEA outlines the process for filing late and what happens if the (former) candidate does not pay the fine. Section 147.8 outlines failure to file.

If the person never files, they remain ineligible for the 8-year period following the day on which the secretary presented the report to council. If the person eventually files, they remain ineligible for the three-year period following the day of filing, whichever period expires first.

The LAEA lacks a clear provision for a returning officer to reject the nomination of an candidate who is ineligible under the provisions described above.

If an individual who is ineligible still runs, and gets elected, it would be the responsibility of the municipality/electors to have them disqualified.

The returning officer does not have the authority to challenge the validity of the information provided on the nomination papers (i.e. whether the person is eligible). The ability to question the eligibility of a candidate, once elected, and to enforce disqualification, is left to the electors of the municipality or council through the enforcement of disqualification provisions in s.175 of the MGA.

Municipal Affairs appreciates that this is a challenging explanation for municipal staff to provide to candidates who may be ineligible. Therefore, the ministry is encouraging municipalities who may be aware of candidates who may be ineligible to run under these provisions to refer the candidates to the ministry either by telephone at 780-427-2225 or by email at ma.advisory [at] gov.ab.ca (ma[dot]advisory[at]gov[dot]ab[dot]ca).  

Municipal Affairs recognizes that the legislation should be updated to make the process clearer and less cumbersome. They will seek input on ways to remedy this issue, when they conduct their post-election LAEA review and consultation after the 2025 municipal election.