City clerk reiterates rules on campaign spending

While Saskatoon civic election campaign talk has ramped up in recent months, campaign spending isn't yet allowed under the terms of the bylaw governing candidate expenditures and financial disclosure.

The Saskatoon city clerk's office is advising potential candidates in the Nov. 13 election to be mindful of the campaign disclosure and spending limits bylaw, which has been on the books since 2006.

“The Bylaw contains offences and penalties, which include fines and disqualification from office for any candidate who is elected and found to have contravened any provision(s) of the Bylaw,” noted a media release issued Wednesday by the city clerk's office.

The bylaw includes provisions setting an official campaign period, which begins June 1 and ends on election day, according to the release.

The bylaw's campaign expenses period also begins on June 1, but runs until Dec. 15, to allow campaigns time for accounting final expenses.

Campaigns are not allowed to incur expenses outside of the June 1 to Dec. 15 window, with a few exceptions.

City clerk Adam Tittemore told Wednesday's meeting of council's governance and priorities committee that the purpose of this week's announcement was to prevent people who have expressed a desire to run in the election from “inadvertently” breaking the rules.

At the same time, he said the bylaw recognizes campaigns can't “just flip a switch” and be ready to go on June 1, so the spending rules allow for “preparatory” spending prior to the official campaign kickoff day.

Such spending can include things like having flyers and signs printed or having a candidate website designed. Resources purchased in preparation for a campaign are “not able to be utilized, however, until the campaign period begins on June 1,” Tittemore noted.

All campaign expenses — whether incurred in the run-up to June 1 or after the campaign period begins — must still be disclosed under the terms of the bylaw.

Tittemore told the committee that staff at the clerk's office will be “keeping an eye on the election landscape” and may “interject” in situations where they feel they can help people “not put themselves in an unfortunate position.”

Any prospective candidate with questions on the rules can contact the city clerk's office, where Tittemore said staff will be able to fully explain the bylaw.

Should a member of the public wish to contact the city clerk to file a complaint about violations of the campaign spending rules, the matter would go to an independent election disclosure complaint officer with the authority to investigate and issue recommendations on whether a prosecution under the bylaw is warranted.