Compliance Agreements

Commissioner Of Canada Elections

Canada Elections Act

Compliance agreement

This notice is published by the Commissioner of Canada Elections, pursuant to section 521 of the Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000, c. 9.

On May 1, 2018, the Commissioner of Canada Elections entered into a compliance agreement with Mr. John Hicks, pursuant to section 517 of the Canada Elections Act. The text of the compliance agreement is set out in full below.

May 2, 2018

Yves Côté, QC
Commissioner of Canada Elections

Compliance Agreement

Pursuant to section 517 of the Canada Elections Act (the Act), the Commissioner of Canada Elections (the Commissioner) and Mr. John Hicks (the Contracting Party) enter into this agreement aimed at ensuring compliance with the Act.

The provisions of the Act that are applicable are subsections 477.59(1) and (7), and paragraph 497.4(1)(g) or 497.4(2)(i), which makes it an offence for the official agent of a candidate to omit to provide the Chief Electoral Officer with the candidate's electoral campaign return and other related documents within four months following polling day. 

Statements by the Contracting Party

For the purpose of this compliance agreement, the Contracting Party acknowledges the following:

• The Contracting Party is the official agent for Mr. John Moore, Green Party of Canada candidate in the electoral district of Northwest Territories, for the purposes of the 42nd federal general election, held on October 19, 2015.  
• Subsections 477.59 (1) and (7) of the Act provide that, within four months following polling day, the official agent of a candidate must provide the Chief Electoral Officer with: (1) an electoral campaign return, in the prescribed form, on the financing and expenses for the candidate's electoral campaign; (2) an auditor's report on the candidate's return; (3) a declaration in the prescribed form by the official agent that the return is complete and accurate; and (4) a declaration in the prescribed form by the candidate that the return is complete and accurate.
• As permitted by the Act, and at the Contracting Party's request, the Chief Electoral Officer extended the deadline for filing the missing documents to April 19, 2016, but the Contracting Party failed to respect this deadline.
• As of the date of the signing of this compliance agreement, the Contracting Party had not yet submitted the missing documents.
• The Contracting Party acknowledges and accepts responsibility for these acts.
• The Contracting Party understands that acknowledgement of non-compliance does not constitute a guilty plea in the criminal sense and that no record of conviction is created as a result of admitting responsibility for acts that could constitute an offence under the Act.
• The Contracting Party acknowledges that the Commissioner has advised him of his right to be represented by counsel and that he has had the opportunity to obtain counsel.

Factors considered by the Commissioner

In entering into this compliance agreement, the Commissioner took into account the factors set out in paragraph 32 of the Compliance and Enforcement Policy of the Commissioner of Canada Elections, which is available on the Commissioner's website. In particular, the Commissioner considered the likely effectiveness of the available compliance and enforcement mechanisms at ensuring prompt compliance with the Act.

Undertakings and agreement

Under this compliance agreement, the Contracting Party undertakes to submit Mr. Moore's electoral campaign return and other related documents to the Chief Electoral Officer, and to advise the Commissioner thereof, no later than 30 days after he has been advised that the Commissioner has published the compliance agreement on his Office's website.

The Contracting Party agrees to comply with the Act's candidate's return filing requirements in the future if he acts again as an official agent for a candidate in a federal election.

The Contracting Party consents to the publication of this compliance agreement in the Canada Gazette and on the Commissioner's website.

The Commissioner agrees that the fulfillment by the Contracting Party of his undertaking in this compliance agreement will constitute compliance with the agreement.

Pursuant to subsection 517(8) of the Act, the Commissioner and the Contracting Party recognize that once this compliance agreement is entered into, the Commissioner will be prevented from referring this matter for prosecution to the Director of Public Prosecutions unless there is non‑compliance with the terms of the compliance agreement and, in any event, the Director of Public Prosecutions cannot institute such a prosecution unless non‑compliance is established.