Summary of the Notice of Violation

Name of individual, corporation or entity	The Jamaican Xpress International News Inc.
Date of violation	44th federal general election
Section of the Act	353(1)
Baseline amount	$1,500
Aggravating factor	N/A
Mitigating factor	N/A
AMP total amount	$1,500
Issued by	Manager, Compliance Unit

Key facts of violation

In the September 12, 2021 edition of The Jamaican Xpress, published during the 44th federal general election period, the newspaper displayed election advertisements promoting various political parties and candidates. An investigation conducted by the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections confirmed that at least two election advertisements promoted two different candidates by naming them. These two advertisements were published without any authorization or payment from the respective candidate campaigns.

There are therefore reasonable grounds to believe that the Jamaican Xpress International News Inc. (Jamaican Xpress) carried out “election advertising,” as defined at subsections 2(1) and (7) of the Canada Elections Act (the Act).

As established by evidence gathered during the investigation regarding the standard cost of advertising in the newspaper, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Jamaican Xpress incurred costs of $500 or more for the election advertisements. In accordance with subsection 353(1) of the Act, a third party must register immediately after having incurred $500 in regulated election period expenses. Elections Canada’s records confirm that the Jamaican Xpress was not registered as a third party for the purposes of the 44th federal general election.

There are therefore reasonable grounds to believe that the Jamaican Xpress failed to register immediately as a third party, as required by subsection 353(1) of the Act.