Legislature Elections Committee seeks feedback on annual allowances for political parties

For anyone who has ever wanted to tell politicians how to spend some money (or not spend it) the BC Legislature has an opportunity to share some thoughts on how allowances are allocated to the province's political parties.

The Legislature consultation is a two part question with the Committee seeking guidance on the following:

1. Whether an annual allowance paid to political parties should be continued to be paid after 2022. 

2. If an annual allowance to political parties is to be continued, the amount of the annual allowance, and the number of years the annual allowance is to be paid.

Residents of the province can participate in a number of ways from a written presentation, to audio or video submissions.

The details on how to participate can be reviewed here.

The Committee has provided some background on what the allowance is about 

The annual allowance for British Columbia political parties was established through amendments to the Election Act adopted by the Legislative Assembly in 2017. 

Annual allowance payments began in 2018 at a rate of $2.50 per vote received in the most recent provincial general election, gradually declining to $1.75 in 2022.

Some further background as to how the annual allowance works can be found below:

Under the Election Act, the Chief Electoral Officer must pay an annual allowance to a registered political party whose candidates in the most recent general election received: at least 2% of the total number of valid votes cast in all electoral districts, or at least 5% of the total number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts in which the political party endorsed candidates. 

The Election Act establishes how allowances are calculated. Allowances are based on the number of valid votes received in the last general election and are calculated as follows: in 2018, $2.50 per vote received in 2019, $2.25 per vote received in 2020, $2.00 per vote received in 2021, $1.75 per vote received in 2022, $1.75 per vote received.

The Chief Electoral Officer must pay allowances in two equal installments on January 1 and July 1 in each applicable year.

How those allowances were  paid out can be viewed from the chart below over the last four years.

You can learn more about that program from the Elections BC website

The Deadline to submit your comments to the Committee is May 28th

More items of interest from the Legislature can be explored through our Archive page, as well as from our Victoria Viewpoints feature on our political blog D'Arcy McGee.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.