Source: https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=abo&dir=bra/bro/2011&document=index&lang=e
Timestamp: 2020-05-27 03:08:29
Document Index: 448752067

Matched Legal Cases: ['arts 1', 'arty 26', 'arty 4', 'arty 4', 'arty 4', 'arty 4']

FEDERAL GENERAL ELECTION MAY 2, 2011 – Elections Canada
FEDERAL GENERAL ELECTION MAY 2, 2011
ISSUED MARCH 28, 2011
These guidelines deal only in passing with broadcasting time made available to candidates and with other kinds of political broadcasting. Those matters generally fall within the authority of the Canadian Radio- television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), as are questions about the political broadcasting requirements of the Broadcasting Act and regulations. A copy of the CRTC guidelines regarding the federal election can be found on the CRTC's Web site at www.crtc.gc.ca.
Answer: Sections 335, 339 and 343 of the Canada Elections Act, taken in combination, require that each broadcaster must make available, for purchase by registered and new political parties, 390 minutes of broadcasting time, during prime time, in the period beginning with the issuance of the writs and ending at midnight on the day before election day.
The period within which political parties have a right to purchase such time, therefore, ends at midnight on Sunday, May 1, 2011. If the broadcaster is affiliated with a network, the 390-minute obligation is shared in accordance with the agreement between the broadcaster and its network.
Question 2. Does this obligation apply to specialty programming services as well as to radio and television stations? What about pay television services?
Answer: This obligation applies not only to AM and FM radio stations and to television stations, but also to specialty television services licensed by the CRTC and carried by cable, satellite and MDS systems. However,the obligation does not apply to pay television services, since they are prohibited from carrying advertising material by paragraph 3(2)(d) of the Pay Television Regulations, 1990.
Question 3. Does this obligation apply to new media broadcasting services offered through mobile devices or through the Internet?
Answer: No. The term “broadcaster” is defined in the Canada Elections Act to mean “a person who is licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission under the Broadcasting Act to carry on a programming undertaking.” The CRTC has exempted mobile television undertakings and new media broadcasting undertakings from the requirement to obtain a licence. Hence these undertakings are not obliged to make time available for purchase by political parties although they are free to do so.
Question 5. What is “prime time” for the purposes of the
Radio: 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Answer: Almost all of the specialty television services and some of the conventional radio and television networks serve more than one time zone. In such cases, prime time should be interpreted as extending from 6:00 p.m. (local time) in the easternmost locality served to midnight (local time) in the westernmost locality served.
Question 7. How are the 390 minutes allocated among the parties?
Answer: By virtue of the order issued by the Broadcasting Arbitrator on February 17, 2011, and by virtue of section 339 of the Act, the 390 minutes have been allocated as follows:
Answer: Yes. If a party listed above does not have an endorsed candidate in at least one electoral district listed on the list of confirmed candidates published on April 13, 2011, the time allocated to that party will lapse on that date and will not be reallocated.
Answer: No. The 390 minutes allocated under the Act apply to political parties only. Time purchased by a candidate for his or her own use is not affected by Parts 1, 2 or 3 of these guidelines, and does not form part of the allocated time.
Conservative Party of Canada PHD
Pioneering Helena Shelton
Liberal Party of Canada M2 Universal Sara Hill
New Democratic Party Wills & Co. Media Strategies Inc. Jeff Wills
Green Party of Canada Integrated Media Solutions Inc. Ugis J. Zvilna Anne
Christian Heritage Party of Canada Vicki Gunn
Canadian Action Party Tim McCormick
Progressive Canadian Party Macdonald- Cartier
PC Fund c/o Mr. Don Cox
Communist Party of Canada Liz Rowley
Libertarian Party Brisson
First Peoples National Party of Canada Barbara Wardlaw
Western Block Party Keltie Zubko
Voters Party of Canada Stephen Best
Rhinoceros Party Jean-Patrick
Power Party of Canada Laurel McCallum
Pirate Party of Canada Pirate Party of Canada Fund
c/o Stephane Bakhos
United Party of Canada John C. Hastings
Answer: No later than ten days after the issue of the writs, i.e. no later than April 5, 2011, and subject to the five-day rule described in the response to Question 19, each political party must submit a notice in writing to each broadcaster and each network from which it intends to purchase time. The notice sets out the proportion of commercial time and program time the party prefers as well as the days and hours when that time, so proportioned, is to be made available.
However, in 1993, the CRTC removed the limitation on commercials per week on radio stations. In addition, in 1995, the CRTC amended its TelevisionBroadcastingRegulationsto place “partisan political advertising” of any length outside the normal 12-minute-per-hour limitation on advertising material that applies to conventional television stations. The same policy applies to specialty programming services that have conditions on their licences in this respect. In 2009, the CRTC removed all restrictions on advertising time limits for conventional television broadcasters. Thus, the distinction between commercial time and program time is no longer relevant for CRTC purposes.
Answer: Under subsection 344(2) of the Canada Elections Act, a party cannot obtain the broadcasting time that is allocated to it “before the fifth day after the notice is received by the broadcaster or network operator.” This means that if a party wants to purchase broadcast time for Thursday, March 31, 2011, as a matter of entitlement, it must ensure that the station or network receives its notice at least five days before that date, i.e. on Saturday, March 26, 2011, the date on which the writs were issued.
Thus, even if a party sends its notice to broadcasters within ten days of the issue of the writs, as required by subsection 344(2), it will have lost its entitlement to purchase time in the period up to April 10, 2011, unless its notice to the broadcaster was received by that broadcaster at least five days in advance of the dates for which the time was requested.
These notice provisions apply only to the party's entitlementto allocated time. A party can always buy time without regard to these notice periods (e.g. before the end of the five-day notice period) if the broadcaster agrees, as discussed above in Question 11. However, the sale of such broadcasting time cannot be compelled.
the party could send a notice to be received on March 28, 2011, i.e. within two days of the date the writs were issued, seeking to purchase time in the period from April 2 to April 9, 2011; the notice would fully comply with the five- day rule for this time;
the party could then send a second notice in which it indicated its time preferences for the period from April 10 to May 1, 2011. As long as that second notice was sent on or before April 5, 2011, and received by the broadcasters no later than five days before the date of the contemplated broadcast, the party would be in compliance with the Act.
A network-affiliated station should be prepared to accommodate an initial request from a party for an amount of station- controlled time that, together with the time requested from the network, exceeds that party's total allocation on the station. This is to ensure that the party can ultimately achieve its total allocation on the station if the network cannot fully accommodate its requirements.
Question 23. WhatdoestheBroadcastingArbitratortake into consideration when making his decision?
that each … party should have the freedom and flexibility to determine the proportion of commercial time and program time to be made available to it and the days on which and the hours during which that time as so proportioned should be made available; and
that any broadcasting time to be made available to a … party should be made available fairly throughout prime time.
Question 25. Howlongshouldbroadcastershold time open for booking?
Answer: Network and station operators should hold available time periods open for booking by the political parties up to April 26, 2011. After this date, they may substitute other equivalent broadcasting periods for those originally established.
Answer: Yes, but this obligation applies only to certain networks, not to all broadcasters. This is in addition to purchasable time.
Question 28. How is the network free time allocated?
Conservative Party of Canada 56:30 32:00 16:30
Liberal Party of Canada 38:00 21:30 11:00
New Democratic Party 26:00 15:00 8:00
Green Party of Canada 13:00 7:30 4:00
Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada 5:30 3:00 1:30
Christian Heritage Party of Canada 5:30 3:00 1:30
Libertarian Party of Canada 5:00 3:00 1:30
Communist Party of Canada 5:00 3:00 1:30
Canadian Action Party 4:30 2:30 1:30
Marijuana Party 4:00 2:00 1:00
People's Political Power Party of Canada 4:00 2:00 1:00
Progressive Canadian Party 4:00 2:00 1:00
Rhinoceros Party 4:00 2:00 1:00
Pirate Party of Canada 3:30 2:00 1:00
United Party of Canada 3:30 2:00 1:00
Total (rounded) 214:00 120:00 62:00
Question 29. How is the free time to be made available?
Question 30. Can the free-time entitlement be lost?
Answer: Yes. If any of the parties listed above fails to nominate at least one candidate by the close of nominations on April 11, 2011, their free-time allocation lapses and will not be reallocated. Similarly, if all of the party's candidates fail to be confirmed and do not appear on the list of confirmed candidates published on April 13, 2011, thus placing the party below the candidate threshold, their free-time allocation lapses on that date and will not be reallocated.
Question 31. On what grounds can a broadcaster decline to carry a paid or free- time political message submitted by a party?
Answer: The paid and free-time obligations of broadcasters and network operators are subject to the applicable regulations under the Broadcasting Act and to the conditions of the broadcasters’ licences. This means that a broadcaster is entitled to refuse to broadcast a paid or free-time political message provided by a political party if:
Question 32. How much time should a broadcaster be given to review the political message?
Question 33. Can a broadcaster “censor” a political ad?
Question 34. Do political messages have to identify the party that placed the message?
Answer: Yes. Under section 320 of the Canada Elections Act, both paid and free- time messages must contain a clear identification of the party and a statement that the registered agent of the party authorized the message.
The party's identification may be an audio and/or visual identifier at the beginning or end of the message. This could include a party logo that has been registered with the Chief Electoral Officer under paragraph 368(a) of the Act or is being used consistently by the party. In the case of a television message, the logo or other identifier should be displayed in a clearly visible or legible manner for at least three seconds, either at the beginning or the end of the message.
Question 35. Is there a blackout period during which no political advertising is permitted to be aired?
Answer: Yes. By virtue of section 323 of the Canada Elections Act, election advertising cannot be aired after midnight on Sunday, May 1, 2011. This means that no political advertising can be broadcast Monday, May 2, 2011, election day.
Question 36.Does the blackout period apply to messages posted on the Internet before polling day and that are still on a Web site on polling day?
Question 37. When can election results first be reported?
Answer: Under section 329 of the Canada Elections Act, no person may transmit the result or purported result of the polling in any electoral district of Canada to the public in another electoral district before the hour fixed for the closing of the polls in that other electoral district.
It should be noted that this prohibition applies not only to radio and television stations and networks, and to specialty programming services, but also to broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), including cable television systems, direct-to-home satellite services and multipoint distribution systems. Paragraph 7(b) of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations specifically authorizes a BDU to alter or delete a programming service in the course of its distribution for the purpose of complying with this section of the Canada Elections
Question 38. At what time do local polls close?
Question 39. Are there any restrictions on the broadcasting of opinion surveys during the election period?
In particular, if that person is a broadcaster, the following information must be provided:
a) the name of the sponsor of the survey; b) the name of the person or organization that conducted the survey; c) the date on which or the period during which the survey was conducted; d) the population from which the sample of respondents was drawn; e) the number of people who were contacted to participate in the survey; and f) if applicable, the margin of error for the data.
If the person publishing the opinion survey is not a broadcaster, that person must also provide certain additional information, namely, the wording of the survey questions and the means by which a report on the survey may be obtained. Section 326 of the Act also requires the sponsor of an election survey, the results of which are transmitted to the public, to provide a copy of a written report on the results of the survey to anyone on request. Any fee must not exceed $0.25 a page.
Question 40. What is the situation when the media receives election survey results without any knowledge of the methodology used?
Question 41. Are there any restrictions on the broadcasting of opinion surveys on election day?
Question 42. Are there any restrictions on advertising placed by persons other than candidates or political parties?
Answer: Yes. Sections 349 to 362 of the Canada Elections Act govern third-party advertising. Any third party that spends $500 or more on election advertising is required to register with Elections Canada and disclose its contributors. Third parties are prohibited from spending more than $150,000 on election advertising during an election period, with a maximum of $3,000 to be spent in a given electoral district.
Broadcasters are free to accept and run third- party advertising during an election. They have no obligation to do so, but if they choose to, they should ensure that such ads identify the third party. Section 352 of the Canada Elections Act states, “A third party shall identify itself in any election advertising placed by it and indicate that it has authorized the advertising.”