SOURCE: BuriedTruth.com, 2020-08-07
Summary of disparates sources ... Many of these -- such as the Manning Centre (rebranded as the Canada Strong and Free Network) -- have received foreign, notably Koch-sourced, funding.
REFERENCE [Wikipedia]: 2019 Canadian federal election
SOURCE: Wikipedia, captured 2020-08-07
A person or group must register as a third party immediately after incurring expenses totaling $500 or more on regulated activities that take place during the pre-election period or election period. The regulated activities are partisan activities (that promote parties or candidates), election surveys, partisan advertising and election advertising. Furthermore, to be a third party you must be :
One cannot spend money or uses their resources to influence Canadian elections if they are a foreign third party.
There are also strict limits on expenses related to regulated activities, and specific limits that can be incurred to promote or oppose the election of one or more candidates in a particular electoral district. Registered third parties are subject to an election advertising expenses limit of $1,023,400 in the pre-election period, of which $10,234 can be spent in a given electoral district and $511,700 during the election period. Of that amount, no more than $4,386 can be spent to promote or oppose the election of one or more candidates in a particular electoral district.
SOURCE: Wikipedia, captured 2020-08-07
In Canada, there are no limits to what a "third party" (industry associations, unions, individuals, special interest groups, etc.) can spend on political advertising pre-campaign -- spending rules are only in force once the writ is dropped and the campaign has officially begun. A person or group must register as a third party immediately after incurring election advertising expenses totalling $500 or more. There are strict limits on advertising expenses, as well as specific limits that can be incurred to promote or oppose the election of one or more candidates in a particular electoral district.
It is illegal for a third party and a registered political party or a candidate to collude with each other for the purpose of circumventing the maximum amount that a registered party is allowed for election expenses.
SOURCE: Wikipedia, captured 2020-08-07
On August 19, 2019, environmental groups were warned by Elections Canada that any third party that promotes information about climate change during the election period with paid advertising could be engaging in partisan activity. Registered charities with a charitable tax status would be required to register as a third party for the election if they engaged in any partisan activity incurring $500, which would include advertising and surveys, or risk their charitable tax status. These regulations were a result of People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier expressing doubts about the legitimacy of climate change, because a third party that advertises the dangers of climate change during the election period may be considered to be indirectly advocating against the People's Party. After confusion about the warning, Elections Canada released a public statement to clarify that the prohibition applied only to advertising, not speech in general the following day.
On August 25, 2019, billboards purchased by a True North Strong & Free Advertising Corp., a third party promoting the People's Party of Canada's immigration policy, with the text "Say NO to Mass Immigration" appeared in Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, and Halifax. True North Strong & Free Advertising Corp is run by Frank Smeenk, the chief executive of a Toronto-based mining exploration company. The Peoples Party of Canada told the media that it had no contact with the group. Initially, Pattison Outdoor Advertising defended the billboards, arguing that they complied with the Advertising Standards Canada Code but later decided to pull them and said that they would review their protocols on advocacy advertising. Pattison President, Jim Pattison, later revealed that the billboards would have stayed up had True North Strong & Free identified themselves on the billboards and how the public could get in touch with them.
On October 3, 2019, the CBC revealed that the Manning Centre [now the Canada Strong and Free Network] is a driving financial force behind a network of anti-Liberal Facebook pages pumping out political messaging and memes during the federal election campaign. Facebook pulled one of their ads due to the excess violence.
The Manning Centre's donations to those groups, worth more than $300,000, are hidden, since the think tank, which did not register as a third party, does not intend to disclose them.
Elections Canada says there is nothing in the law to prevent outside groups from raising money and then passing those donations along to third-party advertisers. As a result of this lack of disclosure, Democracy Watch filed a complaint to Canada's Chief Electoral Officer. It argued that the Manning Center should have registered as a third-party. Furthermore, due to this controversy, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, the former chief electoral officer, said that the next federal government must close the gap in the law that allowed the Manning Centre to raise money and then pass it along to third-party groups without disclosing the source of those donations.
| Third party | Money spent during the pre-election period | Money spent during the election campaign |
|---|---|---|
| Unifor | $923,417 | $365,963 |
| United Steelworkers | $739,548 | $142,419 |
| Fairness Works | $551,987 | N/A |
| Friends of Canadian Broadcasting | $211,615 | $329,372 |
| Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions | $8,475 | $412,606 |
| Canadians United for Change | $51,557 | $292,464 |
| Canadian Medical Association | $221,709 | $86,971 |
| Grain Farmers of Ontario | $167,800 | $71,250 |
| Canadian Union of Postal Workers | $151,196 | $42,225 |
| Canada Proud | $96,677 | $95,438 |
SOURCE: Canada Strong and Free Network
In the run up to the 2019 Canadian federal election, the Manning Centre [now the Canada Strong and Free Network] provided a "total of $312,450 to a network of related third-party advertising groups" operating on Facebook and Instagram. This included $240,000 to Canada Strong and Proud for a "series of anti-Trudeau and anti-Liberal campaign ads." The Centre also "gave $4,500 to Newfoundland and Labrador Strong, and another $11,200 to Nova Scotia Strong.
In 2018, the Manning Centre called for a "co-ordinated response" by governments, companies, and citizens Canadians to the opposition against pipelines, by creating a Corridors Coalition. The Corridors Coalition would create and maintain a transportation corridor for Canadian oil and natural resources, running from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and eventually to the Arctic Ocean. The Manning Centre called for the creation of the Corridors Coalition for mid-2019 to "offer a clear and powerful challenge to the federal political parties contesting the 2019 federal election in the fall."
[2019-07-25] Canada Strong and Proud registers as third party ahead of election
Canada Strong and Proud [federal politics] and its provincial affiliates [Alberta Proud | NL Strong (Newfoundland) | NS Proud (Nova Scotia) | Ontario Strong | Quebec Fier] all have websites with almost identical designs and tend to advocate against the current Liberal government.
These organizations were responsible for robocall, text-message or advertising campaigns prior to provincial elections in their respective provinces.
Mentioned:
[2019-09-23] Top 'Canada Proud' Donor is Lobbying For More Foreign Steel Over Made-in-Canada Steel.
Canada Proud's top donor is apparently not so proud of Canadian steel
... one of Canada Proud's top donors is an anti-union lobby group currently lobbying for steel imports from foreign suppliers that often rely on low-wage labour ... Merit Canada is a major anti-union lobby group representing "open shop" clients in the construction industry.
[reference] Ontario Proud launches Canada Proud with aim of taking down Trudeau
Third party organizations [Wikipedia, captured 2020-08-07]
Third party spending (from June 30, 2019 until October 1, 2019): Canada Proud:
Money spent during the pre-election period: $96,677
Money spent during the election campaign: $95,438
[2019-07-25] Canada Strong and Proud registers as third party ahead of election
Former Conservative staffer Jeff Ballingall launched a federal iteration of his group [Ontario Proud] -- called Canada Proud -- to advocate in the upcoming federal election.
SOURCE: Ontario Proud
Ontario Proud has announced its intentions to target Prime Minister Justin Trudeau [Liberal Party] going forward. Ontario Proud founder Jeff Ballingall established a similar "BC Proud" Facebook page to target elections in British Columbia, and is attempting to start another site to target Quebec. Sister pages have also been established in Alberta and New Brunswick.
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