Liberal MP Jaime Battiste fined $600 for breaching elections financing law

OTTAWA – An elections watchdog fined Nova Scotia Liberal MP Jaime Battiste and his financial agent $600 each for a series of elections law violations — including a donation of funds to Battiste’s own campaign that went almost $1,500 over the limit.

Battiste serves as parliamentary secretary to the minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. He sought the party leadership earlier this year but bowed out of the leadership race early on.

The elections law violations stem back six years, to a July 2019 candidate nomination contest in Sydney—Victoria that Battiste won.

Notices posted Thursday by the office of Commissioner of Canada Elections Caroline Simard state that Battiste breached the Canada Elections Act by filing “false and misleading information” in his official paperwork

His expense return reported contributions of $8,201, but $9,701 in contributions was deposited into his campaign bank account. A $500 ad also should have been recorded as a non-monetary contribution, Simard’s office said.

The documents state he made excess contributions to his own campaign, accepted thousands of dollars into his personal bank account instead of a campaign account, and paid for campaign expenses with his personal credit card — none of which is permitted by law.

“Only the financial agent of a nomination contestant can accept contributions or borrow money on the contestant’s behalf,” one of the notices of violation declares.

Battiste said in a media statement he has paid the fines and learned from his mistakes.

“During the nomination process in 2019, mistakes were made by both myself and my financial agent in reporting expenses,” he said. 

“These were addressed with Elections Canada, and every effort was made to correct them to the greatest extent possible. Elections Canada raised these matters with myself and my financial agent long after the campaign had concluded. The penalties imposed were at the lowest end of the scale and have been paid in full.”

Battiste added he went on to win three elections and the party cleared him to run as a leadership candidate earlier this year, something of which he remains “immensely proud.”

His financial agent at the time, Kevin Chant, was also hit with $600 in financial penalties, including a fine for failing to return the $1,500 over-contribution to federal coffers for several years.

Elections Canada told Chant to pay the funds back on Dec. 7, 2021. He was supposed to pay that back in 30 days. But Elections Canada’s records showed it hadn’t been repaid by Nov. 20, 2024, according to one of the notices.

The documents published by the elections commissioner said the fines could have be larger, but she reduced them due to “mitigating” factors. Battiste and Chant co-operated with the investigations, and Simard also considered the “personal circumstances in Jaime Battiste’s life” at the time.

Neither Simard nor Battiste explained the reference to “personal circumstances.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2025.