Law brings campaign finance rules in line

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This article was published 23/04/2025 (342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government is to be commended for introducing Bill 39 — The Public Schools Amendment Act to better protect democracy from third-party election interference by regulating campaign financing for school trustees.

Manitoba is out of step with other provinces in our country when it comes to school board election financing legislation. Only New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island do not have this legislation. Provincial leadership on this issue is long overdue.

On March 11, 2025 when Bill 39 was publicly announced, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt stated that this legislation “levels the playing field.”

While Bill 39 addresses the issue of campaign financing for school trustees in many important ways, amendments are required to make the legislation more equitable and effective.

Just Elections is a coalition of organizations and individuals that are committed to promoting free and fair school board elections. The coalition has identified five amendments that will strengthen the proposed legislation to make it more equitable, accountable and transparent. The amendments also better align the school board election financing legislation with municipal legislation for election financing.

The first amendment pertains to registered candidates contributing to their own campaign.

According to Bill 39, a registered candidate can contribute up to $7,500 of their own money toward their own campaign. This needs to be removed from the proposed legislation. If this is kept in, it would be inequitable and discriminatory to moderate/low-income candidates who do not have the resources to pay this amount of money to run for school trustee.

For context, the City of Winnipeg Charter Act and the Municipal Act, the municipal legislation for election campaign financing, allow mayors to make a maximum personal contribution to their own campaign of $1,500 and councillors can only make a maximum personal contribution of $750 to their own campaigns.

Bill 39 needs to be amended to reduce the $7,500 contribution limit for candidates to spend money on their own campaign to $750.

Secondly, Bill 39 sets a maximum individual contribution limit of $1,500. This contribution limit should also be lowered to $750. The maximum individual contribution limit in the City of Winnipeg Charter Act and the Municipal Act is $750 for a councillor and $1,500 for a mayor.

Bill 39 needs to be consistent with the legislation of other municipal levels of government regarding individual contribution limits.

Thirdly, Bill 39 needs to include enabling legislation for contribution rebates for persons who donate to school trustee campaigns. Both the City of Winnipeg Charter Act and the Municipal Act have enabling legislation that provides local councils the choice to establish a donor rebate/tax credit for election contributions. For example, the City of Winnipeg has chosen to provide contribution rebates funded by city council. Brandon city council has chosen not to provide contribution rebates or tax credits.

Bill 39 should include enabling legislation to allow local school boards to pass a bylaw, if they choose to do so, to use school division funds to provide rebates or tax credits for school trustee campaign contributions.

This would promote more equitable opportunities for persons from a wide range of income groups to run for school trustee. It would also be more aligned with election financing rebate/tax credit legislation that is presently provided for federal, provincial and municipal election campaigns.

Fourthly, the campaign expense limit is vague in Bill 39. The City of Winnipeg Charter Act and the Municipal Act require clear campaign spending limits. The city of Winnipeg limit is based on a set amount per voter formula. The campaign spending limit for a councillor in Brandon is $4,800. Bill 39 needs to be more aligned with municipal legislation for campaign spending limits.

Finally, Bill 39 should require school trustee candidates to set up a separate election campaign bank account.

This would promote greater transparency, accountability, and is based on best practices of school board election financing legislation in other provinces.

In order to truly “level the playing field,” Bill 39 needs to be strengthened.

Just Elections, along with other education stakeholders, looks forward to working with the provincial government to amend the proposed legislation to ensure that campaign financing for school trustees is more equitable, transparent, and better aligned with municipal legislation for campaign contributions.

Kathy Mallett, the first Indigenous woman elected to a school board in Winnipeg, and Liz Ambrose, former chairperson of the Winnipeg School Division board of trustees, are the co-chairs of Just Elections.