Registered Political Parties

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A political party is an association, organization or affiliation of voters who form a political organization. One of its purposes is to endorse and support candidates in elections.

Manitoba's Elections Finances Act requires political parties to register with the Chief Electoral Officer.

Registration gives a party a few key benefits:

placing its name on the ballot with the name of its endorsed candidate
issuing tax receipts for contributions
protecting party names and abbreviations from other parties wanting to register with a similar name
allowing the transfer of money, goods or services to its constituency associations and candidates
allowing the party to endorse candidates and thereby become eligible for reimbursement of election expenses if that candidate receives at least 10% of the votes cast

Details for how to register a political party are in sections 11-18 of The Elections Finances Act.

Currently there are five registered political parties in Manitoba. Click on the rows to read more or hide information.

Registered Political Parties in Manitoba

Communist Party of Canada – Manitoba (CPC-M)
387 Selkirk Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R2W 2M3
Phone: (204) 586-7824
Email: cpc-mb@mts.net
Website: www.communist-party.ca
Leader: Darrell Rankin
(Note: The website link above is to the National Communist Party of Canada as the Communist Party of Canada – Manitoba does not maintain a provincial website)

Manitoba Liberal Party (Liberal/Libéral)
635 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0X1
Phone: (204) 988-9380
Email: manager@manitobaliberals.ca
Website: www.manitobaliberals.ca
Leader: Dr. Jon Gerrard

New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP/NPD)
803 - 294 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0B9
Phone: (204) 987-4857
Email: info@todaysndp.mb.ca
Website: www.todaysndp.ca
Leader: Greg Selinger

The Green Party of Manitoba (The Manitoba Greens)
P.O. Box 26023, RPO Maryland
Winnipeg, MB R3G 3R3
Phone: (204) 488-2831 Toll Free (within Manitoba): 1-866-742-4292
Email: info@greenparty.mb.ca
Website: www.greenparty.mb.ca
Leader: James R. Beddome

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba (PC Manitoba)
23 Kennedy Street
Winnipeg, MB R3C 1S5
Phone: (204) 942-8283 Toll Free: 1-800-663-8679
Email: pcmanitoba@pcmanitoba.com
Website: www.pcmanitoba.com
Leader: Brian Pallister

How to Register a Political Party

Conditions for becoming a registered party include:

holding four or more seats in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba outside an election period or immediately before an election is announced, or;
endorsing five or more candidates during a general election, or;
parties that do not hold seats in the legislature before an election may also apply for registration with a petition (Form 906B) signed by at least 2,500 people who were eligible voters in the most recent general election (a petition cannot be submitted or approved after an election call).

Applications for registration are made to Elections Manitoba and should include the following information

Party Name
Party Contacts
- The names and contact information of the party's leader, chief financial officer and president.
- The name and contact information for the party's auditor and the auditor's signed consent to act in that capacity.
An audited financial statement, including a statement of assets and liabilities, of the political party as of a date no more than 60 days before the date of the application for registration.

If a Petition for Registration has been submitted, it will be verified by contacting some of the persons who signed the petition to ensure that they are eligible voters and that they did sign the petition. The Chief Electoral Officer publishes the notice of registration of a political party in the Manitoba Gazette. The detailed process for registering a political party with the Chief Electoral Officer is found in sections 11-18 of The Elections Finances Act.

Obligations of Registered Political Parties

Once an application for registration is approved, notice of the approval as well as a registration number issued by the Chief Electoral Officer will be sent to the political party. The registered party must then comply with certain provisions of The Elections Finances Act:

NOTIFICATION

Where there is any change in the particulars disclosed in the application for registration, the registered political party shall notify Elections Manitoba within 30 days of the change.
The party must keep Elections Manitoba aprised of who the key members of the party are, in particular the chief financial officer and any deputies he or she has appointed to issue tax receipts.

TAX RECEIPTS

Only the chief financial officer or a deputy may issue receipts.
A record must be kept of all receipts which are printed and issued.
The receipts must include complete contribution records. [See section 37.2(1) of the EFA]

FINANCIAL REPORTING
Within three months after the end of every year political parties must file an annual audited statement setting out:

income, including contributions and transfers during the year,
expenses, including transfers during the year, and
the assets and liabilities of the registered political party

Within three months after the end of every year, in conjunction with the annual audited statement, political parties must file a return for contributions. The return includes the name, address and amount contributed for each person or organization who or which contributed, in aggregate, $250 or more in the year and the total of all such contributions.

The return also includes the aggregate value of contributions of $25 or more but less than $250; and the aggregate value of contributions under $25. Where the aggregate value of transfers to the registered political party from any constituency association of the registered political party during the year was $250 or more, the return must set out the name and address of any contributor whose contribution to the constituency association was $250 or more in a year together with the aggregate amount of the contribution.

Where there is an election, political parties must file an audited statement within four months after election day setting out:

the income, including contributions and transfers, of the registered political party during the campaign period of the election.
the election expenses, including advertising expenses, of the registered political party; and
the transfers made by the registered political party during the campaign period of the election to any candidate endorsed by the registered political party in the election or to any constituency association of the registered political party in any electoral division in which the election is being contested.

INFORMATION

Within 30 days of a request by Elections Manitoba, the chief financial officer of a registered political party must provide a list showing the name and address of the person responsible for the finances of each constituency association of the registered political party. Any changes in the particulars in the list must be reported in writing to Elections Manitoba within five days of the change.
Form 904 Notice of Nomination must be filed immediately after the nomination of candidate by any constituency association. The form requires the name of the candidate, the constituency association, the date of nomination and the political party's chief financial officer's signature.
It is also the responsibility of the chief financial officer to provide information requested by the Chief Electoral Officer to clarify or verify the information contained in any statement or return within 30 days after receiving the written request or within such extended period of time as approved by the Chief Electoral Officer.

RECORD KEEPING

The chief financial officer for a party should retain all records upon which a statement or return is based for at least five years from the date of filing the statement of return, or for any additional period the CEO considers necessary.
The chief financial officer must also maintain a bank account in the name of the political party solely for the political party.

De-Registration

VOLUNTARY
A registered party may voluntarily apply for de-registration at any time; however a registered political party cannot be de-registered during the campaign period of a general election. The application for de-registration must be made to the Chief Electoral Officer by the Chief Financial Officer and two other officers of the registered political party. [Section 19(1)]

COMPULSORY
Compulsory de-registration of a political party may also occur under certain circumstances [section 19(2)]. The Chief Electoral Officer shall de-register a registered political party where the political party:

fails to file any statement or return required by the Act; or
fails to file with the Chief Electoral Officer any information reasonably required to clarify or verify the information contained in a statement or return filed by the political party under the Act; or
fails to appoint a Chief Financial Officer in accordance with the Act; or
adopts a new name which is prohibited under section 15; or
has endorsed fewer than five candidates in the most recent general election.

APPEAL PROCESS
The Chief Electoral officer will inform the party in writing of the proposed de-registration. There is provision for the registered political party to file a written objection to the proposed de-registration. There is also provision for a political party to avoid de-registration by rectifying a violation within 30 days of the notice of proposed de-registration, except of course where a political party is de-registered by reason of failure to endorse at least five candidates.

A notice of de-registration is published in the Manitoba Gazette. The effective date of de-registration is the date in which the notice appears in the Manitoba Gazette.