Under Alberta's Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act (EFCDA), registered third-party advertisers, referendum advertisers and other political participants are required to file financial reports by prescribed deadlines. Late or inaccurate filings can trigger automatic late fees, administrative penalties, investigations and enforcement action. 

If Forever Canadian is campaigning, where are its financial disclosures?

The organization has publicly urged Albertans to vote against independence, produced campaign materials, advertised its message and solicited donations. If those activities meet the definition of referendum advertising under Alberta's Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act (EFCDA), the organization may be required to register and publicly disclose its financial activities.

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Those disclosure rules exist for one reason: to allow Albertans to know who is funding campaigns and how much money is being spent to influence the referendum.

Registered referendum third-party advertisers are required to file weekly contribution reports during the referendum advertising period, followed by a comprehensive financial return after the vote.

These requirements are backed by meaningful enforcement.

Elections Alberta's administrative penalty decisions show that violations routinely result in substantial fines, including:

• $27,000 against Take Back Alberta for failing to deposit contributions into the proper advertising account.
• $22,500 for circumventing election advertising spending limits.
• $20,000 against Zee Media Canada Corp. for making a prohibited election advertising contribution.
• $18,000 against Take Back Alberta for failing to retain required financial records.
• $13,500 for accepting prohibited out-of-province and international contributions.
• $13,500 for paying election expenses from the wrong advertising account.
• $9,000 for failing to properly report fundraising revenue.
• $9,000 for obtaining an improper loan.
• $4,500 against David Parker, director and CFO of Take Back Alberta, for knowingly filing false quarterly financial reports.
• Additional penalties ranging from $500 to $2,000 against chief financial officers and campaign officials for knowingly filing false financial statements.

Several of these penalties have been referred to Crown Debt Collection, and in at least one instance, Elections Alberta referred a matter to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Alberta's political finance laws provide Elections Alberta with broad enforcement powers. Organizations engaged in regulated referendum advertising must comply with registration, disclosure and reporting requirements or risk significant administrative penalties, debt collection proceedings and other enforcement action.