Candidates to swear oaths about not changing political affiliation?

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[Amend Canada Elections Act to include sworn statement about affiliation]

[Candidates to sign sworn statement about affiliation with official agent]

The fourth legal initiative that was proposed in the spring of 2006 was:

(P-4^1-2)   Future election candidates to swear oaths about not changing political affiliation?

www.DavidEmersonLegal.com asked a lawyer in April 2006 if, in future, political candidates could be asked to sign a contract, or swear to an oath, that, if elected, they would not change political parties except under exceptional circumstances specified in the contract or oath.

The lawyer said that a contract must legally be an exchange of economic or material benefit — if there is no exchange of value, then it isn’t a contract — hence contracts are not relevant to political candidacy.

Oaths are a different matter. Political candidates could swear oaths in two different ways.

(P-4¹)   Amend Canada Elections Act to include sworn statement about affiliation

Subsection 66(1) of the Canada Elections Act requires every candidate standing for a federal political election to make a statement under oath, naming the political party that has endorsed that candidate, if the candidate is endorsed by a party. This subsection would be an obvious place to insert an additional statement about the candidate switching political parties.

(P-4²)   Candidates to sign sworn statement about affiliation with official agent

Because revising the Canada Elections Act is a slow process, an alternative method is to produce a straightforward statement that federal political candidates are encouraged to sign by their official agents on behalf of their Riding Association, if there is one. (An “official agent” is appointed by a candidate under Subsection 83(1) of the Canada Elections Act, and who handles a candidate’s finances during their election campaign, as described in Section 436 of the same Act.)

It would be impractical for political candidates to make a statement under oath for individual voters, but it would be practical for voters to check with a candidate’s official agent that the candidate had made such a sworn statement (the agent could post the statement on the candidate’s website and at their office).