Some separatist groups are “frustrated and flummoxed” over Elections Alberta’s third-party advertising rules ahead of the Oct. 19 referendum.
The sentiment stems from prominent pro-Canada third-party advertiser, the Forever Canadian campaign, disclosing $0 in referendum expenditures as of July 9, according to Elections Alberta data.
In total, the data shows pro-Alberta separation groups have raised over five times more third-party advertising dollars than their federalist counterparts.
While Forever Canadian’s “Unity Bus” cruises Alberta this summer and its red and white signs crop up on lawns across the province, Alberta independence supporter Cory Morgan says the rules around what constitutes third-party referendum advertising are being applied unequally amongst separatists and federalists.
“A lot of us are getting pretty frustrated and flummoxed with this. We voters don’t know where [Forever Canadian is] getting their money from, how much money, if there’s any controls on that,” Morgan, founder of the pro-independence third-party advertising group Pathway to Independence, told CBC News.
Forever Canadian “has been overtly campaigning in this referendum campaign for months now, spending a great deal of money, and still has apparently found a loophole, whereas it’s not considered a campaign,” he added.
But Forever Canadian’s leader, former deputy premier and MLA Thomas Lukaszuk, disputed the claim, telling CBC News that his campaign is in compliance with Elections Alberta’s rules because it is not choosing a position on the separation-related question in Alberta’s October referendum.
Rather, he explained, the campaign is promoting the question it petitioned the province to put in its October referendum, asking: “Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?”
While that question is not on the referendum ballot in October, Lukaszuk said that the successful petition remains undealt with, and therefore, the Forever Canadian campaign isn’t over.
“Unity Bus” to tour Alberta this summer as Forever Canadian campaign officially launches
Elections Alberta released an “interpretation bulletin” last week, to clarify what is and is not considered referendum advertising, as third-party advertisers are required to file weekly contribution reports.
It states that an advertisement “must relate to a specific referendum question and the advertising must attempt to persuade an elector to vote in a particular way,” to be considered “referendum advertising” under the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act.
Lori Williams, associate professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University, said part of the issue stems from the “unprecedented” nature of the process.
“We don’t have clear rules and the rules seem to have changed several times both with respect to referendum question campaigns and also with respect to the advocacy that people are engaging in around the questions,” Williams told CBC News.
“If we’ve got high-profile figures who are out there engaging in activities that don’t qualify as third-party advertising campaigning in ways that can’t be quantified monetarily, it becomes a lot more difficult to assess what techniques are being used, what kind of influence is being exercised and whether they’re operating within the rules,” she said.
Elections Alberta says advertising with words including “vote,” “choose,” “remain,” separate,” and “independence,” may indicate a message is indeed referendum advertising.
But not every advertisement that touches on the issues outlined in the referendum will meet that definition, Elections Alberta clarified.
Lukaszuk said his campaign is choosing to not take a position on the referendum question, saying “We don’t want to legitimize this question. It’s not a referendum question. It’s a referendum to hold a referendum. It’s a $120 million exercise, you know, that divides Albertans, that’s causing Albertans economic damage.”
While the group’s campaign is overtly patriotic, applying Elections Alberta’s guidelines, a general message of unity may not meet the bar for referendum advertising.
“We are promoting Canadian unity, Canadian patriotism. We are encouraging Albertans to take up our lawn signs and put them up on their lawn to show their pride in Canada,” Lukaszuk said.
But the Pathway to Independence leader isn’t convinced.
“He’s driving a referendum campaign bus. He’s opened campaign offices. It seems the only people in the world who don’t believe he’s running a campaign are Elections Alberta,” Morgan said.
In an emailed statement to CBC News, an Elections Alberta spokesperson said it is “committed to fairness and apply the legislation as it is written to all third party advertisers consistently.”
The statement added that Elections Alberta does not decide or determine the rules and legislation for third-party advertisers, adding that is the role of the Alberta government.
While flags have become symbols in the separation debate, co-opted by both the separation and stay-in-Canada camps, according to Elections Alberta’s bulletin they do not count as referendum advertising, as “the display of a flag alone does not promote or oppose a question in a referendum.”
Elections Alberta also added that all potential referendum advertising is assessed on the content of the message itself, on a case-by-case basis, not on how well-known the advertiser is or how well-known their position is.
Williams said that because Forever Canadian is not campaigning on a particular question, Elections Alberta may be deeming it a “general status-quo activity” that doesn’t qualify as third-party advertising.
“It’s going to be very difficult now to determine what constitutes third-party advertising, what would qualify as an expense under this and and what would not,” she said.
Elections Alberta’s guidelines have been spoofed by a website from third-party advertiser Alberta’s Voice (which supports the province staying in Canada), satirically providing instructions to potential advertisers on how to avoid being classified as referendum advertising.
“The trick is not to argue less. It is to argue sideways. Keep the destination obvious. Remove the words that make it technically referendum advertising while keeping the message,” the website reads.
Regarding the Elections Alberta rules for third-party advertisers, Morgan said he said he finds them “pretty straightforward,” and says the issue lies in the implementation.
“I find that they’re coming down weak, which is surprising for the most part in dealing with Elections Alberta. Actually, I found them to be a very good group to deal with. They answered questions, they’re co-operative.”
Morgan’s group has raised just over $85,000 in third-party advertising funds as of July 9, according to Elections Alberta.
How fundraising is going so far for third-party advertisers in Alberta’s referendum campaign
The Alberta Prosperity Project, a prominent separatist group, is not registered as a third-party advertiser.
Individuals, unions or groups must register with Elections Alberta as third-party advertisers if they plan to spend more than $1,000 on advertising during the referendum campaign. Donations from individuals, corporations or unions are capped at a combined $5,000 a year.
The pro-separation group Let Alberta Decide leads the pack in third-party advertiser fundraising, having amassed $233,778.95 as of July 9.
Advertising spending is capped at $607,000 per campaign, meaning Let Alberta Decide has received roughly one third of the maximum amount they can spend.
