All 5 political parties violated financial disclosure law

New Brunswick's five political parties all missed the April 1 deadline for filing their election-year returns, including their donor lists, but none will be facing legal consequences for breaking that law, according to Elections New Brunswick.

"That is the deadline, absolutely," said Nathan Phillips, assistant supervisor of political financing for Elections NB.

All of the parties were at least three weeks late — and the one from the Gallant Liberals is still outstanding — but Phillips says each party had an excuse that was considered reasonable.

A senior Liberal staff member responsible for the party's financial statements suffered health problems, the Progressive Conservatives switched auditors, and the three smaller parties struggled with limited resources and major election-year transactions, said Phillips.

"In all of these cases it wasn't wilful, or it wasn't through neglect," he said.

Under New Brunswick's Political Process Financing Act, political parties are required to file their financial returns from the previous year by April 1 so they can be reviewed by Elections NB for irregularities before being released to the public on July 1.

However, the first of the five returns filed this year, from the Green Party, did not come in until April 23 — 22 days late.

The NDP filed on May 12 (41 days late), followed by the Progressive Conservatives on June 30 (90 days late), and the People's Alliance on July 3 (93 days late).

Nathan [Phillips] was aware of the extenuating circumstances and simply encouraged us to come in as soon as we can, and that's what we've been working on.- Britt Dysart, Liberal Party

Meanwhile, the return from the Liberal Party is still missing 16 weeks after the due date.

Failure to meet the April 1 deadline is a chargeable offence for the party's official representative, which carries a maximum penalty of $1,100 for a first offence and $2,100 for a second offence.

There is also the option of avoiding court by paying a $50-per-day late fee instead.

In the case of the Progressive Conservative Party, for example, that would mean a $4,500 fine for official representative Robert Hathaway.

However Phillips says none of the parties are facing fines or any other legal trouble because the legislation requires a late filing to be done "wilfully or through neglect" and Elections NB does not consider that to be the reason in any of the five cases.

"It does say that in order to commit an offence they have to wilfully or through neglect fail to file, and at this stage, I don't believe that's through neglect or wilfully that they were late this year."

Deadline change proposed

People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin, who is also the party's official representative, said it was a daunting task for the volunteer organization.

"It's not good for anyone to be late," said Austin. "I think Elections New Brunswick is trying to work with us, being a relatively new party and struggling with resources," he said.

"It's surprising to me that the others, with the amount of resources they have — paid staff at that — that they're being late as well."

The Liberal Party expects to submit its financial statements, including election expenses and donor lists, next week, according to party representative Britt Dysart.

"It's up to Elections New Brunswick to determine if it's a significant issue, or if it is a breach of the regulation," said Dysart.

"Nathan [Phillips] was aware of the extenuating circumstances and simply encouraged us to come in as soon as we can, and that's what we've been working on."

Phillips say all five parties have agreed the filing date should be moved to May 31 to give them more time to prepare their financial statements — a proposal that will be submitted to government in the fall.

Still, only two of the five parties would have met that deadline, had it been in place this year.