An annual report from Elections Nova Scotia shows some discrepancies in political donations paperwork following the 2017 general election.
Five of the NDP's electoral district associations have not filed proper reports showing their political donations.
- Read Elections Nova Scotia's 2017 political donations report
"It's not an unusual occurrence that some have not filed their complete papers," said Andy LeBlanc, the director of policy and communications for Elections Nova Scotia.
Elections Nova Scotia could choose to suspend an association that hasn't provided its paperwork, giving it 30 days to file. If the paperwork still wasn't filed at that point, it could choose to deregister that association.
The NDP districts that failed to file are:
- Queens-Shelburne.
- Pictou Centre.
- Preston-Dartmouth.
- Cape Breton-Richmond.
- Bedford.
In an email, Jamie Masse, the NDP's provincial secretary, wrote that the local associations are run by volunteers.
"We do our best to support them through the process of completing their filings," Masse wrote.
"We are working with Elections Nova Scotia and volunteers in the remaining district associations to complete outstanding filings and expect them to be submitted soon."
Among the riding associations which did file paperwork, the total of political donations ranged from zero to $4,482.
Donations to party leaders
The report also examines political donations to parties and to individual candidates.
Of the three party leaders, Jamie Baillie raised the least in donations with $1,650 in contributions. Baillie resigned as leader in January following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
NDP Leader Gary Burrill raised $15,663 in contributions, while Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil raised a similar amount at $15,545.
Some candidates managed to raise far more in contributions than their leaders. The PC's Tim Houston received $26,233.
Liberals Zach Churchill, Leo Glavine, and Geoff MacLellan received $35,800, $36,385, and $50,595 respectively.
Donation cap
Elections Nova Scotia caps the amount that any resident of Nova Scotia can donate to a maximum of $5,000. That includes the total of donations to a party, electoral district associations and candidates.
The Elections Act also requires candidates to repay any loans within two years.
One candidate has yet to repay an election-related loan. He is Yarmouth PC candidate Mitch Bonnar, the president of Yarmouth's Tri-Star Charters.
Bonnar had an outstanding balance of $10,412 on a loan of $19,000, and can take until June, 2019 to repay.