Québec City, September 2, 1997 --- Me François Casgrain, Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, would like to inform the public of the rules governing political financing and the control of election expenses that apply in 17 municipalities having a population of 20,000 or over and which will hold general elections on November 2^nd of this year.

The election period will begin September 5th. From this date, persons interested in a position on the municipal council will have until October 10th to file a nomination paper with the returning officer of their municipality.

In addition to the 17 mayoralty positions, 175 councillor positions must also be filled. On September 1, 1997 there were 30 authorized political parties in 11 of the 17 municipalities holding elections (Anjou, Blainville, Chicoutimi, Laval, Pierrefonds, Québec, Repentigny, Sainte-Foy, Saint-Jérôme, Terrebonne et Verdun).

The rules governing municipal political financing allow political parties and independent candidates to benefit from financial resources constituted in particular from contributions collected exclusively from the voters of the municipalities in question. However, a political party or an independent candidate wishing to solicit or collect contributions must first of all obtain an authorization from the Chief Electoral Officer.

During the election period, candidates will be subject to a ceiling on election expenses that will be calculated according to a basic amount and an additional amount based on the number of voters by electoral district for a councillor's position and by municipality for a mayoralty position.

Elected candidates or those who obtain at least 20% of the votes cast may receive a 50% refund of their election expenses. In the case of an independent candidate, the refund may not exceed the amount of his or her election debts.