What does it mean for the NDP to lose official party status in Parliament?

With the votes still being tabulated on Tuesday, it seems likely that the New Democratic Party, which had entered the election race with 24 seats in Parliament, will emerge with only seven. This would result in the NDP losing official party status. But what does that mean? What is official party status? In addition to the governing party and the official opposition, many Westminster-style parliaments (including Canada’s) recognize additional parties. In 1963, with three of the four previous elections having resulted in minority governments, the government amended the Senate and House of Commons Act to provide an additional annual allowance to party leaders other than the prime minister and leader of the opposition. Party leaders were defined as Members of Parliament who led a party with a “recognized membership of 12 or more persons in the House of Commons.” Thus, an official party needs at least that many sitting members in Parliament. Why is official party status important? Christopher Cochrane , an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto, tells National Post: “The main thing is it means a significant loss of parliamentary funds for the party. It’s things like support for having a research office for the party, staff support that they get based on party size, even to smaller things like phone plans for staffers (and) support for a party office.” He adds: “The NDP didn’t have a lot of time to develop a quote-unquote war chest for this election, and now they’re going to have to continue more or less with all the exact same struggles that they’ve been dealing with, and yet with considerably less, actually virtually no support from Parliament for their party operations.” The relevant information regarding official party perks is spelled out in a document called Members’ Allowances and Services Manual , published by the House of Commons, but it’s not easy to navigate. To begin with, the term “official party” only appears twice in the manual’s 343 pages, when it refers to termination of national caucus research offices, “in the event that the Member’s party loses its official party status.” “What they mean by official party is spelled out in different language,” says Cochrane. “The term that is used here for the most part is ‘recognized party,’ but that’s what is meant by official party. And a recognized party starts at 12 members.” Official status also gives members more opportunities to ask questions in Question Period, and to participate in debates in the House of Commons. What are some of the perks for an official (or recognized) party? In the section of the manual titled “Budget Formula Following a General Election,” it notes that each opposition party with 12 to 25 members will receive $1,116,920 for a party leader office budget, $111,700 for a house leader office budget, $148,910 for a chief whip office budget, and $79,520 for a caucus chair office budget. Those numbers go up if the party has more than 25 members, but 12 is the minimum. The manual also lists an information technology budget allocation of $73,280, a translation services budget allocation of $177,880, a national caucus meetings budget allocation of $65,470, and a national caucus research office budget of $744,630. These items alone add up to just over $2.5 million, but there are many smaller items, such as one smartphone and up to two Apple iPads per member, which can cost up to $2,500 each. “Expenses associated with the monthly data plan and roaming charges of iPads are charged to the MOB (Member’s Office Budget),” the manual says. Is official party status the same as registered party status? No. Elections Canada lists 16 registered federal parties , including the usual suspects — the Bloc Québécois, the Green Party of Canada, etc. — as well as some well-known fringe movements like the Marijuana Party and the Parti Rhinocéros Party, and a few you may never have heard of, like the Animal Protection Party of Canada or the Canadian Future Party. Has a party lost its official status before? Yes. In fact, it happened to two parties in 1993. The Progressive Conservatives under Prime Minister Kim Campbell went into that election with 154 seats and emerged with just two. Meanwhile, the New Democratic Party fell to nine seats from 44. Gains were seen by the Liberals, the Bloc and the Reform Party. Both the PC party and the NDP regained official status in the next election, in 1997. How bad will it be for the NDP this time? Cochrane thinks it will be a rough time for the New Democrats, especially since fundraising laws have changed since 1993, forcing parties to rely more on their Parliamentary perks. “I think the challenge for the New Democrats is going to be to just continue to keep themselves relevant in the minds of the public at a time when their capacity to advertise and their basic outreach and basic functional operation of a party is significantly undermined both by lack of fundraising capacity and now by lack of Parliamentary support because of the loss of official party status,” he says. Is there a silver lining? If the Liberals wind up just a few seats short of a majority, even a weakened NDP could help get their numbers to 51 per cent on votes. And that would make them an important ally to the ruling party. “There is an opportunity for the NDP in a minority Parliament to exert leverage beyond its electoral weight,” says Cochrane. “The fact that the NDP could play a pivotal role in the stability of Parliament despite getting so little of the support is incredible.”