Questions have swirled for weeks asking why Thomas Lukaszuk’s “Forever Canadian” group has not been disclosing its funding sources and following the rules defined for third-party advertisers (TPAs) during referendum campaigns. Elections Alberta released a bulletin to clarify the issue yesterday.

And the definition of what constitutes a TPA is as clear as mud.

A TPA is a group that will spend more than $1,000 promoting a side in a referendum. Apparently, though, if one can avoid clearly taking one side or another, one can avoid TPA designation.

TPAs must follow strict guidelines involving their funding. They cannot accept any contributions from outside of Alberta. They must report all contributions weekly. Contributors can’t donate more than $5,000, and TPAs can only raise a maximum of $607,000 over the course of an entire campaign. All donors of over $50 must have their information registered with Elections Alberta, and donors of over $250 will have their names published on the Elections Alberta website.

The rules are similar to those that bind provincial electoral candidates during campaigns. They lean heavily on transparency and imposing caps on how much funding can be raised and from whom. It can be onerous for groups to remain in compliance, but the regulations aren’t unreasonable.

If a group can manage to skirt the definition of being a TPA, however, they have no rules applied to them at all during the campaign. This appears to be what Thomas Lukaszuk has done for now.

The Elections Alberta bulletin says a group must promote or oppose a question in the referendum to be defined as a TPA. If the group doesn’t use the terms “vote” or “choose”, their stance may be considered fuzzy enough to avoid being a TPA. The terms “Remain,” “Separate,” or “Independence” could also trigger TPA requirements. Apparently, “Forever Canadian” doesn’t imply one choice or another.

The bulletin offers an example from the TPA Pathway to Independence (full disclosure, I run that group) and the message “Send Ottawa a message” as an example of messaging that doesn’t trigger TPA regulations. I still plan to abide by regulations.

It’s clear that Thomas Lukaszuk’s group is campaigning in the referendum and that it is spending tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands.

Because of wordplay semantics, his group has so far managed to avoid the disclosure requirements that TPAs are bound by.

This means that Forever Canadian can accept an unlimited amount of funding from anybody without disclosing who it was from or how much. They could be foreign-funded or receive funding from large corporations. They could be taking dollars from political figures or media outlets.

Not only is Forever Canadian not bound to disclose who funds it, but it has no limitations on how the money is spent. TPAs must spend on referendum-related advertising and will file statements on it. Surpluses, if there are any, must be donated to a registered charity or given to the government. Groups like Forever Canadian can spend however they please, including paying massive salaries to those involved if they choose to. There is no way to know.

Forever Canadian may not technically be breaking the regulations laid out defining what a TPA is, but it is blatantly breaking the spirit of the rules. They can rest assured that many will be watching them carefully to ensure they never overtly try to counsel Albertans to vote one way or another in the referendum. The group is bending the rule and walking a very fine line.

For now, though, it appears that Thomas Lukaszuk can raise unlimited foreign funds and spend them on whatever he fancies as long as he never utters the words “vote”, “choose” or remain.