A few weeks back I had a casual encounter with Ida Chong. For a time she was the provincial Liberal minister responsible for communities and the person to whom requests went from Vancouver and the Union of B.C. Municipalities went to ban union and corporate donations.
So I had to ask. Why, given that Vancouver city council has been making this request to ban these donations since as far back as 2002 (when municipal campaign funding hit the $1 million mark) and had since been joined by other municipalities in B.C., was nothing done?
Actually you probably know the answer. But she confirmed it. If the province banned those types of donations municipally, people would demand the same at the provincial level. And that was just not going to happen.
So municipalities in general, and Vancouver in particular, are simply collateral damage for policy that creates significant skepticism among citizens who believe that “money talks.” If you want access to politicians just write a big cheque. It is as true for Mayor Gregor Robertson (which I will get to in a moment) as it is for Premier Christy Clark.
Two weeks ago the issue of campaign financing erupted again. This time it started with a Globe and Mail story about a $10,000-a-plate dinner party that gave 10 wealthy folks exclusive access to Premier Clark.
That led to her, once again, taking heat about unlimited donations from corporations and unions. The story spread to Ontario where Premier Kathleen Wynne was tangled up in the same cash-for-access debate.
At the time of writing this, Wynne had been sufficiently affected by the furor there and had agreed to change the rules. This spring, she will bring in legislation to outlaw corporate and union political donations.
In B.C., nothing so far.
On Monday of this week, Independent MLA for South Delta Vicki Huntington beat the NDP opposition to the punch by introducing a private member’s bill calling for a ban on union and corporate donations and a limit for personal donations. It was, as she told me, not her first kick at the can on this issue. What was new, aside from the news about Christy’s exclusive dinner party, was the $1,500-limit Huntington wants placed on personal donations.
Thursday (April 7) the B. C. legislature is considering Bill 17, the Local Election Campaign Financing (Election Expenses) Amendment Act. It is the result of a committee report a year ago. Yet, in spite of its title, it will do absolutely nothing to limit the amount of money or the source of funds in Vancouver’s election battles.
In fact, it could make matters even worse. Based on the formula in the bill, parties could spend even more than they already are. And a unanimous recommendation from the bi-partisan legislative committee, to start the spending clock on Jan. 1 of an election year, was tossed out by Christy Clark and replaced with a 28-day period leading up to an election; that means millions can be spent ahead of that.
Huntington, by the way, is most concerned about funds from developers and can still recall development proposals before Delta council during her many years as a councillor there.
They may not have been “in the best interest of the community” but because the developer was a major donor to the party there was pressure put on her to approve the project.
Many councillors will tell you they have no idea who donates to their party. Take that with a grain of salt.
There was a typical Vision Vancouver party fundraiser at the Coast Plaza Hotel in the West End in the run-up to the last election. As reported by my colleague Mike Howell, on the main floor were the folks who kicked in $150 to attend. On the second floor, in a kind of first-class lounge you might find at an airport, were the big donors both corporate and union (whose names the party refused to reveal) being entertained by the elected officials before they came down to join the masses.
The effect of these big donors is “insidious” says Huntington. “You have to prevent human nature from running the game.” But in a province with arguable the weakest election financing rules in the country it is no wonder that money still talks.
@allengarr
