The sa国际传媒 government is fixing election-campaign finance rules, and it should waste no time in doing the same for municipal elections. This month, Premier John Horgan introduced a campaign-finance reform bill that would ban union and corporate donations, while limiting individual contributions to $1,200. Although the bill鈥檚 taxpayer subsidies are abhorrent and unnecessary, getting big money out of election campaigns is welcome.
All three provincial parties have said they support the idea, although the sa国际传媒 Liberals were converted only on their government鈥檚 deathbed. With that unanimity, it should be easy to find support for extending the same principle to municipal elections.
Oak Bay Coun. Kevin Murdoch is hoping to use the momentum of the provincial changes by putting a resolution before the Union of sa国际传媒 Municipalities convention, which started Monday in Vancouver. The resolution would ask the province to limit and restrict local campaign donations.
鈥淚聽think union and corporate donations should not be involved in politics,鈥� Murdoch said.
The UBCM backed a similar resolution in 2015, but the province didn鈥檛 do anything about it. Now that the provincial parties are cleaning up their own house, it鈥檚 an ideal time to try again.
Just as at the provincial level, big donations make it appear that people and groups with deep pockets can buy disproportionate influence over politicians.
Attorney General David Eby certainly seemed receptive to making the change.
鈥淲e are still working on that. I am hopeful that we will be able to address that, but this bill will not be the bill that does that,鈥� he said.
Murdoch is far from the only local politician who is in favour of reform. Even those who accepted union or corporate donations, such as Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell and Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt, have said they support a ban on such donations.
Some change is already coming for the 2018 municipal election, which will limit campaign spending based on population size.
Based on 2016 population sizes, Victoria candidates would be allowed to spend a maximum of $53,936, which is less than half of what the top two spenders shelled out in 2014. Former mayor Dean Fortin spent $128,636, while Ida Chong spent $108,120.
Vancouver is the source of most concerns about out-of-control election spending. Vision Vancouver reported spending $3.4 million in the 2014 election. After that election, Dermod Travis, executive director of IntegrityBC, called the spending across the province obscene.
Without limits on individual donations, there is no guarantee that cash the candidates donate to their own campaigns is really their own money, Travis said.
While the spending limits are needed, getting rid of big donations from unions and corporations has to be part of the package. There is time to do it before British Columbians go to the municipal polls again next year.
