Cleaning up local elections
TIMES COLONIST (Victoria, B.C.) DECEMBER 8, 2009
The B.C. Liberals have a tight grip on a task force charged with cleaning up municipal campaign spending and reducing the risk of corruption. Community Minister Bill Bennett will co-chair the task force, promised by Premier Gordon Campbell at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in October.
Bennett described municipal elections as "a bit of the Wild West." There are no limits on donations or campaign spending. Donations to candidates over $50 must be reported, but interest groups can spend as much as they like to support candidates without disclosure. Even when the few rules are broken, enforcement is non-existent.
It is a formula for special-interest influence and a loss of public confidence in government.
Given the low turnout in municipal elections and the importance of name recognition, a well-funded interest group could easily put loyalists on council. Third-party campaigns could mean the source of the funds would never be disclosed.
The issues that councils deal with justify the investment. A public sector union could ensure the election of candidates willing to provide big raises; a developer could stack a council with people ready to comply with rezoning requests. Those who rebel could be denied the funding needed to win the next campaign.
Campbell promised the task force would report by May 30, 2010, on ways to improve "fairness, accountability, transparency and public participation." Changes to election laws would be in place for the 2011 municipal elections.
The task force is welcome. But the composition is disappointing. Bennett will co-chair the group with UBCM president Harry Nyce. Two UBCM vice-presidents -- Surrey Coun. Barbara Steele, a Liberal candidate in 2005, and Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom will be joined by Liberal MLAs Douglas Horne of Coquitlam and Donna Barnett of the Cariboo-Chilicotin riding.
There was a chance to reach out more widely by including non-Liberal MLAs -- either a New Democrat or independent Vicki Huntington -- community leaders, political scientists or average citizens.
The approach raises a realistic concern that the task force starts with a bias that will limit its effectiveness.
Municipal politicians are looking for reforms that include limits on campaign spending and on donations. A survey of 38 B.C. mayors done before the UBCM meeting found 82 per cent supported those measures.
But Campbell has repeatedly rejected calls for limits on contributions to provincial political campaigns. Unions, corporations and individuals should be free to make unlimited donations, as long as the amounts are disclosed after the election, he says. People can then look at the hundreds of pages of contribution reports and watch politicians for the next four years to make sure big donors don't get special treatment.
The argument fails a critical test. Even the appearance that big donations buy special treatment undermines democracy. That's why Manitoba and Quebec have banned union and corporate donations. Ontario allows them, but limits all donations to $15,500 per year (and an extra $15,500 for an election campaign). The federal government has banned corporate and union donations and limited individual donations to $1,000.
The concern is that Liberal MLAs on the task force will be reluctant to accept donation limits in municipal elections when the premier has ruled them out provincially.
The task force has an important job. Its consultations should be broad and guided by the public.
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist
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