Dear Editor
Re: The chequered road to civic power, Burnaby NOW, Opinion, March 4
It is good for us to be made aware of the need for severe limits on municipal election spending in Burnaby. In the eyes of many constituents, municipal elections and their results are bought and paid for by a few large developers, unions and civic employees who stand to benefit for years after an election.
Election spending limits must be imposed, and since the municipal politicians will not do it, the province must. Also, contributions from parties having direct business relationships with the city, such as unions and developers, who stand to materially benefit from electing their friends, must be prohibited. It is important to recognize that the provincial government currently has a committee to review and implement changes for municipal election spending in 2018.
The province can only do so much to limit waste at the municipal level. Spiralling, out-of-control spending really irritates most citizens, but apparently not enough to get them out to vote. I also must point out the obvious here: there is no real municipal leadership in Burnaby that understands the tax pain of most citizens, the need to keep more money in the pockets of families, and the overall need to lower costs while providing better services (i.e., doing more with less).
In the last election, I ran for mayor of Burnaby with a full slate of individuals who care about their city and who spent countless hours and their own money (many with very little) to try to make a difference and give our citizens democratic choice. We succeeded in some ways. We raised approximately $28,000 as Burnaby First Coalition, with most funds coming from the individuals who decided to put their lives on hold and run for office to serve their fellow citizens. The Burnaby Citizens Association raised and spent $484,000 (or 17 times more).
Let's look at a smaller community and see what is possible. Take West Kelowna for example, where a vouncillor, Rosalind Neis, was elected by her residents with a total of $0 in donations and $0 in spending. The -people of West Kelowna voted in a person who is simply a hardworking local representative to hear their concerns and make sure they have a voice at the decision making table of their city. No party, no slate, no fundraising and still an independent democratic choice for citizens.
Burnaby First Coalition's key policies were: zero per cent tax increase for three years, more funds for affordable housing, making homelessness a priority, reaching out to citizens to ensure that we had actually consulted with them before making large commitments, and overall, doing more with less, something the current group has demonstrated they will not do. So, instead of asking the provincial government to solve the problem, the council might show some leadership and place limits on spending and donations as individuals and parties where there are none.
Perhaps next time, in 3.5 years, if the playing field is levelled, people will come out to vote for "doing much more with much less" while reining in out of control spending and excessive taxation.
Daren Hancott, president, Burnaby First Coalition Society, mayoral candidate 2014
