There’s little doubt that the entire municipal election system in Burnaby would be different if union and developer donations were banned.
Our story on page 1 and 8 reveals the depth and breadth of how the ruling power in the city has become entirely dependent on groups – groups that have vested interests in currying favour with those in power.
The Burnaby Citizens Association – the NDP-affiliated civic party – was given $202,220 by unions and $275,550 by developers. The Burnaby First coalition operated on $27,362. Of those funds, $2,150 was from corporations and $21,941 was from individuals.
While money doesn’t guarantee a victory in politics, it sure makes a big difference. And in politics, it’s often a winner-takes-it-all proposition.
Clearly developers understand that, in Burnaby, the safe bet is Derek Corrigan and the party that holds all the seats. Why would they even bother to invest in an opposition party? In fact, if they do, it could actually hurt their relationship with the city.
Even if city politicians deny that they are swayed by such support, surely the appearance of conflicts is unavoidable.
And then, as Ray Power says, “If I’m contributing to your campaign for mayor or for council and I’m appearing before you to have a permit approved, there’s something wrong with that. The defunding by unions and developers and corporations would get rid of, to a certain extent, that inside track.”
As Kirk LaPointe writes in his column on this page, “It is difficult to turn the clock back on well-heeled financial campaigns.”
It is hard to imagine an election without interest groups’ money. Would individuals rise be willing to fork out money as part of their democratic duty? Would we end up with only the well-known, and/or rich being able to run for office?
Would it, as Power suggests, force wannabe politicians to seek out individual voters, knock on doors and actually listen to voters?
It’s hard to imagine what a donation ban would do to Burnaby politics and this city – but we’d sure like to find out.
