Is it time for the provincial government to crack down on municipal election spending?
It’s a question that’s being asked around the province since election spending reports were released last week.
In some cases, candidates vying for seats on municipal councils and school boards forked over some very big bucks in order to secure the seats they now hold.
Compounding that issue is the fact that those very same bucks come in many cases from two funding sources that always raise controversy: labour and business.
Case in point: the Burnaby Citizens Association went into the 2014 election with a whopping $484,649 in contributions, up by more than $200,000 from the previous election. Of that money, a full $161,325 came from trade unions – the largest single donor being the city workers’ union, CUPE Local 23. Add to that $144,100 from corporations, and you can’t deny that the BCA is benefiting greatly from both sources of funding.
Now, we’ll be the first to acknowledge that simply accepting a campaign donation does not create an automatic conflict of interest. It’s perfectly possible for candidates, regardless of their political stripe, to accept money from a union or a corporation and still make sound, balanced judgements about civic issues.
But the fact of the matter is, seeing large amounts of money flowing in to candidates’ campaigns from business and labour raises voters’ suspicions about just how fair the process is.
And in politics, as they say, perception is reality.
Runaway spending and lavish donations in civic election campaigns sully the discourse at the council table and erode public faith in the system.
Other areas of the country are already taking action to address these concerns.
Toronto outlaws business and union donations for municipal candidates. Quebec and Manitoba cap spending in city elections based on the size of the population.
We would welcome a combination of either. Local government should not be a hobby for the independently wealthy or a business expense for developers.
Of course, any new rules should come with watchdog power that provides Elections B.C. teeth to enforce them and to investigate complaints. Ultimately, we feel a community is best served by a council that reflects a diversity of ideas, values, expertise and backgrounds – and the best way to get that is to level the playing field for all.
