NEWS: Shaking the Big Money Taint

By Think City Staff

“I think there is a general belief out there amongst local government circles and among the general public that there should be some type of restriction on campaign spending...”

- Community and Rural Development Minister Bill Bennett, May 3, 2010

Who says individual citizens coming together can’t make change happen?

Since last December, when Premier Gordon Campbell appointed the local government election task force to consider sweeping legislative changes to the rules governing civic campaigns, thousands of individuals have told the task force it’s time to take big money out of local elections.

If that wasn’t a clear enough indication the public wants to rein in BC’s local election financing, Think City’s survey of nearly 3,700 citizens and an April 14 Mustel poll of 500 British Columbians both show overwhelming support for campaign spending caps, contribution limits, and a ban on union and corporate donations. Think City’s survey also shows strong support for public financing in the form of tax credits for donations and per vote funding.

And now it appears the minister in charge is finally getting the message. Last week, Community and Rural Development Minister Bill Bennett acknowledged citizens' support for campaign finance reform by publicly supporting spending limits.

It is no longer a question of whether there will be significant reforms to local campaign financing in BC, but rather what will those reforms actually be. The challenge for the legislature, when it finally gets down to the business of crafting a new law governing local election financing in time for the 2011 municipal elections, will be getting the right combination of spending caps, contribution limits or bans, and/or public financing in place to ensure that big money’s influence is diminished.

But there are examples of campaign finance rules already in place at all three levels of government in Canada. Here’s a quick overview of just some of the federal, provincial and municipal regulations governing election financing BC could consider.

Federally, those running for office are subject to the most stringent and comprehensive campaign finance laws in the country. Parties and candidates are subject to both spending and contribution limits. As well, unions and corporations are forbidden from making political donations.

Federal parties and their candidates may only receive $1,100 annually from any individual. On the spending side, each party and its candidate can spend approximately $195,000 per federal riding. If this formula was applied to civic elections in Vancouver, it would mean a spending cap of $975,000 or $2.40 per elector.

In BC, the laws governing provincial election financing are less rigorous but parties and their candidates are still subject to spending limits. A single party and its candidate can spend approximately $122,000 in a single district. This works out to $1,342,000 for all 11 provincial electoral districts in Vancouver or $3.30 per elector.

Both the federal and provincial electoral systems are supported by generous public financing in the form of tax credits for donations. Federal parties also receive an additional annual public financing allowance of $1.75 per vote from the federal government and candidates who receive at least 10 per cent of the vote are entitled to a reimbursement of up to 60 per cent of their expenses.

At the municipal level, BC is the wild west – there are no laws on the books that provide local public financing or restrict civic election campaign spending or contributions. However, other jurisdictions like Manitoba, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario or Quebec can provide some guidance on how municipal election finances are regulated.

Toronto has the most generous spending limits of all major Canadian cities that regulate campaign financing, setting $1,014,000 as the mayoral campaign limit or $7,500 plus $0.85 per elector in the 2006 election. On the least generous end of the scale, Winnipeg, Canada’s seventh largest city, has a $150,000 spending limit for its 2010 mayoral campaigns or $0.30 per elector.

Toronto limits mayoral campaign contributions to $2,500 per donor, while Winnipeg has set a $1,500 limit on all donations. Toronto has banned corporate and union donations, while Winnipeg has not.

Toronto and Winnipeg also make use of public financing to rebate a portion of election contributions. Both cities provide a rebate that varies in relation to the amount of the contribution, but cannot be in excess of $1,000.

There is one more issue that needs to be considered before recommendations are made by Minister Bennett’s task force on May 30.  What impact, if any, does BC’s unique at-large electoral system have on devising credible and robust local campaign finance regulations?

In every jurisdiction cited earlier, individual candidates are elected from a geographic or neighbourhood constituency. In British Columbia, all local politicians are chosen at-large, forcing civic candidates to market themselves to the entire population. In Vancouver, Canada’s eighth largest city, that means a city council or parks board candidate must get their message to more than 400,000 voters – a daunting task.

Over the next two weeks, Think City will be surveying the public to ask their opinion on the best combination of campaign finance reforms. Results will be forwarded to Minister Bennett and the local government elections task force by May 25. To take the survey click here.