Time’s almost up for election reform
After years of debate, delay and foot dragging, the city now plans to deal with the hot button issue of banning corporate and union donations in civic elections.
I would like to say it’s about time, but the truth is the city is running out of time.
This is a case of waiting until the 11th hour to tackle an issue politicians clearly aren’t eager to vote on. Any new election finance reform must pass before the end of this year because candidates can start registering on Jan. 4.
There’s no reason to defer the issue any longer.
Council already voted to eliminate donations from corporations and unions back in 2004 before it had the power to make the change.
In 2007, the province gave Toronto the ability to ban these donations.
Earlier this year, the city asked staff to draft a policy to eliminate this type of financing — that report was ready in September.
The issue was supposed to make it to the executive committee, but its last meeting for 2009 has come and gone.
Stuart Green in Mayor David Miller’s office told me that a special meeting would be called to deal with this.
No date has been set but it has to be before Nov. 30-Dec. 1, the last city council session of the year.
Part of the reason for stalling was legitimate: the city waited for other electoral reforms from the province including barring candidates from carrying over any surplus to the next election. This way incumbents won’t be able to build a war chest for their subsequent run. Any surplus will now be turned over to the city.
But the real heart of election finance reform has always centred on whether corporations and unions should be allowed to make financial contributions to political campaigns.
I am more convinced each time I report on the issue — which I’ve done since at least 2004 — that it’s the right thing to do.
But don’t just take my word for it.
Professor Robert MacDermid, who teaches politics at York University, has published a report on just this issue in 10 GTA municipalities, Toronto included.
Corporate donations to all Toronto candidates made up only 12.1 percent of their campaign funding. This isn’t so bad when compared to other cities, where it’s reached 76 percent.
But the question remains, who do we want to bankroll election campaigns?
“Developers should not be allowed to donate to politicians,” MacDermid tells me. “This is not a (financial) relationship we should have in politics.
“It’s one view of how influence is exercised.”
Politicians vote on policies that impact corporations, developers and unions. But no one has suggested to me that a politician’s vote is bought with an election contribution of $750.
“Candidates should have to depend on (donations from) citizens who like what they’ve done or promise they will do,” MacDermid says.
Councillors Cliff Jenkins and Michael Walker have taken the lead on pushing for reforms since 2003.
“It will dramatically change how councillors are oriented towards citizens and not special interest groups,” Jenkins says.
Currently, the president of a corporation can donate twice: once through their company and again as an individual in their own name. Banning corporate contributions won’t stop developers from donating, but it will mean they can only do it once, like the rest of us.
This leads me to my final point.
Getting elected isn’t cheap. Councillors fundraise between $20,000 and $60,000 each. It costs upwards of $1 million to make a serious run for mayor.
So if you support banning corporate and union donations, why not donate a few bucks to your favoured candidate? The city has a generous rebate program, which means if you donate, say, $100, 75 comes back to you. And you get a tax receipt to boot.
It can’t hurt to make your voice heard on the issue. You can speak at the as-yet unscheduled special executive committee meeting or you can call up any politician and tell them where you stand.