Likely the last report on the big-money era of B.C. politics was released Tuesday, and it shows the major parties are hitting up union and corporate donors right to the end.
Elections B.C. released the parties’ fundraising and spending-disclosure statements covering the election campaign. They show millions of dollars piled into the B.C. Liberal and NDP coffers from January until the May election from unions and corporations.
The NDP collected more than $3 million from unions from January until Election Day, while B.C. Liberals took in more than $4 million from corporations. Greens voluntarily gave up accepting money from either sector last year, so all their donations were from individuals. They brought in far less than the others.
Developments after the vote almost guarantee those tried-and-true revenue sources will be off-limits in the near future. The NDP and the Greens campaigned to outlaw such donations. After the NDP and Greens agreed to co-operate, the B.C. Liberals reversed course in a bid to break up the agreement and joined them in promising a ban.
So when the legislature resumes next month, with campaign-finance reform a top priority, all three parties in the house are on record as supporting the idea. The open-chequebook era is over, but Tuesday’s report shows it will end on a high note.
The NDP cashed a single $500,000 cheque from United Steelworkers president Leo Gerard on April 4, following a $250,000 one the previous fall. A few weeks later, Liberals highlighted the Canadian-born Gerard’s presence in a photo-op with U.S. President Donald Trump. The NDP also got tens of thousands more from Steelworker Canadian locals.
The party got more than $200,000 from the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union, and a similar amount from the Hospital Employees Union. Canadian Union of Public Employees’ locals topped the $200,000 mark, as well. The B.C. Federation of Labour and the International Union of Operating Engineers also gave generously.
B.C. Liberals got to the $4-million mark in corporate donations by way of 1,148 donations, with $111,000 from West Fraser Mills as one of the largest.
When the anticipated legislation takes effect, all that money will be gone, with a cap on individual donations likely included. It will lead to the disappearance of millions of dollars in revenue that the mainstream parties have relied on for years. B.C. Liberals opposed changing the system on the grounds that taxpayers would likely be forced to make up the shortfall.
Then the Liberal throne speech in June acknowledged “more should have been done sooner” on political and democratic reform. So former premier Christy Clark promised comprehensive reform that also included bans on money from outside B.C. and from federal parties, and a ban on loans from anyone other than banks.
When the crackdown takes effect, it will likely take NDP and the Liberals down closer to the Green level of fundraising. The major parties listed a combined $17 million in donations from January to May, while the Greens raised $838,000.
Green Party communications director Stefan Jonsson said the party was massively outspent during the campaign, but managed to triple its seat count. He said they’re disappointed that donations from unions and corporations will carry on right until they become illegal, despite all three parties being on the same page that they’re wrong.
He said once the reforms kick in, the major parties will have to learn to do more with less.
Maybe so, but the other alternative is to find more money from other sources. Refocusing fundraising on individuals is one option, and it’s something federal Conservatives did well. Government financing is also a potential source. The federal system ran 11 years with per-vote subsidies before the Harper government ended the practice in 2015.
The federal NDP, Greens and Bloc Québécois have pushed for a return of the subsidy, but the federal Liberals have resisted. Ontario revamped campaign financing and brought in a per-vote subsidy for parties last year.
It’s hard to imagine B.C. parties trimming their budgets to match their upcoming losses. They’ll look elsewhere, and the government is the easiest source to replace those lost millions.
