Alberta’s new NDP government has made its first official move: to ban corporate and union donations to political parties. I am very excited to see this change coming to our province and I hope it carries through to Cochrane’s town council.
Money plays a very important role in elections, and often the parties with the most money can build the most attractive brand. With unions and corporations donating more money than individuals in Alberta, politicians are encouraged to give their requests special attention.
Beyond corporate interests, it is particularly twisted that government unions use funds collected through taxpayer-funded wages to advocate for their own interests. Democracy was created for citizens to direct the government. When government funded unions are allowed to spend money in elections, it begins to look like the tail is trying to wag the dog.
The topic of donations came up as a point of contention during Cochrane’s last municipal election. The reality is that most of the successful candidates received significant donations from corporations and/or unions.
Most notably from: housing developers, the Cochrane Firefighters Association and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. All three of these donors have a very clear financial interest in the decisions made by council.
This becomes a major concern when these organizations are the subject of controversial debates, and the individuals who received donations are exempt of any conflict of interest regulations. Essentially, the current law allows councillors to be 100 per cent funded by a single interest group and then advocate on their behalf in council chambers. To what extent this happens is questionable, but it does not change the fact that it should be illegal.
As promised, I tried to ban such donations immediately after the municipal election. Unfortunately, I discovered that the province determines Cochrane’s election laws and I was unable to propose any changes.
I hope that the provincial government bans corporate and union donations for municipalities, or at least gives council the option of doing it ourselves. It will be interesting to see how the NDP’s Bill 1 changes municipal councils across the province.
