Thursday, April 10, 2003

OTTAWA - Appearing before the House Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, the nation-wide Money in Politics Coalition today urged the committee to close loopholes that remain in Bill C-24, the government’s proposed political fundraising law. 

“Even with its new contribution limits and disclosure requirements, Bill C-24 still allows for unlimited secret donations to parties and candidates,” said Aaron Freeman, a Democracy Watch board member and chair of the 50-group Money in Politics Coalition.  “If these weaknesses are not corrected, wealthy donors will simply re-direct their donations through the loopholes.”

The Money in Politics Coalition supports many of the measures in Bill C-24, including:

• disclosure requirements for nomination contestants, riding associations and party leadership candidates;
• spending limits for nomination contests; and
• a ban on corporate, union and other organization donations to political parties and party leadership candidates, with penalties for any attempt to violate the ban.

Other flaws in the current political finance system not corrected by the bill is that donors and donations will remain secret for up to 18 months after a donation is made, and key information needed to identify donors will not be required to be disclosed.

In addition, the bill’s proposed donation limit of $10,000 to each party is excessive, and far beyond what most Canadians can afford.  In Manitoba and Quebec, individuals are limited to an annual total of $3,000 in donations to all parties combined.

“$10,000 is roughly one sixth of average household income in Canada,” said Freeman.  "The limit on individual donations must be affordable to most Canadians, and low enough to make abuses such as funnelling of donations very difficult."

The Coalition also believes the amount of public financing proposed in Bill C-24 is too high, and called for a lowering of the proposed $1.50 per vote subsidy for each political party (based on the number of votes the party received in the last election). The proposed subsidy would likely mean even more annual funding for parties than they currently have, especially if the overly high $10,000 annual individual donation limit is kept as part of the new system.

The 50-group Money in Politics Coalition, coordinated by Democracy Watch, will continue to push the federal government to correct these undemocratic flaws in Bill C-24 before it is passed by Parliament.