Friday, March 9, 2007

OTTAWA - Today, Democracy Watch called on Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to keep his more than two-year-old promise to consult the public on democratizing Ontario’s political donations system. 

"The Ontario Liberals have shown how self-interested and hypocritical they are by quickly pushing through a pay raise for themselves in December while doing nothing for more than two years to keep their promise to democratize Ontario’s political donations system," said Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch and Chairperson of the nation-wide Money in Politics Coalition. 

The Ontario Liberals’ November 18, 2004 news release that can be found on the website of the so-called Ontario Democratic Renewal Secretariat states:

"The Premier also announced that a citizens' jury will be asked to make recommendations to the government regarding changes in how provincial political parties and election campaigns are financed. 'It's not enough for our decisions to be beyond the influence of political contributions,' the Premier said.  'They must be perceived to be beyond the influence of political contributions.'"

• donations limits are too high at $8,400 (doubling to $16,800 during election years) and must be lowered to $1,000 annually from individuals (as the federal government has in the so-called "Federal Accountability Act");
• donations from corporations, unions and other non-voting organizations must be banned (as the federal, Quebec and Manitoba governments have);
• all donations (whether used for campaigns or not) must be disclosed regularly and before voting day by nomination race candidates, election candidates, riding associations and parties, including the identity of each donor and their employer and major organizational affiliations (to prevent funnelling of donations);
• loans and volunteer labour must be limited and disclosed as donations are;
• spending limits must be established for nomination and party leadership races, and;
• public funding based on votes won during elections should be provided to parties, with a formula to ensure this funding is shared with riding associations.