Wednesday, October 3, 2007

OTTAWA - Today, Democracy Watch lamented the fact that, no matter what party wins the Ontario election, wealthy interests will have been able to use too large donations to buy influence with the provincial government.  Democracy Watch criticized the Ontario Liberals for breaking their 2003 election promise to democratize Ontario’s political donations system.

"By breaking their 2003 election promise to democratize Ontario’s political donations system, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals have allowed wealthy interests to have undue influence over the next provincial government through too large and secret donations," 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 echoed the 2003 election promise can be found on the website of the so-called Ontario Democratic Renewal Secretariat and it 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.'"

The problems with Ontario’s political donations system are clear, and it would have taken little time for a citizen jury process to develop proposals to correct its many undemocratic flaws, as follows:

• donations limits are too high at $8,400 annually to parties (doubling to $16,800 during election years) and a combined total of $5,600 annually to each parties’ riding associations or election candidates -- limits must be lowered to $1,100 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 all types of 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 set for nomination and party leadership races, and for interest groups, parties, ridings and candidates for 6 months before election day, 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.