Money to the Ref?? We don't allow it in sports - but in politics it's legal!

You can't give money to a referee at a game. Can't give money to a judge.

Yet, despite the passage of Bill C-24 in 2003, and Bill C-2 in December 2006, it's still legal for wealthy special interests to give unlimited amounts of money, property or services in secret to candidates in federal nomination races and federal party leadership races, and other loopholes still exist in the federal political donations system.

And in Canadian provinces and territories, it is legal to give unlimited amounts of money, property or services in secret to political candidates in all types of campaigns.

Whether it's big banks trying to preserve their government protections and subsidies, brand-name pharmaceutical companies reaping billions of dollars from patent laws, defence and aerospace companies receiving lucrative contracts from the Department of National Defence, or petrochemical companies opposing better environmental laws -- the major political donors are invariably those with the greatest stake in government decisions. When these interests are bankrolling the political process in secret, it is that much harder for other voices to be heard.

We think politicians should belong to the people who elect them, not to wealthy special interests.

Loopholes in Federal Canadian Law
In December 2006, Parliament passed Bill C-2 (the so-called "Federal Accountability Act" (FAA) -- Details of changes made by Bill C-2) which made historic changes to Canada's 33-year-old political fundraising rules in the Canada Elections Act.  Among other progressive changes, as of January 1, 2007:

• there is a $1,100 annual limit on donations by each Canadian to each federal political party, and a combined total limit of $1,100 annually to each parties' riding associations (and, during an election campaign, the same combined total limit applies to donations to each party's election candidates);
• corporations, unions and other organizations are banned from making donations;
• disclosure of political donations is more comprehensive and timely, although disclosure of a party or candidate's donors is still not be required before an election vote takes place;
• secret, unlimited donations of money, property and services to election candidates are prohibited, and;
• federal politicians are prohibited from having a trust fund.

• donation limits and disclosure requirements are needed for “volunteer labour” donated to parties and candidates during nomination race, election and party leadership campaigns, to close this existing secret donations loophole that allows corporations, unions and other organizations to give employees paid time off to work on campaigns; 
• loans to parties, riding associations, nomination race candidates, election candidates and party leadership candidates from corporations, unions and all other types of organizations (including political parties and riding associations lending to candidates) must be banned (as donations have been), or at least strictly limited, and loans from individuals must be limited (as donations have been) so that loans cannot be used to influence the government or politicians;
• as political party leadership campaign candidates are required to do, all candidates and parties must be required to disclose publicly all donations, gifts, and the status of any loans, during the week before election day, so voters know who is bankrolling campaigns;
• disclosure of the identity of each individual donor's employer must be required (as in the U.S.) and disclosure of each donor's direct organizational affiliations must also be required (to help ensure that corporations, unions and other organizations are not funnelling donations through their employees or board members);
• secret, unlimited donations of money, property and services to candidates in nomination race and political party leadership campaigns must be banned (NOTE: Bill C-2 (the FAA) bans secret donations to election candidates, but not to nomination race nor to party leadership candidates);
• secret donations are still effectively allowed because the federal Conservatives are not complying with the UN Convention Against Corruption nor other international standards that require the monitoring of the bank accounts of all public officials who have decision-making power (for details, go to: Democracy Watch's December 9, 2008 news release);
• riding associations and political parties are still allowed to have a secret trust fund and take secret, unlimited donations to the fund (as long as they don't use the donations for campaigns);
• the penalty for taking a secret donation of money, property or services, or having a secret trust fund, must be increased to $100,000 and a jail term (NOTE : the FAA establishes ridiculously low penalties of $500 to $2,000);
• given that federal election dates are now fixed every 4 years, spending by candidates, riding associations and political parties must be limited for at least 6 months before each election day;
• donations by political parties to riding associations and candidates must be limited to decrease the possibility of party headquarters influencing the selection of candidates by riding associations, and to make associations and candidates more independent from party headquarters;
• establish public funding that matches the donations made to any nomination race, election, and party leadership candidate who raises a specific minimum amount of money that shows they have voter support;
• lower the public funding of political parties from $1.75 per vote received to $0.75 per vote received (to ensure that in order to prosper parties need to have active, ongoing support of a broad base of individuals) and ensure riding associations receive a fair share of this funding (to decrease the control of party headquarters over riding associations), and;
• spending limits must be established for political party leadership campaigns to ensure a level playing field for all candidates (spending by nomination race candidates, election candidates, and political parties is already limited during campaigns).

• other than in Manitoba and Québec, donation limits are much higher than a few thousand dollars, allowing wealthy interests to buy influence with the government;
• other than in Manitoba and Québec, corporations, unions and other organizations are allowed to make donations;
• other than in Ontario, disclosure of donations to parties happens only once each year, and everywhere donations to riding associations happens only once each year, and disclosure of a party or candidate's donors is not required before an election vote takes place;
• secret, unlimited donations of money, property and services to all types of political candidates are allowed, and;
• candidates, elected officials, riding associations, and political parties are allowed to have a secret trust fund and take secret, unlimited donations to the fund (as long as they don't use the donations for campaigns)

Many recent scandals in Canadian politics have made many people realize how loophole-filled and weak the regulation of money in politics is in Canada.

As a result, the pressure is increasing on all politicians, and all governments, to clean up their political finance systems.

To see a summary of the key changes that need to be made, click here.

Set out below is a sample letter for you to use to write your own letter to the Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper, Interim Liberal Party Leader Bob Rae, the NDP, the Green Party, key MPs, and your own MP (See addresses below), calling on them to strengthen proposals to democratize Canada's political finance system. Please send a copy of your letter and any response to Democracy Watch.

*****************

Dear Prime Minister / Opposition Party leader / Your MP:

Surveys show that a large majority of Canadians feel the federal government is driven by wealthy interest groups, especially corporate donors, and that the government regularly acts unethically to help its business friends.

Surveys also show that a large majority of Canadians support placing strict limits on the influence of wealthy interests in politics.

While passing the recent Bill C-24 and Bill C-2 helped rein in this influence, several loopholes in the federal political donations and spending law remain, and must be closed if the law is to be effective.  Specifically,

• donation limits and disclosure requirements are needed for “volunteer labour” donated to parties and candidates during nomination race, election and party leadership campaigns, to close this existing secret donations loophole; 
• loans to parties, riding associations, nomination race candidates, election candidates and party leadership candidates from corporations, unions and all other types of organizations (including political party and riding association loans to candidates) must be banned (as donations have been), and loans from individuals must be limited (as donations have been) so that loans cannot be used to influence the government and politicians;
• as political party leadership campaign candidates are required to do, all candidates and parties must be required to disclose publicly all donations, gifts, and the status of any loans, during the week before election day, so voters know who is bankrolling campaigns;
• disclosure of the identity of each individual donor's employer must be required (as in the U.S.) and disclosure of each donor's direct organizational affiliations must also be required (to help ensure that corporations, unions and other organizations are not funnelling donations through their employees or board members);
• riding associations and political parties must be prohibited (as elections candidates have been) from having a secret trust fund and from taking secret, unlimited donations into the fund;
• secret, unlimited donations to candidates in nomination race and political party leadership campaigns must be banned;
• as the UN Convention Against Corruption and other international standards require, the bank accounts of all public officials who have decision-making power must be monitored for suspicious transactions;
• the penalty for taking a secret donation of money, property or services, or having a secret trust fund, must be increased to $100,000 and a jail term;
• given that federal election dates are now fixed every 4 years, spending by candidates, riding associations and political parties must be limited for at least 6 months before each election day;
• donations by political parties to riding associations and candidates must be limited to decrease the possibility of party headquarters influencing the selection of candidates by riding associations, and to make associations and candidates more independent from party headquarters;
• establish public funding that matches the donations made to any nomination race, election, and party leadership candidate who raises a specific minimum amount of money that shows they have voter support;
• lower the public funding of political parties from $1.75 per vote received to $0.75 per vote received (to ensure that in order to prosper parties need to have active, ongoing support of a broad base of individuals) and ensure riding associations receive a fair share of this funding (to decrease the control of party headquarters over riding associations), and;
• spending limits must be established for political party leadership campaigns to ensure a level playing field for all candidates.

Sincerely,

(put your name, postal address and email address (if you have one) here)

SEND YOUR LETTER BY MAIL calling for changes to strengthen Canada's federal money-in-politics law to:
Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper, Interim Liberal Party Leader Bob Rae, the NDP, the Green Party, key MPs, and your own MP
all at the following address (NO POSTAGE NEEDED):

House of Commons
Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0A6

OR send your letter by email to all the federal party leaders at:
pm@pm.gc.ca, harper.s@parl.gc.ca, bob.rae@parl.gc.ca, rae.b0@parl.gc.ca, ndpadmin@fed.ndp.ca, may.e@parl.gc.ca, thomas.mulcair@parl.gc.ca, may.e0@parl.gc.ca, leader@greenparty.ca, dwatch@web.net, oggo@parl.gc.ca, ethi@parl.gc.ca, proc@parl.gc.ca, just@parl.gc.ca, leg-jur@sen.parl.gc.ca

OR send your letter by fax or email individually to:
Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper
Fax: 613-941-6900
Email: <pm@pm.gc.ca>
Email: <harper.s@parl.gc.ca>

Interim Liberal Party Leader Bob Rae
Fax: 613-947-0310
Email: <bob.rae@parl.gc.ca>, <rae.b0@parl.gc.ca>

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair
Fax: 613-230-9950
Email: <thomas.mulcair@parl.gc.ca>
Email: <ndpadmin@fed.ndp.ca>

AND, finally, please send a copy of your letter by email to Democracy Watch at: <dwatch@web.net>