For both my campaigns to be elected (i.e. 2010 and 2014) I voluntarily made the commitment to accept donations only from individuals; or, to say differently I committed to not accept donations from corporations and unions. My level of conviction about the importance of this was from Campaign Fairness who has been asking (and continues to ask) the Province to invoke legislation on this matter. I don’t think there is any doubt that the play fielding is not level in terms of financial support to election candidates. Analysis of 2006 municipal election in the “905” showed that the “winners” received 54.3% of their funding from development industry vs losers receiving 35% from same. Given the amount of growth in York Region I think it is a very important issue for us.
Banning corporate and union contributions to election campaigns is not radical. There are comparable election campaign financing practices in Canadian federal campaigns, in the City of Toronto, and in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia. March 7 Campaign Fairness is hosting a conference on the matter this week. If you think this change to the Municipal Elections Act is important I ask that you to communicate your support to Minister Meekin, Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing.
Hi Debbie,
I totally agree with you that the playing field should be fair and should not include donations from corporations or unions. Also, I think that it would help if municipal campaign donations were treated like provincial campaign donations… and allow a tax deduction. It is quite substantial for the provincial and federal contributions, but absolutely no tax deduction for the municipal campaign.
I urge you to write a letter to the editor to encourage more people to get involved.
Hi Nancy, I learned at the Thursday afternoon conference that the Province gave City of Toronto permission to pass a by-law prohibiting donations from corporations and unions AND the option to implement a rebate program whereby individuals who donate do receive a 75% rebate refund after the election. The City did pass the by-law in time for the 2010 election. The rebate is funded by the City of Toronto. I think a letter to the editor from citizens would be equally, if not more, significant to readers.