I have voted with a resounding “yes” to the question from “Campaign Fairness” if I would promise to accept donations only from individuals and not from corporations and not for unions.  I have made this pledge to ensure that there is no ambiguity as to whom I am accountable.  The initiator of so many of the issues before me as a Councillor is development.  The resources that the developers bring to the table to plan and sell their proposals are significant and far outweigh the resources of the citizens of King who bring their point of view to the table and if necessary to argue against proposals put forward by developers.

This Campaign is sponsored by Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition; consequently the pledge has only been requested of those running in municipalities in the Lake Simcoe Watershed.  Given the research behind the question I think it is unfortunate that the question is not posed to all candidates across the Province.

What is the research?

• Candidates with the financial support of the development industry are more likely to win than those who don’t.  In the “905” in 2006, election winners got 54% of their funding from developers whereas the losers got 35%.

• A 2006 study in Southern Ontario revealed that 78% of winners were incumbents and they got 3/4 of all the corporate contributions.

You can learn more about the campaign here and you can check out other candidates in King and other municipalities in the watershed.