Ban special interests from BC election financing: Huntington

Our local politicians are being influenced right now - with money... lot's of it.  How is that going to affect our future?

http://www.vickihuntington.ca/content/ban-special-interests-bc-election-financing-huntington

OCTOBER 15TH 2014

 

Victoria, B.C. – Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington introduced a bill challenging the government to outlaw corporate, union, and out-of-province political donations by restricting contributions to individual British Columbians.

“It’s time to give political influence back to the people of B.C., where it properly belongs” says Huntington, directing her request to Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton.

“Only the government wants to leave the floodgates open for corporate, union, and out-of-province political donations,” says Huntington. “Banning these kinds of donations should be our number one goal if we want to level the playing field and improve voter confidence in decisions made by our elected officials.”

Introducing a campaign finance reform bill last Thursday, Huntington stated: “This bill reasserts the principles of our democratic values by limiting the right to donate to the very people of British Columbia we report to — the individual voter.”

While the B.C. NDP and Green parties support campaign finance reform, the government does not. Huntington says she hopes to draw the attention of B.C.’s Justice Minister, whose Cabinet mandate letter tasks her with reviewing the provincial Election Act. “Minister Anton opposed corporate, union and out-of-province donations in her previous role as a municipal councilor and spoke favorably of the federal campaign finance reforms, which ban corporate and union donations.

“Now, we need Minister Anton to put her words into action for B.C.”

The Election Finance Amendment Act was first introduced by Huntington as part of the independent Democratic Reform Agenda Huntington co-sponsored with then-independent MLAs Bob Simpson and John van Dongen. Last week, Huntington also introduced a democratic reform bill that would have B.C. join the federal government and seven other provinces by moving B.C.’s fixed election date from the spring to the fall, thereby preventing the election from interfering with the provincial budget process.