FFWD REW

New law to halt city election free-for-all

Bronco and aldermen wind up looking like school children

Mayor Dave Bronconnier won’t admit it but a Tory MLA from the sticks has made members of Calgary’s city council look like a bunch of irresponsible children.

Jeff Johnson of Athabasca Alta. successfully passed a private member’s bill that if implemented will impose rules on campaign financing in Alberta municipalities. That means Calgary city elections which have previously had virtually no finance rules will likely have long-overdue limits on donation sizes as well as guidelines on what happens to surplus cash. “A very good move” says Bronconnier.

But when I ask the mayor if Bill 203 reflects badly on Calgary he says “no.” And on that he’s dead wrong. Ald. Ric McIver one of the few aldermen who have been serious about reining in the campaign finance free-for-all has it right on this issue. “We’re all diminished when we don’t have rules” says McIver. “Unfortunately I believe it was our city that inspired this legislation.”

While Johnson says no single municipality inspired the bill — “it seemed obvious to me that we had a clear gap” across the province — McIver is correct that Calgary desperately needed rules.

Council members have jawed for years about reforming campaign finance but it’s always been just that: talk. “It is unfortunate that we as a council couldn’t deal with it ourselves” says Ald. Brian Pincott another alderman who has pushed seriously for campaign finance reform.

Calgary’s current system is laughably ridiculous. Companies and individuals can give however much they like to a candidate or sitting councillors. The mayor and aldermen are free to accept cheques from people companies and unions whenever they like even if said groups are in contract negotiations with the city. Because every day is technically part of an election campaign in Calgary anything goes at any time. And candidates don’t have to disclose when they got their cheques.

Candidates can accept out-of-province money too. Then when election time comes around they can spend as much as they please — even if their expenditures are absurdly excessive. Witness Ald. Gord Lowe in 2004 spending almost $100000 to run against a political newbie who dispensed a meagre $2312.

Candidates’ disclosure statements are littered with errors and inconsistencies as well as numbered company donors. And when council members’ city hall careers are over they can cheerily walk away with all the surplus cash they collected over the years. They’re free to spend it on a new car or a down payment for a summer home. Whatever they like. As well if they don’t run again they don’t have to disclose any donations they’ve been given since the last election.

If Johnson’s bill is implemented it will change some of that. But first it has to be reviewed and approved by the department of Municipal Affairs. Minister Ray Danyluk likes what he sees so far. “The bill does bring attention to the importance of accountability and transparency.” Danyluk is hopeful it will be in place for next year’s civic election.

The bill bans out-of-province donations and caps all donations at $5000. It also ensures that when a candidate chooses not to run again their surplus cash goes to a charity of a candidate’s choice. If the candidate doesn’t pick a charity the cash goes to the municipality. “At the end of the day if there’s surplus dollars they should go back to the community” says Bronconnier. “I think that’s a good thing.”

But there are still holes in Johnson’s bill. The campaign period is still a sprawling three years and the bill doesn’t bring in spending limits. “That’s the great leveller” says Ald. Joe Ceci who spent less than $40000 on his last campaign. (Ald. John Mar by contrast spent a whopping $186000.) Of course council could bring in its own rules to regulate spending but that seems unlikely with this bunch. “I’m not confident that there’d be a lot of agreement to move forward with something like that” says Ceci.

Another potential flaw: Under the bill new candidates could only contribute $5000 of their own money to their campaign. Incumbents meanwhile can keep using surplus cash from past campaigns. So if Bronconnier runs again in 2010 he’ll start with more than $300000 while a non-aldermanic challenger would start with $5000 max. That setup clearly favours the incumbent mayor.

Despite these flaws anything is an improvement from the current gong show. “It’s a start” says Pincott. “It starts to put rules in place where none existed."

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