By Harinder Mahil
In a speech last Sunday, NDP leader Adrian Dix renewed his promise to ban union and corporate donations if his party forms the government next month. Dix said large donations that aren’t from individuals are causing the public to lose faith in politicians.
“The influence of big money continues to hurt our democracy,” Dix said, addressing media at a community centre in Vancouver. He stated that if the NDP wins the May 14 election, the party would ensure donations could only come from individuals, a policy that would take effect in January 2014.
BC Conservative leader John Cummins released his own statement after Dix’s announcement and stated that he proposed a similar donation ban two years ago.
Other jurisdictions have already adopted such a ban: corporate and union donations are illegal in federal elections, provincial elections in Manitoba, and provincial and municipal elections in Quebec.
The Liberals are the only major political party in B.C. that objects to an outright ban of corporate and union donations.
It has been well known that the large corporations have had too much influence over the government during the last 12 years when the Liberals have been in power.
Political parties and candidates should be financed by the constituents they represent. They should be able to raise funds if the citizens they represent believe they have done a good job. If they have not done a good job they will have difficulty raising funds for re-election.
The transparent financing of political parties and election campaigns is an important determinant in the proper functioning of a democracy. How political parties are funded is described by issues such as relative levels of public and private funding, levels of democratic participation, and questions of transparency.
I believe that if you cannot vote in a BC election, you should not have the right make a donation to a political party or a candidate.
By continuing to allow corporations and unions to make contributions to political parties the individuals who control these organizations are granted more rights than others because they can make donations as individuals and in the name of corporations or unions.
Large donations from businesses, unions and other organizations with significant financial resources can have an undue influence on who decides to run and who gets elected.
I hope that the 2013 provincial election will be the last one funded with the help of corporate and union donations and that the promise made by Adrian Dix will be fulfilled.
Harinder Mahil is a human rights activist active in the Indo-Canadian community. He is a director of the Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation and can be contacted at [email protected].
