$2-per-vote subsidy for parties will be considered, Wynne says

A $2-per-vote subsidy for political parties appears to be on the horizon in Ontario as part of reforms to fundraising in the province.

Thestar.com
April 12, 2016
By Robert Benzie

Penny for your thoughts ... a toonie for your vote?

A $2-per-vote subsidy for political parties appears to be on the horizon in Ontario as part of reforms to campaign fundraising in the province.

With sweeping legislative changes being introduced next month, Premier Kathleen Wynne said Tuesday some form of public financing of the parties has to be considered.

“We need to decide as we move to a ban on corporate and union donations, does there need to be a public subsidy? I hope the opposition leaders will give me some sense of what they think about that,” Wynne said on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning.

After Ottawa revamped federal political fundraising rules, there was a per-vote subsidy of about $2 for the 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2011 elections, before former prime minister Stephen Harper phased it out.

If Ontario adopted a similar formula, the Liberals would get $3.72 million, the Progressive Conservatives $3.01 million, the New Democrats $2.29 million, and the Greens $465,000.

Those amounts are based on tallies from the 2014 provincial election, in which the Grits received 1,863,974 votes to 1,508,811 for the Tories, 1,144,822 for the NDP, and 232,536 for the Greens.

The premier said she wants to work with the other parties to determine how such public funding could be implemented.

“Should there be a transitional subsidy based on vote counts from the previous election? If so, how long should the transition period be in order to allow all parties to adjust?” she said following a meeting with Green Leader, Mike Schreiner.

Schreiner said the Greens “are going to be very strong advocates for that, because, if you want to produce legislation in the public interest, the public should fund political parties.”

“We already have a public-financing system in Ontario, but it’s a pay-to-play system; if you donate, say, $2,500 to a political party, you get almost half of that back though public financing of a tax credit,” he noted.

“We would prefer to see a public-financing system that’s vote-to-play and that would be your vote directs a donation to a political party.”

Conservative Leader Patrick Brown, a former federal MP, emphasized “there has to be some phase-out period” of public funding.

“I would hope that that a per-vote subsidy would be transitional and not permanent, and that the transition period would be as expeditious as possible,” said Brown.

“I know in Ottawa it took almost a decade. I think that is far too long and I would like a process that is a lot quicker.”

But NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said it is too soon to be talking about such minutiae when there are serious concerns about how Wynne is reforming the fundraising system.

“We think that starting to get into the weeds on the details is putting the cart before the horse,” said Horwath.

“That somebody could be writing up rules on the back of a napkin at the kitchen table on that weekend should be setting alarm bells off for everyone,” she said, referring to Wynne’s plan.

In the wake of a Star probe, the premier is moving to clean up Ontario’s lax political fundraising laws, reducing annual donation caps from $9,975 to $1,525, and ensuring that only individuals can contribute to parties.

The new legislation will also close the loophole that enables parties to raise exponentially more than the $9,975 yearly limit during byelections and curb third-party advertising by interest groups.