Mayor supports province’s ban on corporate donations in local elections
Pending legislation would bring in reforms around donations

SquamishChief.com
Nov. 1, 2017
Haley Ritchie

Mayor Patricia Heintzman said she supports the provincial government’s new law that would ban corporate and union donations in municipal elections.

The legislation was introduced Monday by Municipal Affairs Minister Selina Robinson, following similar reforms for provincial elections in B.C. that were introduced in September.

“I think elections are about people, the systems go into the whole society, but elections can be influenced by large corporate and union donations, so I absolutely support it,” said Heintzman on Monday.

She said the legislation doesn’t stop companies or unions from endorsing candidates, which could sway voters, but it does remove any public perception of financial influence.

“Taking the money out of it just cleans things up and gives people more confidence in the system, which is fundamental to democracy. It gives them a little more confidence that elections aren’t being influenced in that way,” she said.

In general, the scale of campaign donations – and campaign expenses – in Squamish is much smaller than larger cities like Vancouver, where donations can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

An analysis by The Squamish Chief found corporations contributed a third of the campaign funds donated to successful campaigns in the 2014 election in Squamish.

For the winning councillors and mayor, donations by individuals made up 43 per cent of the money raised. Another 12 per cent was contributed by unions. The remaining dollars came from unincorporated businesses.

In her 2015 mayoral campaign, Heintzman raised $3,698 from corporate donations, including contributions by Chiasson Holdings and Pacific West Systems Supply.

Coun. Ted Prior raised $5,468 contributed by corporations, including over $2,000 from his own business, Southwood Holdings. Coun. Susan Chapelle received $2,200 and Peter Kent reported $100 in corporate donations.

Coun. Jason Blackman-Wulff was the only recipient of union donations. Together the Squamish and District Labour Committee, CUPE Local 2269, BCGEU and CUPE BC donated $4,500 to his campaign.

If the new legislation passes, those types of donations would no longer be permissible, but individuals (including business owners) could still make personal contributions, to a maximum of $1,200.

On Oct. 26, a public opinion poll sponsored by activist group Dogwood was released that found 86 per cent of British Columbians supported the new rules.

The poll, conducted by Insights West, found the remaining voters evenly split between those who were “unsure” and those who disagreed.

Dogwood’s “Ban Big Money” campaign spokesperson, Lisa Sammartino, said the organization is pleased with the proposed legislation.“We’re very excited about it,” she said.

“The question is; ‘Why would a company give money to a politician? What do they expect in return?’ We still don’t know the answer,” said Lisa Sammartino. “What we do know is most British Columbians don’t think it should be allowed.”