Stop giving rebates to political donors outside Toronto

Toronto city council should stop giving taxpayer-funded rebates to people outside the city who donate to Toronto politicians like Mayor Rob Ford

Thestar.com
Editorial
May 5, 2014

It’s too late to keep Toronto property taxpayers from being fleeced during this year’s municipal election, but the shearing can be stopped in time for the next.

At issue is an odd policy, in place for years, requiring this city’s ratepayers to subsidize election contributions made by people who don’t live in Toronto, can’t vote here, and don’t pay local property tax. It’s not a trivial rebate.

Some outsiders are able to recover 75 per cent of what they donate to Toronto politicians - and local taxpayers foot the bill.

A motion to end this illogical subsidy is going before Toronto city council at its two-day meeting starting on Tuesday, and any councillor with the interests of taxpayers at heart should give it strong support.

Unlike most Ontario municipalities, which provide no rebate for local election donations, Toronto has subsidized such contributions since 1997. Amounts smaller than $25 aren’t covered by the program. But people giving between $25 and $300 can get 75 per cent of their money back while other generous refund formulae are applied to bigger contributions.

It’s meant to boost participation in local elections. But that worthy goal is only undercut by extending these rebates to people beyond the city’s boundaries. Taxpayers end up assisting outsiders who are attempting to influence the outcome of Toronto elections.

That “seems to undermine the goal of local democratic participation,” states a written motion submitted to council by Councillor Joe Mihevc. He proposes to limit rebates to donors who live in Toronto, or hold property here, with the change taking effect for the 2018 municipal election.

There may be resistance from some councillors since, along with out-of-town contributors, Toronto politicians can be big winners under the existing system. Their campaign war chests expand while taxpayers’ pocket books shrink.

The amounts involved can be considerable. Mayor Rob Ford, for example, received $623,000 from donors in the surrounding Greater Toronto Area during the last election - about one-third of all the money he raised.

The Ford campaign had been assiduously courting out-of-town cash again this year, notably with a massive re-election fundraiser in Vaughan that was scheduled for Thursday night.

People purchasing a $300 ticket were specifically told they could get $225 back courtesy of Toronto’s rebate program. This event has now been postponed in light of the mayor’s suspension of campaigning while he undergoes rehab for substance abuse.

Although Ford has reaped considerable benefit from allowing outside donors to tap Toronto’s rebate program, ending the practice isn’t about him or his campaign. It’s about fairness for taxpayers and liberating local elections from undue influence by outsiders - a meddling that’s enhanced, quite literally, at the expense of Torontonians.