April 4, 2006

Corporate Influence

It is fitting, perhaps ironic, that information from the search warrants used in the December 28, 2003 raid on the Legislature was made available at the same time that the public learned who financed BC's political parties in 2005. Information in the search warrants is nothing but unproven allegations but they contain assertions that Ministerial Assistants received benefits from lobbyists for assisting a corporation. Filings with Elections BC show that in 2005 the BC Liberal party received $9.2 million from corporations and just under $1 million from unincorporated businesses, for a total of over $10.1 million out of $13.1 million from all sources. Despite having received 77% of their funding from the business sector, the Liberal Party had the gall to issue a news release which claimed that "Individuals made up a full eighty-two percent of the contributors to the BC Liberal Party in 2005". Of course, the BC Liberal Party wasn't counting dollars when it made that outrageous claim. If corporate and union donations were banned, as they are in Quebec and Manitoba, the Liberals would have a funding crisis.

There are serious problems in perception, and perhaps in reality, when the governing party depends heavily on business donations. In may be years before anyone knows the truth behind the raid on the Legislature, but the few facts that are emerging suggest that some lobbyists believe that money buys influence. On May 28, 2003, in the name of "deregulation", the Campbell government used Bill 66 (Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2003) to amend its Lobbyists Registration Act so lobbyists would only have to file the name of a minister and not the name of ministerial assistants they lobby. Exactly 7 months later the RCMP raided the BC Legislature with search warrants to find out what Ministerial Assistants were up to on behalf of lobbyists. In Question Period on April 3, 2006, NDP Leader Carole James said:

The court may eventually clear all of the parties named in the raid on the Legislature, but perception is as important as reality in politics. It is clear that money talks or at least money is perceived to carry significant influence. For many the dependence of the Campbell Liberals on business funding suggests why the first order of business in the September 2005 mini-budget was a corporate tax cut worth $143 million per year, even though not one word was said about such a cut during the May 2005 election campaign. The Lobbyists Registration Act was made even weaker in 2003, but the greatest weakness that threatens the integrity of politics in BC is the perception that business has an inside track because of its funding of the BC Liberal Party. That undermines government and is unhealthy for democracy. It is time to strengthen disclosure regarding the activities of lobbyists, and it is time to end the perception of special deals for friends and insiders by banning donations from both business and unions while setting a maximum on the amount any individual can contribute. Influence with government should not be for sale, even if it is only a matter of perception.