British Columbia’s NDP leader is asking the premier to support a bill he plans to introduce that would ban corporate and union donations to the province’s political parties.
John Horgan has been critical of Premier Christy Clark’s fundraising, saying that just 1.5 per cent of donors to the Liberal party accounted for half of the $12.3 million raised by the party last year.
He says the top 185 donors gave an average of $37,000 each to the Liberals.
Horgan has introduced similar bills before and they have failed, but he says if the Liberals back it this time, it could be in place before May’s provincial election.
The Liberal party released 2016 figures on the donations it received last week and it announced the party will begin posting the information online within 10 business days of receiving a donation.
Transportation Minister Todd Stone, who is also the Liberal party’s campaign co−chairman, said the move was made to be transparent and accountable.
The party has been criticized for holding exclusive fundraising events with access to Clark where tickets can cost up to $20,000 each. The data released by the Liberals showed the party received $7.9 million in corporate donations and $4.4 million in individual contributions last year.
The party said individual donors outnumbered corporate donors by a four−to−one margin, with 9,324 individuals and 1,876 corporations making donations in 2016. The party said 84 per cent of corporate donations last year were $5,000 or less.
The largest Liberal donors were primarily from the corporate sector, with Vancouver’s Aquilini Investment Group contributing $131,000, property project developer 2300 Kingsway Residences donating $200,000 and Bert’s Electric (2001) Ltd. of Langley contributing $100,000.
The New Democrats received $3 million in political donations in 2015, but the party has not released the amount of its 2016 donations. Horgan has said 80 per cent of donations to the party are from individuals.
The filing deadline for 2016 donations is March 31 under the Election Act.
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