‘We are losing control of our democracy’

Petition calls for end to special interest group financing of trustee elections

Demanding that educational democracy be handed back to ordinary people, two local parent groups have launched a petition asking the Alberta government to end special interest group financing of trustee elections.

As school board candidates prepare for this fall’s election, Kids Come First and the Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils are collecting hundreds of signatures on a petition urging the NDP government to apply the same limitations they approved for MLAs under Bill 1, just weeks after being elected in the spring of 2015.

“We are losing control of our democracy,” said Lisa Davis, cofounder of the education advocacy group Kids Come First.

“If the NDP removed special interest group financing for MLAs, why not do the same thing for trustees? Because when you’re talking about the education of children, the importance of this becomes magnified.”

The parent groups argue elections involving education officials have to be free of influence from special interest groups, like unions or corporations, to ensure trustee decisions are free from bias.

Kids Come First pointed to the recent disclosure of campaign contributions, listed on the Calgary Board of Education website, which shows, for example, trustee Julie Hrdlicka, who was elected in a byelection for Wards 11 and 13, taking almost $19,000 in union donations.

Hrdlicka defended the contribution, saying that she was completely within the rules of trustee elections, and was transparent about donations she received. She added that she continues to vote without bias, and only in the best interest of students in the public system.

At the same time, Hrdlicka said she supports the petition, and even took time out to sign it earlier this week.

“It’s wonderful to organize in this way to get money out of politics.”

But officials with Municipal Affairs say it is too close to a municipal election to change the rules now, even though they agree the election act should be reviewed.

“We’re very proud of our government’s record of getting big money of politics at the provincial level,” said Melinda Steenbergen, press secretary for Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson. “It’s important for local elections to be held to the same standard. That means creating an accountable system that encourages voter participation and discourages the influence of special interests.

“But the reality is that we are currently in an election year, and to change the rules less than a year from election day could inadvertently give advantages to some candidates over others. Therefore, the review of the Local Authorities Election Act will occur after the 2017 municipal elections.”

But Kids Come First and CAPSC say if the current government was able to make an effort to remove special interest group financing from provincial elections, they should do the same at the local school board level.

“Now they must move quickly to ensure that individual Albertans determine the election of trustees, and not special interest groups,” said Althea Adams, president of CAPSC.

Davis agreed, adding that while the government has shown it can move quickly on issues of importance, saying there isn’t enough time before the fall is disappointing.

“We hope they will reconsider. Few trustee candidates have even declared, so any impact would be minimal. It was a critical oversight to allow third party influence in school trustee elections and deserves more urgency than this.”

In June 2015, about six weeks after the NDP was elected in Alberta, the new government unanimously passed Bill 1, An Act to Renew Democracy, banning corporate and union political donations.

At the time, NDP Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said it would “put the power back in the hands of Alberta citizens, rather than those with the deepest pockets.”