Critics pan NDP’s reverse on political action panels
The NDP’s abrupt decision to reverse course and consider new regulations for so-called political action committees is raising questions by its opponents about the government’s motive.
Just three weeks ago, the NDP minister for democratic renewal, Christina Gray, said the province was not considering new rules for political action committees and other third-party groups.
But Gray said that recent events — including the only partial disclosure of donors by Jason Kenney’s Unite Alberta organization — has caused the government to look again at potential new rules.
In an interview, she said there is a perception that the PACs that have sprung up with the push for conservative unification and its related leadership politics are being used to skirt rules that ban corporate and union donations and put strict limits on the amount of political contributions.
“We still see a lot of dark money flowing through with little transparency. That’s really something Albertans have frustration with and I have that same frustration,” Gray said Friday, though she would provide few details about what the NDP will consider.
Beyond eliminating union and corporate donations to parties and setting an annual political donation limit of $4,000, the NDP government passed legislation last fall requiring third-party organizations that advertise outside of the election period to register with Elections Alberta and disclose their donations and expenses related to advertising.
The province has previously only required registration and disclosure from third-party advertisers during an election.
But last year’s Progressive Conservative leadership contest and the subsequent campaign around uniting the Tories and Wildrose has spurred the creation of a number of PACs.
The Unite Alberta organization, which operated in support of Kenney last year before the beginning of the PC leadership he ended up winning, announced this week it raised $508,000 from 2,129 donors in the pre-writ period.
However, while the campaign released a list of 74 donors to Unite Alberta who had given more than $250 for a total of $118,745, a further 63 donors who gave more than $250 remained undisclosed, as was their total contribution.
Kenney originally pledged to disclose the names of all who gave over that amount, but a spokesman said considerations under privacy law meant it had to receive permission from the individual donors to release their names.
Speaking Thursday, Kenney said he saw no need to revisit the government’s legislation. He said he supported the NDP’s original legislation on third-party advertisers and noted Gray recently cited the need to respect freedom of speech as a reason the government wouldn’t tighten the rules further.
“I would just remind you we also have something called the Charter of Rights, which guarantees the freedom of expression and association. One of the most important expressions of those rights is how they’re applied in political discourse,” Kenney told reporters after casting his ballot in the vote to unify the PCs and Wildrose in a new United Conservative Party.
A number of PACs that support likely candidates for the leadership of the new UCP made public disclosures this week as they filed second-quarter reports with Elections Alberta.
One PAC, the Alberta Advantage Fund — which is independent but supportive of Kenney in a potential leadership contest — said in its financial statement it had raised $177,810 in the second quarter.
The organization affiliated with Kenney, the Alberta Victory Fund, lists a single donation of $500 from former MP Art Hanger. A PAC affiliated with Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, the Alberta Fund, lists two donations totalling $25,000.
United Liberty, Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt’s organization, registered with Elections Alberta after the second quarter.
The Alberta Fund’s David Yager wonders why the government is raising this issue now. “The government’s decided, ‘Now we don’t like this.’ Fine. But what else don’t they like?” he said Friday.
On Twitter, Kenney said the government wanted to shut down political efforts by citizens while “allowing big unions to continue supporting the NDP.”
The third-party organization that actually listed the largest amount in donations in the second quarter was the Alberta Federation of Labour. The group,— which is an affiliate organization of the NDP — brought in $229,558 from its member unions, with a total of $490,004 raised so far this year.
But AFL president Gil McGowan said there was no comparison of its activities, or those of business advocacy groups, to the work of partisan PACs.
He said the money raised and spent was used for advertising on issues such as an increased minimum wage and the new legislation simply shines a light on activities the organization has always undertaken.
“We’re using it to provide disclosure to the public about campaigns that we’ve launched in an effort to advance the public interest,” said McGowan.
“Groups on the right side of the political spectrum on the other hand are using the system in an attempt to funnel money to leaders and candidates of their choosing.”