Foreign donors have no place in Canadian elections

Canadian law already sets limits on how much an individual can donate to a political party or candidate. Corporate donations are banned entirely. Even if those policies are debatable, the rationale for them is understandable: money can have an influence on the democratic process. Yet Canada remains strangely lax about restricting donations from foreign individuals or entities who, unlike citizens and Canadian businesses, have no natural right at all to participate in our political process.

Under today’s rules, foreign donations cannot go directly to a politician or party, but they can support a registered third-party group so long as the donation is made more than six months before an election. For instance, American billionaire environmentalists can (and do) fill the war chests of antioil groups here, who can use the funds to fight political campaigns.

Now, as Terry Glavin noted this week, Australia and New Zealand have been rocked by scandals involving Chinese donations evidently subverting the political process down there. Russian interests, too, have apparently tried to buy influence in western political processes. Given the coziness of certain Canadian politicians with the corrupt elites of Beijing, it’s a serious risk we face here.

There is a remedy. Conservative Senator Linda Frum has proposed Bill-S239, which would tighten up our regulations, making sure our elections are supported and decided strictly by Canadian donors. But this sensible and narrowly targeted bill is stalled for lack of government interest, and has been for months.

Our question for the government is this: if all that is happening around the world has not yet convinced you that foreign political meddling is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed, what would?