Transparency a must for leadership hopefuls

Voters need to know about all donors, fundraising and lobbying events

In a month and half, we get our first glimpse of who it is that will determine the next Saskatchewan premier.

The information is crucial to us because it will tell us much as to whom the new Saskatchewan Party leader is beholden.

According to the Sask. Party leadership election campaign rules, the first set of preliminary donor disclosures must be filed by Nov. 15. This report requires candidates to disclose all donors who made donations of $250 or more as of Oct.

31, the total dollar amount each donated, the number of donors who gave less than $250 as of Oct. 31 and any donations made in-kind to the leadership campaign as of Oct. 31.

This will be followed by a second preliminary disclosure report due Jan. 15 that obligates candidates to follow the same criteria as the first report as of a Dec. 31 deadline.

The Sask. Party then vows to publicly post all such disclosure reports on its website (saskparty.com) with the first preliminary reports to be posted as quickly as possible after Nov. 15.

The Sask. Party is doing this in the right way. History tells us that who is forking over money at this point in the leadership process is crucial — arguably, even more crucial than voters who leadership candidates convince to cast ballots.

Of course, the successful Sask. Party candidate on Jan. 27 will be the one who sways the most voting Sask. Party members — currently estimated to be around 12,000. Selling new memberships or renewing old, lapsed memberships will be key to whomever is successful on Jan. 27.

Sask. Party candidates are not obligated to disclose how many memberships they have sold, but Sask. Party officials say voting members will be required to offer proof of address. Disputes over the validity of membership will be arbitrated by Sask. Party director and electoral officer Patrick Bundrock who has the discretion to reject membership submissions based on missing information like insufficient addresses or nonpayment of funds.

Unlike past NDP races, Sask. Party rules require potential members to pay for their own memberships. This should, presumably, eliminate the issue we saw in 2009 when an individual, on behalf of Dwain Lingenfelter’s leadership bid, signed up residents of northwest First Nations without their knowledge.

It should be further noted the Sask. Party is following Elections Saskatchewan’s identification requirements (although, a mail-in ballot bypasses a big part of the scrutiny that exists when you cast your ballot in person at a polling station).

All that said, the issue of fraudulent voters is actually not as big a threat to the democratic process as the impact of donation money and lobbying. If undue influence (money, lobbyists) are of general concern, this concern should increase about tenfold in internal party leadership.

With no capacity to issue government-sanctioned tax receipts, it can be argued that every dollar donated to a leadership contender is attached with a request for a favour. And with a maximum $250,000 spending limit, there are a lot of favours being asked.

But it’s not just who is stroking the cheques we need to know. We should have the right to know where the candidates are going — both to raise money and look for votes. For example, Ken Cheveldayoff is holding a fundraiser in Alberta. Perhaps others are too. But it’s just as important to know what bigtime fundraising and lobbying events are happening in this province.

All Sask. Party candidates should not only be required to come clean on donations, but also should be required to log and reveal all formal and informal (so-called private gatherings) events attended. We need to know who is courting and/or lobbying the premier-to-be.

We need to shine light into the more shadowy corners of this race, because who is now lobbying on behalf of leadership hopefuls is as big a deal as who is cutting them a big cheque.

More so than ever, such vigilance is required.