Political action groups continue to surge, splurge

Despite new rules aimed at closing financial loopholes for thirdparty advertisers, Alberta saw a significant surge in political action committees over the past year, according to the annual report from Alberta’s chief electoral officer.

The report, released Monday, noted of the 21 third-party advertisers registered in Alberta as of March 31, some 13 came into being between 2017 and 2018. Since then, seven of those groups were deregistered, though another 10 sprouted up in their place.

Late last year, Alberta’s NDP tweaked election funding regulations to limit the amount of cash third-party groups can spend in the months before an election, capping the amount at $150,000 after Dec. 1 going into an election year.

Albertans are expected to go to the polls in the spring.

David Taras, chair of media studies at Mount Royal University, said the landscape for political financing has significantly changed in recent years, though Canada has seen only a fraction of the massive influence exerted by political action committees south of the border.

“The tools have changed. You can’t ignore the fact that social media can reach massive audiences almost instantly,” he said.

“With very little money, these groups can have tremendous power in terms of agenda setting.”

Last month, the NDP called for Alberta’s election commissioner to investigate ties between the UCP and Shaping Alberta’s Future, a PAC that was registered in June, but in only one quarter of reporting managed to raise some $375,000 in support of Jason Kenney’s party.

The bulk of those funds was donated from Alberta car dealers, and controversy erupted after a letter surfaced from the Motor Dealers’ Association urging members to donate to the PAC, while suggesting Kenney had promised its board to cancel changes to labour legislation passed by the NDP and meet with industry officials lobbying to roll back recent changes to industry oversight, among other pledges.

Kenney’s office denied any promises were made, while MDA president Denis Ducharme suggested there might have been some miscommunication over how the letter was worded, echoing the UCP leader’s insistence that no promises had been made.

While the rise of third-party advertisers has initially aligned with right-leaning parties, several PACs from the opposite end of the political spectrum have also emerged over the past year, including a number driven by public sector unions.

Kevin Lee, director of election finances for Elections Alberta, said despite new rules reining in the spending activities of third-party advertisers, the agency remains troubled by the sizable loopholes that remain for well-heeled donors who are free to fork over money without limit outside of election cycles.

A review of financial statements released by PACs registered to raise money in Alberta found just more than $2 million was raised as of the third quarter of 2018 for political advertising from both sides of the political spectrum.

Lee noted those groups can continue to raise funds without limit during the election period from corporations or unions, even though their spending is curtailed until election day.

Elections Alberta also saw a significant rise in complaints to the chief electoral officer, prompting the hiring of a full-time investigator last year.

Lee said complaints, of which 51 were filed during the 2017-18 fiscal year, ranged from byelection beefs to party nomination squabbles and concerns levied over third-party advertisers. Of those, 11 resulted in an investigation while eight more remain under review — the remaining 32 were closed with no infractions found.

Despite the rise of PACs in Alberta mirroring the surge in the U.S., Taras noted Canadians are much different in terms of their political allegiance than their neighbours to the south.

“In Canada it’s very different — most Canadians are movable. Canadian voters tend to be up for grabs. In the U.S. it’s blood tribes,” he said.

“Canadian voters are volatile but they don’t really pay attention until the last 10 days before an election. Before that, everything is just background noise.”