Busy fall session just about finished.
Provincial MLAs pushed through the last piece of legislation on the Redford government’s fall agenda Thursday, the second-last day of a session that has simmered with questions about ethics and partisanship.
The Tory majority, joined by four Wildrose MLAs, supported third reading of the Election Accountability Amendment Act, a bill that makes myriad adjustments to the election and campaign finance rules that govern both provincial and municipal elections.
Human Services Minister Dave Hancock said Wednesday caps one of the most productive sessions he’s seen in five terms as an MLA, with the government passing 10 bills.
They ranged from a new Education Act and increased penalties for workplace safety violations to a bill that repealed the controversial Bill 50, which allowed cabinet to approve transmission lines without a public hearing.
Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, said the session saw a combination of housekeeping and significant bills, as well as political drama and missed opportunities by the Conservatives.
The major missed opportunity, he said, was the chance to further tighten up the rules governing political donations and election financing.
The elections act, now awaiting royal assent, lowers the dollar figure at which a political donor must be publicly identified to $250 from $375. It also authorizes the chief electoral officer to publicly identify people and parties that are sanctioned for violating campaign finance rules, and extends the municipal election cycle from three years to four.
But it also failed to tackle some hot button issues.
Bratt said the most constructive thing the Wildrose did during their first full session as the official Opposition came in the form of proposed amendments to the elections law, arguing for a complete ban on corporate and union donations. They also argued for lowering the individual donation limits and made attempts to change existing rules regarding to the possibility of writing a single cheque to cover donations on behalf of multiple people.
In the first week of the session, the Globe and Mail alleged that Oilers owner Daryl Katz wrote a single cheque for $430,000 to the PCs during the spring election, which appeared on the party’s list of contributors broken up among Katz Group employees, associates and family members.
Opposition MLAs asked the chief electoral officer to investigate. In an election year, individuals, corporations and unions are allowed to donate up to $30,000 to a party, although Elections Alberta says there are circumstances in which a cheque can be written on behalf of multiple people, such as a husband and wife with a joint bank account.
Then, midway through the session, the opposition went on the attack over $3,400 in expenses for political events claimed by the premier’s sister, Lynn Redford, in her government affairs job with the defunct Calgary Regional Health Authority.
The Wildrose obtained past expenses through a freedom of information request.
Premier Alison Redford accused the opposition of playing politics with her family.
Hancock said he had no information about the Katz donation, but speaking against a related Wildrose amendment that ultimately failed Tuesday night, he said he worried it would affect smaller fundraising events such as a constituency lobster boil.
At such events, someone may pay for an entire table for convenience, but then be paid back by the actual attendees, who then are listed as the donors. If someone has a concern about a particular issue, they can ask the chief electoral officer to investigate, he said,
“It’s making a mountain out of a mole hill, quite frankly,” Hancock said. “The law is clear. People have to contribute their own money, whether they buy a table, give a law firm donation, or even a corporate donation that may be allocated to shareholder accounts.”
Bratt said he thinks the PCs are on the wrong side of the issue. “They’re going a different direction than the rest of the country is,” he said.
Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said her party will keep pushing for lower contribution limits, something the Liberals and NDP have supported for some time. But until such rules are law, Smith said her party will continue to accept them to maintain a level playing field.