Bill to ban corporate, union donations passes
‘Important step forward for our province’
The NDP’s landmark bill to ban corporate and union political donations has passed final reading in the legislature, the first step “to renew democracy in Alberta,” says Premier Rachel Notley.
Bill 1, An Act to Renew Democracy, was passed unanimously late Monday despite opposition concerns that the law still enables corporations and unions to guarantee loans to political parties and to donate the time of paid employees to work on campaigns.
“The unanimous passing of Bill 1 is an important step forward for our province,” Notley in a statement. “It also marks the beginning of a larger process to renew democracy in Alberta and I am excited about the work ahead.”
Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, who shepherded the bill through the legislature, said the new law “puts the power back in the hands of Alberta citizens, rather than those with the deepest pockets.”
She said the bill was made retroactive to the day it was introduced — June 15 — to prevent a rush by unions and corporations to make donations before it took effect.
Government house leader Brian Mason said he was pleased the legislation passed.
“That was our flagship bill,” he said Tuesday. “I think that is a tremendous victory — not only for our new government, but for the people of Alberta. It will really strengthen democracy in our province.”
Mason said he was pleased to see the NDP bill receive support from the outgoing Progressive Conservative party, which had argued against the legislation earlier, claiming corporations and unions would find ways to circumvent the new law.
Mason, who is also the infrastructure and transportation minister, said opposition concerns about loopholes in the legislation will be addressed through a special committee formed to examine ethics in government.
“There’s going to be an allparty committee that will examine this in the broad context — not just on the restrictions on who can make donations — so there will be plenty of time on an allparty basis to examine those issues,” Mason said.
Wildrose Leader Brian Jean called passage of Bill 1 a “critical first step” to strengthen democracy in Alberta.
However, Jean expressed concerns that the amendment put forward by the official Opposition to ban unions and corporations from donating the paid time of employees was blocked.
“We are very concerned thattheNDPgovernmentleft two significant loopholes in the law,” he said Tuesday in a statement.
“Unions and corporations can continue to guarantee loans to political parties, and they can donate their employees paid time. Neither of these things is acceptable.”
PC Leader Ric McIver said he still has concerns the new law is designed to benefit the NDP.
“But the amendments that passed made it less bad,” McIver said in an interview. “That alleviated some of my concerns, but our party will be participating in the committee reviewing all of the election rules, and we hope to get whatever other improvements are needed done through that process.”
Notley participated in the debate on the bill at 9:30 p.m. Monday, rising to counter Wildrose claims that it initiated the legislation. The premier said she campaigned on the issue in 2008.
“I don’t want to be a stickler about history, but I’m pretty sure the Wildrose didn’t exist then,” she told the legislature.
“Unless you’ve entered a whole new space-time continuum, I think you really, truly have to rethink this notion that the idea was yours and we took it because, in fact, that is not the case.”
Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark introduced an amendment that would have lowered the allowable donation to $5,000 from $15,000, but it was defeated.
“If we plan to ban corporation and union donations with the intent of getting money out of politics, let’s do it for real,” Clark said in support of his amendment.
“A very small percentage of Albertans have the wherewithal to donate $15,000 to political parties and, in doing so, potentially can exert influence over government.”
Alberta now joins Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and the federal government in banning corporate and union donations.