British Columbia
UNITED STEELWORKERS: $3,172,549.30
British Columbia’s 2017 election was fought, in part, over whether to overhaul the province’s political donation laws, which allowed unlimited personal, corporate and union donations. So who was the biggest of the big-money backers? Big labour: Between 2005 and 2017, the United Steelworkers union gave $3,172,549.30 to the NDPs —more than a third ($1.4 million) in the run-up to the party’s election victory. The second and third biggest donors in that period were also unions: the B.C. Government & Service Employees’ Union ($3,098,648.36) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees ($2,918,461.99).
NEW CAR DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF B.C.: $1,356,924.58
The New Car Dealers Association of B.C. was the seventh biggest donor to provincial politics between 2005 and 2017. As the group explained in a note to members posted online, “the close relationship we enjoy as a result of the support given by the dealers to the political parties” allows for" extraordinary access to the highest levels” on concerns such as the addition of a provincial tax on private sales and the removal of the luxury tax. The association split donations between the Liberals ($1,276,134.58) and the NDP ($80,790).
TECK RESOURCES LTD.: $2,730,423.19
This Vancouver-based mining company was the fourth biggest political donor between 2005 and 2017. The majority of contributions went to the Liberals ($2,618,193.19), with a smaller amount for the NDP ($112,230). Donations were made through several subsidiaries, including Highland Valley Copper, Teck Resources and Elk Valley Corp. An explosion at the company’s Elkview mine made headlines earlier this year, when the union representing workers there alleged that earlier warnings about safety issues were ignored. (Workers are part of the United Steelworkers Union, the top donor in provincial politics.)
AQUILINI: $1,327,473.33
Owned by one of the province’s richest families (worth $3.3 billion according to the most recent “rich list” produced by Canadian Business magazine), this developer made 130 donations through a number of companies, including Aquilini Investment Group and Aquilini Village Holdings. Contributions went mostly to the Liberals ($1,106,473.33), but the NDP received $221,000, including $117,500 in 2013, when the party was favoured to win, and $101,000 during the party’s successful 2017 election campaign.