Most want corporate, union political donations banned: Poll

Most Canadians want bans on corporate and union donations in provincial politics.

A public-opinion poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute found about six of every ten people would like to see such donations to provincial political parties banned.

Saskatchewan has relaxed rules when it comes to such donations, allowing unlimited amounts of money to be donated to political parties from an individual, union or corporation. Donations to parties here can come from anywhere in Canada, so long as they are made by Canadian citizens.

When asked how people would like to see their provincial government handle the issue of corporate and union donations, 66 per cent of people surveyed in the Manitoba and Saskatchewan region said they would like to see the practice banned.

Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia all have bans on corporate and union donations, while Ontario is planning to do the same.

In Saskatchewan, there is little known on how much influence those donating to political parties have in lobbying government policy. Unlike many other provinces, there is no registrar of lobbyists to see how much those donating are meeting with government officials. The provincial government passed a law in 2014 to create one, but it won’t come into force until July.

According to Elections Canada, the governing Saskatchewan Party raised $2,731,762 in 2014. More than half of that came from 16,000plus individuals, but $894,638 — or about 33 per cent — came from 1,255 different corporations. The party also raised less than $1,000 from three different unions.

Glen Dow, reeve of the RM of Wilton, gave the most with a donation of $30,132 to the Saskatchewan Party in 2014, according to Elections Canada. Cenovus Energy Inc, an Alberta-based oil and gas company, gave the party $14,619 to make it the highest corporate donor.

The NDP raised just a little bit more overall than the Saskatchewan Party did from corporations alone. In 2014, the party raised $908,542. The majority of that came from 6,258 different donors. Thirty-three different corporations gave the party $28,683, while 31 trade unions gave the party $47,783.

Anne Blakeney, wife of the late Allan Blakeney — who served as the premier decades ago — was the party’s largest individual donor. A numbered company gave the highest corporate donation: $6,500. The United Steelworkers union gave the opposition party $7,500.

Close to 75 per cent of people from Manitoba and Saskatchewan also said they think the practice of political parties paying premiers salary “top ups” should be stopped. Across the country, eight in ten people say that should be the case.

The poll comes weeks after news came of Premier Brad Wall once again getting about $37,000 from the Saskatchewan Party for work he does outside of his legislative duties. Wall has received such a payment since 2011.