After silence, NDP joins discussion
Horwath sends premier letter outlining changes party wants on political fundraising
The New Democrats have ended their boycott of Liberal-led political fundraising reforms. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath had been refusing Premier Kathleen Wynne’s request for input to fix Ontario’s lax rules in the wake of a Star probe that revealed Liberal cabinet ministers had secret annual party fundraising targets of up to $500,000 apiece.
Horwath had a change of heart Thursday, sending the premier a five-page letter that finally discloses what her party wants to see in a bill that could be introduced as early as next week.
“It’s constructive that they’re now getting with the program and trying to work with the government as we are,” said Progressive Conservative House leader Jim Wilson, noting the Liberal proposal is only a start.
“A lot of work needs to be done and I’m glad the NDP are now in the game.” Deputy premier Deb Matthews said she “didn’t ever understand why the NDP didn’t want to be in these discussions.”
“I’m very happy they now want to be. This is something that will affect all of us and I welcome their involvement,” Matthews said.
Arguing that Wynne has “no intention to engage in any collaborative drafting process,” Horwath said she was “therefore compelled to take advantage of what limited opportunities there are to address some of the major issues raised by this legislation.”
Like the Liberals, Conservatives and Greens, the New Democrats fa- vour a ban on corporate and union donations.
But the NDP, which declined to even attend briefings on the new legislation last week, is “deeply concerned” about proposed restrictions on third-party advertising by groups that weigh in at election time.
“We are concerned that your intent is to limit the expression of any group or individual with a view different than the government’s on virtually any issue, while maintaining and enhancing the Liberal government’s ability to communicate and advertise without restriction,” wrote Horwath.
Although the NDP favours curbs on organizations such as Working Families, a union-funded coalition that helped the Liberals by spending millions of dollars attacking the Tories in the past four elections, the party opposes a Grit plan to define political advertising as anything “that takes a position on an issue with which a registered party or candidate is associated.”
“This definition captures virtually every issue of public interest,” Horwath wrote of the plan to limit such advocacy-group spending to $100,000 during an election.
“Campaigns designed to raise issues such as the need to fight climate change, improve services for children with autism, or the need to raise or lower taxes would be severely restricted.”
At the same time, the New Democrats are concerned that the governing party would have an advantage, because “there is no corresponding restriction on government advertising in the six-month pre-election period or any campaign period.”
But the Liberals’ Matthews noted that, by law, “government advertising cannot be partisan.
“We have legislation that restricts what government advertising can and cannot do,” she noted.
Under the proposed bill, there would be a $2.26-per-vote subsidy that would, based on 2014 election results, give the Liberals $4,212,581, the Tories’ $3,408,251, the New Democrats’ $2,587,297, and the Green party $525,531.