NDP campaign boss denies conflict- of- interest allegations
Adrian Dix’s campaign manager said Tuesday he made sure he wasn’t in a conflict of interest before the NDP promised last week to boost aid to the B. C. film industry.
Brian Topp, a founder and cochair of the FilmOntario lobby group, was responding to an allegation from B. C. Liberal cabinet minister Bill Bennett.
Bennett used the opening day of the provincial election campaign to go after Dix’s announcement last week that an NDP government would move B. C.’ s tax credit for labour costs from 33 per cent to 40 per cent. That would put B. C. closer, but not quite match, the tax benefits offered by Ontario and Quebec.
Bennett cited Topp’s role in FilmOntario, a lobby group that boasts about its success in convincing Ontario’s government to make sure the province has a “competitive advantage.”
“He has a conflict of interest,” Bennett told The Vancouver Sun. “He’s the guy who has pushed Ontario ( for a higher tax credit) as far as they have been pushed, way beyond what most people would agree is a sustainable model for the film and TV industry in Canada, and now here he is out in B. C. trying to push us to match the credits.
The Liberals accused the NDP of encouraging a “race to the bottom” — an ironic twist given that Dix, Topp, federal leader Tom Mulcair and many other centreleft leaders have thrown that accusation at right- of- centre governments for years as they cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations while cutting services.
“Presumably, if we did match the credits, he would go back to Ontario and push again from that side,” Bennett said.
But Topp said he excused himself from meetings where possible assistance to the B. C. film industry was discussed so as to avoid any appearance of conflict in his dual roles as key adviser to Dix and an advocate for Ontario’s film industry.
The tax discussion, he said, involved Dix, culture critic Spencer Chandra Herbert and a party policy official.
And Topp said Tuesday he doesn’t expect — and won’t push for — another tit- for- tat response from Ontario. He said B. C.’ s higher rate under the NDP would simply level the playing field with Ontario and Quebec.