REAPING WHAT THEY SOW
Embarrassing fundraising missteps could hurt B.C. Liberals
The B.C. Liberals were still patting themselves on the back for “transparency” in handling campaign contributions when the news broke Sunday of a major embarrassment on the fundraising front.
“Sorry farmers, the premier needs help carrying all that cash,” read the headline in the Province newspaper. “Agriculture minister ducks out of industry event to attend Clark’s $5,000-a-head dinner.”
There followed a devastating piece by columnist Mike Smyth on how Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick had withdrawn from an event with the B.C. Agriculture Council in order to appear alongside the premier at a B.C. Liberal party fundraiser in Kelowna.
The piece went on to note the governing party’s characteristic secrecy surrounding the dubious affair. The Liberals refused to say where the Jan. 26 fundraiser would convene, telling the columnist: “It is not our practice.”
Minister Letnick refused to be interviewed. His office justified his decision to skip the trade show and exhibition with the agriculture council on grounds that he would attend a gala dinner with the same organization on Jan. 25.
Against that backdrop came another missive from Liberal headquarters trumpeting the move to “real time disclosure” of campaign contributions. “Liberals lead in transparency, accountability,” as the press release had it earlier this month when the party announced it would begin posting donations within 10 business days of their receipt.
But the self-congratulatory mood was not long in dissipating as word spread of the agriculture minister’s embarrassing choice of priorities. The spectacle of a cabinet minister too busy money-grubbing to attend to his portfolio had the potential to do real damage to the Liberals.
By midday, Letnick had reversed direction, leaving behind only a one-paragraph statement in his name: “Agriculture is a key and growing part of the British Columbia economy and the B.C. Agriculture Council plays a pivotal role in that growth. That’s why I’m pleased to be attending this Wednesday’s evening gala dinner as a guest speaker and I am planning to attend the trade show the following day as well.”
The minister was “pleased” to be attending?
He was shamed into attending the trade show after being caught out by the newspaper.
Moreover he ran for cover without explanation for the initial decision, leaving behind suspicions that he had been pressed to put party fundraising ahead of his ministerial duties.
On Monday, the minister’s office put out a slightly expanded statement attributable to the still-not-availablefor-interviews Letnick.
“My office worked with the organizers to engage with farmers and ranchers and deliver remarks at the gala dinner and so a decision was made there was not a need to tour the booths on the exhibition floor the following day,” it said.
“However, the premier has been very clear that governing comes first, so I will be speaking at the gala dinner, as previously planned, and attending the opening day of the exhibition.”
Note the classic formulation of a politician sidestepping blame for something on his watch. His office worked with the organizers. A decision was made by somebody — he doesn’t say who. The premier has been very clear what comes first — though he doesn’t say when he learned that either.
Agricultureof the British is Columbiaa key and economygrowing partand the B.C. Agriculture Council plays a pivotal role in that growth. NORM LET NICK, agriculture Minister
Mistakes were made, but not by Norm.
As a publicity stunt last fall, the agriculture minister stripped down to a hat and pair of shorts and had himself body painted to look like an apple orchard. Perhaps before turning up at the trade show later this week, he should arrange to be repainted as a turkey.
Still, nice of him to provide Premier Christy Clark with a teachable moment.
“He’s made the right decision, I think, in putting government before party events,” Clark told reporters during a media scrum Monday morning.
The premier herself executed a more dramatic reversal Friday, when she announced she would henceforth forgo the $50,000-a-year salary top up from the party. Instead she will directly bill the Liberals for actual expenses when travelling on party business.
Clark offered only a bare-bones explanation for abandoning something she’d defended for months. “It’s become a real distraction,” she told reporters, halfway conceding that public distaste for her second salary might affect her chances in the coming election.
Asked for her rationale again Monday, Clark repeated that the stipend had become a “distraction.” She further guessed that her expense billings will “certainly be less” than $50,000 a year.
Any other reversals in the works, premier?
“There are two ways to do political fundraising, ” Clark replied.
“One is to have people choose to donate through the system we have now, and one is the one that the NDP proposes, which is to have taxpayers forced to pay for political parties. Neither of them are perfect, but I think the one that the NDP has chosen is something BCers would like a lot less …. I’d rather my taxes went to pay for health care and education.”
The New Democrats have not called for direct public funding of political parties. Just last week Opposition Leader John Horgan professed to have “no opinion” about direct funding. Rather he’d ban union and corporate donations and send the rest to an independent commission.
But Clark’s slippery formulation, coupled with Letnick’s clumsy evasions and the non-transparency at party headquarters are of a piece with the governing party’s handling of this issue for more than a year.
Arrogance, secrecy and outright stupidity — a potentially fatal combination with an election approaching.