DOING BUSINESS WITH DONORS
Unlike other provinces, it’s OK in B.C.
Doing business with the B.C. government and at the same time donating money to political parties — those in power or those who hope to govern — is entirely legal in British Columbia.
In the United States, since 1939, it has been illegal for individuals and corporations that have federal contracts, or are negotiating them, to give money to federal candidates, parties or committees. That law was upheld in a 2015 federal court ruling.
Some states have similar laws, including New Jersey, South Carolina and West Virginia.
At the national level in Canada and in many provinces, including Quebec and Manitoba, and most recently Ontario and Alberta, companies doing business with the government are not allowed to make political contributions because corporation and union donations are banned.
The lack of any such rule in B.C. makes it an outlier in Canada, and could prove to be an issue for voters after the B.C. Liberals raised $14 million in 2016 and 2017 in the run-up to the May 9 provincial election.
Nola Western, B.C.’s deputy chief electoral officer, said the Elections Act only bans donations from unregistered political parties and constituency associations in B.C., political parties and constituency associations at the federal level, and from charities.
“Anybody else can give,” said Western.
Telus, the Canadian telecommunications giant, is among the top B.C. Liberal donors in the past decade. It has given $565,000 between 2005 and 2016, according to a list compiled by Postmedia from B.C. Elections figures.
Telus is also a major contractor with the B.C. government. It had more than $730 million in business with the B.C. government, according to an examination by Postmedia of supplier payments from 2007 to 2016 listed in B.C.’s public accounts. Telus is not alone. Among the top 50 donors to the B.C. Liberals — who have collectively given more than $30 million in the past decade — more than half have received supplier payments or transfers from the B.C. government.
The payments and transfers totalled $885 million between 2007 and 2016, according to the Postmedia analysis of B.C. public accounts figures.
While there is no evidence that contracts were awarded improperly, it is clear the top donors to the B.C. Liberals are doing business at a larger scale than others who give less.
In a sample of 50 other donors, taken in the mid-range of B.C. Liberal donors, those who had given $5,000 between 2015 and 2016, only two companies were doing business with the province with payments totalling $26.7 million.
There are also major government contractors who give little to the B.C. Liberals. For example, HP (Hewlett Packard) Advanced Solutions had $888.6 million in contracts with the province in the past decade, and made donations to the Liberal party of $4,000. They also gave $2,500 to the NDP.
But Hewlett Packard does have a significant lobbying effort in Victoria, and several of its lobbyists have contributed more than $125,000 to the Liberals.
Companies who do business with the province also gave to the NDP in the run-up to the 2013 election, which the New Democrats were widely expected to win.
York University political scientist Robert MacDermid said most people would see some sort of conflict when people who do business with the government also give money to the governing party.
He is familiar with the rules in the United States, including the federal laws introduced in 1939, but said it is simpler to deal with the issue of donors doing business with the government by banning corporate and union donations.
“Even if (a conflict) doesn’t exist, there’s going to be the perception of undue influence,” said MacDermid, who helped write a 2016 report on the influence of donations at the municipal level in Ontario.
“Governments have faced this in every jurisdiction across Canada, and usually they come to their senses and actually decide that it doesn’t look good and they ban it.”