Why the tax handout to pay for campaigns .Why can't all parties just use monies collected for their campaigns instead of putting another burden on the taxpayer. I don't trust Mr. Horgan to keep this temporary . Although i know it helps the greens the most I do not think it is fair for us to have to pay 2/3 of our money to parties we don't want to support
Official response from Kelsey Reid
submitted
Thank you for your feedback Martin.
I understand your concern. The challenge we face in British Columbia is that corporate and union donations have become such a big part of our political system that we can’t rip them out all at once without seriously damaging our democracy. While we are “political opponents”, we do not want the fundamental aspects of our democratic systems performed by BC’s political parties to be threatened.
I know political parties get bad reputations. But they still play a really important role in our democracy. Through our work as a party, we engage voters on legislation and provincial issues. We support the work of our MLAs, and build election platforms that can shape government policy. A healthy democracy depends on a diversity of voices — so we need these parties to continue the important work of engaging their supporters.
In the Big Money bill, the NDP government decided to include a per-vote allowance to solve this problem. This will decrease every year and end after the next election. It will also force parties to develop new fundraising strategies that don’t rely on big money. Other provinces and jurisdictions have given a per-vote allowance while transitioning. It’s a well-tested way to handle the transition political parties away away from their dependence on corporate and union donations, such as Ontario and Quebec.
Our priority at the BC Greens is to get big money out of politics as soon as possible. It’s a huge step for democracy in BC but the government wants to make sure our democracy can function through the transition.
Hope this helps!
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