VICTORIA B.C. - Andrew Weaver, leader of the B.C. Green Party, announced today that the B.C. Green Party will commit to a number of measures to address ethics, transparency and accountability in its platform for the upcoming election on May 9. If elected, the B.C. Green Party would introduce legislation including all of the measures announced during the press conference today.
“We planned to begin rolling out our platform following our rally this coming Saturday. In light of recent developments concerning donations from lobbyists, we felt it was important to let British Columbians know where we stand,” Weaver said at a press conference at the B.C. Legislature. “The allegations published in the Globe and Mail, which followed international scrutiny over B.C.’s ‘Wild West’ fundraising status quo in the New York Times, are incredibly disturbing.
“It is absolutely reprehensible that the B.C. Liberals and the B.C. NDP would treat the lobbying industry like a cash cow for their campaigns. The allegations that lobbyists violated the Elections Act by purchasing expensive tables at pay-for-play fundraisers and secretly billing the expenses back to their clients must be immediately and vigorously investigated by both Elections BC and the RCMP and released before voters go to the polls on May 9,” Weaver continued.
“The B.C. Greens are committed to government accountability and transparency at the core of our platform and we will continue to advocate that whichever government is in power immediately implement these changes so that they can begin to rebuild the trust of British Columbians.”
The measures the B.C. Greens propose to curb unethical fundraising and lobbying practices are as follows:
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Institute a multi-year prohibition on lobbying for former senior public office holders and partisan ministerial staff that is inline with federal prohibitions.
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Increase penalties for violations of the lobby act to bring B.C. legislation in line with federal standards.
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Conduct a further comprehensive review of the Lobbying Registration Act, including the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists’ mandate, to ensure that our democratic institutions and the interests of British Columbians are adequately protected from the influence of special interests.
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Ban government Ministers from engaging in fundraising activities while in office and explore similar restrictions on MLAs.
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Immediately ban all out-of-province, corporate and union donations.
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Place limits on individual contributions that are in line with current federal limits.
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Media contact
For Andrew Weaver and B.C. Green Party
Jillian Oliver, Press Secretary
+1 778-650-0597 | [email protected]