A loophole that allows municipal election organizations to collect corporate and union donations will be fixed before province-wide elections next fall, B.C. Premier John Horgan says.
Elections BC confirmed earlier this month that municipal parties can accept donations outside the new campaign rules, as long as they are for sa国际传媒渙perationalsa国际传媒� uses outside of the election period, which is now every four years.
The B.C. NDP government passed legislation last fall to make municipal election donations match their new provincial rules, restricted to a maximum of $1,200 a year from individual B.C. residents only. The $1,200 cap for individuals also applies to electoral slates and their endorsed candidates, putting declared slates in larger communities at a disadvantage compared to independent candidates.
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Horgan told reporters Wednesday that the government is prioritizing its legislation, which is piling up since the NDP governmentsa国际传媒檚 first budget this spring. Changing the municipal election rules to eliminate the loophole for electoral slates is a priority for this spring, he said.
sa国际传媒淭his was an issue that was raised by the Chief Electoral Officer,sa国际传媒� Horgan said. sa国际传媒淚t didnsa国际传媒檛 come up in a review of the bill, so wesa国际传媒檙e taking a look at that.sa国际传媒�
B.C. Liberal MLA Todd Stone presented a private membersa国际传媒檚 bill earlier in the week to address the issue, after Vancouversa国际传媒檚 Non-Partisan Association indicated it would be using corporate and union donations to maintain its organization between elections.
B.C. Liberal MLA Peter Milobar presented another private membersa国际传媒檚 bill Wednesday, aimed at restricting provincial parties from appointing sa国际传媒渃orporate or union entitiessa国际传媒� from being given guaranteed positions on political party executives. The bill appears aimed at the NDPsa国际传媒檚 practice of designated union positions on the party executive.
sa国际传媒淚f passed, this bill will ensure entities that are banned from donating money to political parties will not have influence through guaranteed positions of power,sa国际传媒� Milobar said.
