With a little luck, and thanks to a rookie MLA from a rural riding in northern Alberta, by this time next week voters in Calgary and Edmonton in particular may be rewarded with a long-overdue first step in improving our democracy.

Cast your mind back to the last municipal election in October 2007. In Calgary, campaign finance reform had become a major issue. At least seven of the elected alderman supported changing the system. Mayor Dave Bronconnier promised significant change by spring 2008. Nothing happened.

To be fair, this is only partially city council’s fault. Yes, they dithered, but they were also given advice that there was not much they could do, given the constraints of the Municipal Government Act.

At this juncture, the city had two options: either seek an amendment to the MGA or figure out a voluntary system. Bronconnier suggested such a system for mayoral candidates last year, but the idea quickly sunk under the waves.

Enter Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson. Johnson has proposed Bill 203, a private member’s bill to impose some order on the Wild West system of municipal campaign donations. The most significant changes in this bill include a cap of $5,000 on donations from any individual, corporation or union, and a requirement that any campaign surpluses be used for future elections or be donated to charity.

There is no doubt that this change is sorely needed. The system of campaign financing in municipal elections is, to be charitable, a mess. There are practically no rules now, save a requirement that donors must be disclosed more than four months after the election. Candidates can raise and spend unlimited funds, and any surpluses are considered personal gifts.

Indeed, an incumbent can raise money at will during his or her term, then choose not to run in the next election. In this case, the public will never know who was giving the candidate money, or how much they left office with.

For example, Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart declared a surplus of more than $98,000 in 2007. She has announced that she will be seeking nomination as the Conservative candidate for Calgary-Glenmore, and she is free to use this surplus, and whatever she has raised since, for that nomination battle. Or she could buy a really nice car. The point is that there are no rules.

Such a system is ripe for abuse, particularly considering that the vast majority of donations come from individuals and organizations that do business with cities.

When I asked Johnson for his motivation in proposing the bill, he suggested that it was the appearance of impropriety that municipal politicians can work under.

I agree, and would also take another tack. The power of incumbents in municipal government is extraordinary. Before last fall’s election, when three incumbents fell in Calgary and one in Edmonton, the defeat of an incumbent was rare indeed. In Calgary, one was swept up in the 2004 Ward 10 scandal (through no fault of her own) and I don’t remember the last one before that to lose. Campaign finance rules help level the playing field, making it easier for challengers to make serious bids.

So, is Johnson’s bill perfect? No. The cap on contributions is so high as to have little practical effect. Of the existing city council, only the mayor and Ald. Ray Jones accepted any individual or corporate contributions over $5,000 (the defeated Ward 3 Ald. Helene Larocque also accepted large donations from public service unions).

Further, the bill fails to address some of the other changes that are needed: spending limits, limits on when money can be raised (only in an election year, for example), immediate disclosure of donors during a campaign, and a real estate registry.

It certainly is possible for these rules to be in place –Ald. Brian Pincott ran and won with a campaign that voluntarily included all of these restrictions–and I wish that Johnson had been a bit more bold.

Nonetheless, he deserves praise for starting to do what city council would not do itself, and taking the first steps to a regime that can be improved in the future. While private member’s bills rarely pass, Johnson is confident this one will.

Here’s hoping he’s right.

Naheed Nenshi teaches At Mount Royal College’s Bissett School Of Business

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