From the Calgary Herald – July 31, 2008

When people ask me what I think this city council should be doing, they’re always surprised to hear that the No. 1 priority should be campaign finance reform.

“That’s so technical,” they say, “and only government geeks like you would care about it. Shouldn’t they be working on sprawl, homelessness, transit?”

Indeed they should. But transparency, fairness and participation are the foundation of clean, effective government, and we can’t have these without fixing the current non-system of campaign finance.

Let me be clear: I’m not suggesting that there is a simple quid pro quo in place. To argue, as Ald. Linda Fox-Mellway did in last week’s Herald, that she can’t be bought for $5,000 or $10,000 (would $20,000 be enough, one wonders? Does she ever have a sale?) is reductionist and absurd.

I’m not saying that just because Intergulf-Cidex donated $18,000 to the mayor’s campaign, making them the second-largest of his donors, that the city then bought their entire development in Montreux for affordable housing. Yes, that looks bad, but it was also a good decision.

I am saying that Intergulf-Cidex and, indeed, the entire development industry, have the ear of city council. Their phone calls get answered. They can take a meeting with most council members virtually any time they like. Normal citizens don’t get this privilege, and to argue that the privilege is not related to the donations is naive.

Indeed, I laughed when one developer, speaking to the Herald’s Colette Derworiz, claimed that his company’s donations are merely “altruistic.” Far more honest was the chairman of a large architecture firm who last fall defended his contributions to then alderman Barry Erskine’s campaign-that-wasn’t as offering a good “return on investment,” even though Erskine didn’t end up running, didn’t disclose any of his donations and apparently kept the money.

Actually, we owe Erskine our thanks. His behaviour made finance reform a major issue, with even the mayor promising that campaign finance reform would be addressed last fall or the spring of 2008.

Well, spring has come and gone, and nothing has been done. To be fair, council asked an aldermanic committee to look at the issue. This committee, chaired by Ald. Ray Jones, has never met. Some aldermen are calling for a citizens’ committee to examine the issue, conduct hearings and write a report.

I’ll save them a lot of time and money. When the Better Calgary Campaign, the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and imagineCalgary all agree, we’ve had enough consultation.

We need six changes, and we need them now:

1. Limits on contributions. The amount is up for debate, but $1,000 or $1,500 per donor is a good start.

2. Limits on spending. Fifty cents per resident is fair and reasonable. It allows for an effective campaign to be run, without getting into a money war.

3. Campaign surpluses given to the city, or donated to charity. Yes, if they are donated, the candidate will get a major tax receipt, but it’s better than allowing them to simply keep the money.

4. Immediate disclosure of donations — within five business days of the donation, they should be posted on the candidate’s website.

5. Donations only in election years. Otherwise, incumbents can have three unfettered years of fundraising, leading to the question of whether donors are supporting a future election or rewarding current performance.

6. There should be a real estate registry highlighting all of a candidate’s holdings.

It’s possible to win with these rules in place: Ald. Brian Pincott unilaterally adopted a similar set, and he beat candidates who outspent him.

It won’t be simple to get all of these rules in place now; it’s not clear that the Municipal Government Act allows them. However, there is nothing preventing council from passing this motion now and requesting the province give them room to do so.

In the last election, the Better Calgary Campaign asked all candidates about campaign finance reform. Seven of the current aldermen (Dale Hodges, Bob Hawkesworth, Druh Farrell, John Mar, Joe Ceci, Pincott, Ric McIver) said they were in favour of some kind of reform. Of those who did not respond, the mayor, Andre Chabot and Diane Colley-Urquhart have made some positive noises in this direction. That means a majority is well within reach.

I look forward to one of these seven bringing the debate to the council floor this fall.

Naheed Nenshi teaches at Mount Royal College’s Bissett School of Business.

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