Think Political Donations Are Benign? You Must Be a Politician. Because nobody else, not corporations, unions nor the public, believes it - Paul Willcocks (Willcocks favorite case in point example Paul Martin...) The public believes big political donations from corporations and unions buy special treatment from government. The people writing those big cheques think so too. They spend the money expecting it to pay off in future. The only people who dont believe that are the politicians getting the cash. Maybe the Mount Polley mine disaster will finally force them to question the effect of unlimited contributions by special interests in this province. Imperial Metals has given at least $233,000 to the BC Liberals since they have been in power. Billionaire Murray Edwards, a major shareholder, arranged a dinner in Calgary that raised more than $1 million from energy and mining companies for Christy Clarks Liberals. Most people figure that money matters. That when someone who gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to a party calls a politician, they get access and a chance to ask for favours. That they are buying special treatment. The people taking in all that cash, unsurprisingly, disagree. Like Mines Minister Bill Bennett. Its really insulting for anybody to suggest that because we take donations from a group of corporations like the mining industry that were going to cut them a break, he told Mike Smyth of the Province newspaper. We cant be bought, OK? The Paul Martin wannabe PM example (Justin Trudeau current soup de jour leader of LPC borrows from the same playbook) There are lots of other examples, but my favourite remains Paul Martins campaign for the federal Liberal leadership in 2003. Martin pulled in an incredible $12.2 million, almost entirely in large donations, many from corporations or organizations that deal with or were regulated by government. Martin, who had coveted the leadership for years and been collecting donations for his campaign since 1998, had the race won by late 2002, locking up delegates with the help of organizers like Mark Marissen and Dave Basi. (and yes there is the ex-hubby of BC Liberals Premier Christy Clark, he is a key kingpin insider with LPC, Christy Clark has solid roots in both LPC & BC Libs. You can sure see the finely interwoven relationships between the BC Liberals, Cons, Liberal Party of Canada + no course settings directional changes under Trudeau) But the donations kept pouring in long after victory was assured, including more than $1 million in the three weeks before his coronation. The only explanation, especially for corporations required to act in shareholders interests, was an expectation that there would be future benefits when Martin was in power. (Or that failing to donate would bring reprisals.) If donors believe they are buying special access or treatment with their donations, its hardly surprising the public shares that view. thetyee.ca/Opinion/2014/08/25/Political-Donations-Not-Benign/?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=250814
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 20:16:30 +0000
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