B.C. Premier John Horgan still boasts about B次元官网网址渢aking big money out of politicsB次元官网网址� by banning corporate and union donations that traditionally fuelled elections in the province.

Now the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is reminding Horgan and his main rival, B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson, that the source of big money has simply been switched to taxpayers.

B次元官网网址淏.C. politicians are taking millions of dollars from taxpayers and theyB次元官网网址檙e spending it on lawn signs, junk mail and attack ads for their political campaigns,B次元官网网址� said Kris Sims, the CTFB次元官网网址檚 director for B.C. B次元官网网址淭his needs to stop. The B.C. government needs to scrap the per-vote politician welfare subsidy.B次元官网网址�

In a new campaign announced Monday, the CTF is giving away with the slogan, B次元官网网址淪TOP politician welfare!B次元官网网址�)

The NDP campaigned to get corporate and union donations out of politics before the 2017 election, but made no mention of introducing a B次元官网网址渢emporaryB次元官网网址� subsidy for major parties calculated at $2.50 per vote received in 2017. The money is paid out to eligible parties twice a year by Elections B.C., which also administers the new rules limiting donations to $1,200 per eligible individual resident each year.

. says he's "unapologetic" about taxpayer money going to parties

B次元官网网址� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)

The B.C. Liberals denounced the public subsidy and voted against it, but their party has become the largest beneficiary. With the largest share of the 2017 popular vote, the B.C. Liberals collected $996,000 for their first instalment. The NDP collected $994,000 and the B.C. Greens collected $415,000 based on their 17 per cent of the popular vote.

The NDP legislation also included a provision for the parties to get half of their election-year expenses reimbursed by taxpayers. Sims estimates that will bring in an additional $11 million for the NDP, Greens and B.C. Liberals to share.

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B.C. VIEWS COLUMN:

With more seats than the NDP government, the B.C. Liberals continue to take the lionB次元官网网址檚 share of what the CTFB次元官网网址檚 calculator currently identifies as $16.4 million divided between the three parties in the past two and a half years. It was billed as a temporary measure that Horgan promised would B次元官网网址渄isappear at the end of this parliament.B次元官网网址� The next scheduled election is in the fall of 2021.

B.C. Liberal Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone, now the partyB次元官网网址檚 housing critic, was vocal about rejecting the taxpayer subsidy when he was running for the party leadership in 2018. Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Andrew Wilkinson, who eventually won the leadership narrowly against former Surrey mayor Dianne Watts, said he would take the initial subsidy and use it all to defeat the NDP-Green Party referendum to change B.C.B次元官网网址檚 voting system.

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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