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 B次元官网网址渙perationalB次元官网网址� 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 governmentB次元官网网址檚 first budget this spring. Changing the municipal election rules to eliminate the loophole for electoral slates is a priority for this spring, he said.
B次元官网网址淭his was an issue that was raised by the Chief Electoral Officer,B次元官网网址� Horgan said. B次元官网网址淚t didnB次元官网网址檛 come up in a review of the bill, so weB次元官网网址檙e taking a look at that.B次元官网网址�
B.C. Liberal MLA Todd Stone presented a private memberB次元官网网址檚 bill earlier in the week to address the issue, after VancouverB次元官网网址檚 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 memberB次元官网网址檚 bill Wednesday, aimed at restricting provincial parties from appointing B次元官网网址渃orporate or union entitiesB次元官网网址� from being given guaranteed positions on political party executives. The bill appears aimed at the NDPB次元官网网址檚 practice of designated union positions on the party executive.
B次元官网网址淚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,B次元官网网址� Milobar said.
