VICTORIA B次元官网网址� The man behind B次元官网网址淗arperPACB次元官网网址� says it lived and died in a few days to make a point about third-party advertising in Canadian politics.
When it launched, I wondered why he would choose such a deliberately provocative name. No, not B次元官网网址淗arper,B次元官网网址� but the acronym for B次元官网网址淧olitical Action Committee,B次元官网网址� which has come to symbolize the financial excesses of U.S. politics.
HarperPAC ran one radio ad, accusing Liberal leader Justin Trudeau of blaming voters for his declining popularity, and suggesting that TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渕onths of mistakesB次元官网网址� are a likelier cause. No kidding.
HarperPAC spokesman Stephen Taylor, who like Stephen Harper before him has worked for the National CitizensB次元官网网址� Coalition, announced the end of the project last week.
B次元官网网址淲e have contributed to a new discussion about political financing in a fixed election era that is critical to our democracy,B次元官网网址� Taylor said. B次元官网网址淲e note that this discussion only occurred once a right-wing analog of the leftB次元官网网址檚 PAC-style efforts emerged on the scene.B次元官网网址�
Indeed, it was when HarperPAC emerged that muttering began about B次元官网网址渄ark moneyB次元官网网址� in Canadian politics. Unifor, Anti-Conservative front LeadNow and the many faces of the Tides Foundation somehow failed to ignite much discussion in the Canadian media.
Taylor launched the bid in response to the emergence of B次元官网网址淓ngage Canada,B次元官网网址� a union-financed action committee that he said was part of a broader effort by the left to oust the Conservatives. Engage Canada portrays itself as a brave alternative to shadowy right-wing groups such as Working Canadians, which has also run pro-Conservative ads.
Engage CanadaB次元官网网址檚 latest ad plays on the union movementB次元官网网址檚 cherished B次元官网网址渋nequalityB次元官网网址� theme, selecting statistics to portray the wealthy as making out far better than the rest of us in HarperB次元官网网址檚 Canada. (The notion that B次元官网网址渋nequalityB次元官网网址� can and should be fixed by ever-higher taxes on B次元官网网址渢he richB次元官网网址� staggers on, zombie-like, as if capitalism was the cause of poverty.)
Two recent developments have led to all this. Scheduled elections every four years have finally taken effect at the federal level, after a series of minority governments. And courts have repeatedly struck down efforts to restrict third-party spending in the so-called B次元官网网址減re-campaignB次元官网网址� period as an unwarranted restriction on free speech.
The B.C. Liberal government tried and failed several times to restrict third party spending, largely in response to the million-dollar tirades of the teachersB次元官网网址� union. Former attorney general Wally Oppal used to warn about American-style influence by wealthy interest groups targeting scheduled elections.
Their strategy was not so much to keep corporate money out of B.C. politics as to keep it flowing through the B.C. Liberal Party.
This spring the B.C. Liberal majority passed Bill 20, the Election Amendment Act. Not only did this recognize the freedom of outsiders to weigh in on elections, it also did away with pre-campaign restrictions on registered political parties and candidates.
NDP MLA Leonard Krog warned that this sets the stage for B次元官网网址渟ome mad Wild West show,B次元官网网址� with politicians so desperate to raise money they start looking for the B.C. equivalent of renting out the Lincoln bedroom in the White House.
The big difference between the pre-campaign ads for this fallB次元官网网址檚 federal election and the next provincial vote in 2017 is that corporate and union donations to parties and candidates have been eliminated at the federal level. That means more money available for third-party campaigns, but it seems to be fairly well distributed between the two sides, the Conservatives and everybody else.
Here in the Wild West, nothingB次元官网网址檚 going to change as long as the B.C. Liberals are in the saddle.
Tom Fletcher is legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Twitter:
