'Who stands to benefit from Bill 20?': ABMunis speaks out against allowing union, corporate donations in local politics

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The organization representing more than 250 Alberta municipalities accused the province Monday of ushering so-called “big money” back into local politics via its controversial Bill 20, something Premier Danielle Smith denied.

Bill 20 — the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 — was tabled in the legislature last Thursday.

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It’s drawn criticism for potentially giving the cabinet new, unilateral powers to oust councillors or compel a city council to amend or repeal bylaws with any such decisions to be made in secret and with no apparent criteria.

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It also reintroduces corporate and union donations to municipal candidates, something that wasn’t allowed at the last election cycle, and also is not permitted at the provincial level in Alberta or for elections at the federal level.

On Monday, Alberta Municipalities president, Wetaskiwin Mayor Tyler Gandam, said the new rules “put local governments up for sale to the highest bidder.”

“If the bill  passes in its current form, local government elections will end up being about what influential corporations and unions want, not about what voters want,” he said, adding the bill “does almost nothing” to improve financial transparency.

“Independent candidates risk being outspent and drowned-out by party candidates who enjoy the financial backing of corporations and unions.”

“Who stands to benefit from Bill 20?”

Smith defended the legislation, telling reporters Monday that current rules around contributions to political action committees (PACs) are too weak and don’t provide enough transparency.

“I don’t think it’s worked,” she said of the system used in the last municipal election cycle that limited PAC contributions to $30,000, but only during the “campaign advertising period,” defined as May 1 of an election year to the date of the election.

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Legislation introduced in 2021 updated those rules to include annual limits, but Smith said that still doesn’t go far enough.

“The experiment of PACs hasn’t been overwhelmingly successful if you wanted to take big money out of politics.”

She hinted similar changes could be coming at the provincial level as well.

“We’re having a conversation about it.”

Bill 20 sets out a $5,000 per year per municipality limit on corporate and union donations to local candidates. It also limits donations to third-party advertisers and PACs to $5,000 per election period. 

Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver told reporters last week the new rules will ensure unions and corporations do not have a “disproportionate influence” on municipal elections.

“The previous rules prohibited direct donations from unions and corporations; however, business owners and union members were still allowed to donate as individuals,” his office said in a statement Monday, going on to note those groups could also donate to third-party advertisers.

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Edmonton Coun. Andrew Knack has expressed his concern with the timing of disclosure rules, which allow donations outside the local election year.

“Why not require people to disclose who has donated before people go vote?”

NDP Opposition house leader Christina Gray said she is “incredibly proud” of how her party banned corporate and union donations through its first bill as government in 2015.

“This was something that was widely supported by Albertans because of the strong desire to make sure that our democracy is protected, and that it is individual voters and Alberta citizens who decide elections and not big money politics,” she said.

University of Calgary political scientist Lisa Young said while the new rules may appear fair on the surface, they may also have an asymmetrical effect in favour of corporations.

“There are many corporations out there. And there are a relatively small number of unions,” she said.

“We’re going to see quite a bit of corporate money in the local elections, and a relatively small amount of union money.”

mblack@postmedia.com

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