XPost: van.general, bc.general   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   If issues like homelessness and bike lanes and environmental protection are   
   important issues for you, you will NOT want to vote Vision or their candidates.   
   ____________________________________________   
   CBC News Posted: Nov 11, 2014   
      
   How Vancouver campaign finance revelations could affect voters   
   For the first time, the city's civic parties have voluntarily revealed who has   
   donated to their campaigns   
      
   Vancouver voters are very lucky.   
      
   As they head to the polls on Saturday, they have access to information that, in   
   previous elections, was only available months after they would have cast their   
   ballots.   
      
   For the first time, civic parties have voluntarily revealed their donor lists,   
   providing a valuable tool to see where electoral organizations get their money   
   from and, therefore, who wants them to succeed.   
      
   Cynics suggest it also shows who is trying to buy influence at City Hall,   
   believing it would be naive to think that non-deductible donations in the   
   thousands of dollars don't at least merit a returned phone call or an attentive   
   ear at a social function.   
      
   It’s certainly hard not to be at least skeptical when the Vancouver Taxi   
   Association gives $53,000 to Vision Vancouver and $2,500 to the Green Party of   
   Vancouver, and council unanimously votes for a six-month moratorium on new taxi   
   licenses just as the ride-share app Uber is planning to re-enter the Vancouver   
   market.   
      
   The transparency gamble   
      
   For the Non-Partisan Association, Vision Vancouver, the Coalition of   
   Progressive Electors, the Green Party of Vancouver and OneCity, this was a   
   risky and gutsy move, pulling back the curtain on the inner workings of their   
   campaigns.   
      
   Their gamble is that any blowback over who’s on their list will be outweighed   
   by winning points for transparency.   
      
   Unfortunately, the lists expose what is so very wrong with municipal election   
   financing and point to a need for an overhaul.   
      
   Currently, there is no limit on how much individuals, businesses and unions can   
   contribute. Candidates can spend as much as they want.   
      
   No wonder UBC political scientist Max Cameron says it's the "Wild West" when it   
   comes to municipal election financing in British Columbia.   
      
      
   Meena Wong   
      
   COPE mayoral candidate Meena Wong has also released her party's list of   
   financial contributions. (CBC)   
      
   It's not pretty.   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   Vision Vancouver has accepted more than $1.4 million from big business. The   
   biggest cheques come from a who's who of developers and condo marketers:   
   Aquilini, Amacon, Concord, Magnum and Rennie.   
      
   They have also accepted $320,880 from labour, the lion's share from CUPE, the   
   union representing many of the City of Vancouver's unionized workers —   
   underscoring a nasty back and forth between Vision and the NPA that has now   
   landed in the courts.   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   The fact of the matter is,  NPA doesn't look much better.  Of more than $2.1   
   million dollars, $320,000 comes from NPA president Peter Armstrong's Great   
   Canadian Railtour Co.  Other big donors were developers Amacon, MacDonald and   
   Orr as well as mining giant Teck Resources.   
      
   It's important to note that these lists only represent donors from 2014, not   
   the time since the last election in 2011.  All contributions to this year's   
   campaign must be filed with Elections BC by next February.   
      
   The Green Party of Vancouver was the first out of the gate to disclose   
   contributions.   
      
   It doesn't accept donations above $5,000 and doesn't take any money from   
   developers or fossil fuel companies.   The Vancouver Firefighters' Union has   
   made a $5,000 donation.   
      
   Of the $66,114 COPE has received, most comes from individual donations.  Unions   
   have contributed $18,440.  OneCity doesn't accept donations from developers but   
   $33,000 of the $47,286.08 it disclosed to date is from unions.   
      
   Voters turned on or off?   
      
   So what will Vancouver voters do with this new information?   
      
   It’s unlikely they’ll entirely revolt against the idea of companies or   
   organizations participating or supporting causes in the community in which they   
   do business.   
      
   But perhaps the degree to which those groups participate — writing cheques in   
   the thousands of dollars — will contribute to the perception that city   
   politicians can be bought, tainting the entire process and turning voters off.   
      
   Most people who run for office are smart, thoughtful and genuinely want to make   
   their city a better place to live.   
      
   Unless we want only the super rich to run under their own financial steam,   
   candidates will always have to finance their campaigns somehow.   
      
   Will knowing how that financing is done change the way Vancouverites vote?   
      
   At least they’ll know a little more about the names behind the names on the   
   ballot.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)