CBC pushes "fairness" to help Liberals

Anyone notice the CBC and the opposition parties raised a new meme to restrict pre-writ advertising because it would be "fairer" because the Liberals can't match the Conservatives in their fundraising activites?

When did the National broadcaster become concerned with "fairness" in Federal politics?

Money, Money: Return First Quarter

We – politicians and citizens – have bonded ourselves to our fantasies. For average Canadians, it is that we can get by fine without government. And for politicians? It’s that we can bludgeon one another and still think we are serving the public. Party against party. Region against region, Citizen against citizen.- Liberal MP Glen Pearson August 4, 2009


This fight is about Money, who gets to control it and how can we divide it up for our own interests. Each political party needs money to fight a national campaign. Rules are being changed by parties in power to advance their agenda. It has always been done in this manner. The Liberals have used their majorities to benefit their political dynasty. The CPC with support of at least one party have made changes. When the CPC get a majority other changes may take place.

Political Party Fundraising First Quarter 2010

For an unbiased, well written post on this subject please visit The Pundits Guide. It is one of the few sites that deliver so much detail in an uncluttered fashion.

Another great site for detail and perspective  Crunching the fourth quarter party finance numbers from Elections Canada discusses financial numbers comparing 2008. 


A Liberal partisan blogger  Calgary Grit posts on his perspective of the fundraising data. Here is a quick link on the tags on fundraising   First Quarter from Blogging Tories.


The Liberals took a drubbing in four federal by-elections in November, finishing third in all four of them, among both English and French-speaking Canadians, on both coasts and in urban as well as in rural Canada. Since Michael Ignatieff promised to bring down the minority government, his poll numbers have plunged. His office, in need of “adult supervision,” according to Robin Sears, is being revamped under the leadership of Peter Donolo. But it’s the leader himself who hired the old staff, and who has underperformed, in both the House and the country.- Iggy's Path To Power - Robin V. Sears Policy Options December 2009-January 2010


Robin V. Sears notes that the NDP, Conservatives have seasoned veteran leaders with their bases to draw strength from, his view might be characterized as picking the low hanging fruit.  ...have one in four voters — especially in Ontario and Quebec — with uncertain loyalties to play for. Many of them have voted Liberal in the recent past.

Canuck Politics has a great video.

On November 27, 2008 the shit hit the fan with the announcement of ending the "free ride" for political parties. The Finance Minister announced we would work with the G 20 and those actions may drive us in deficit. The opposition demanded massive spending or risk being replaced with a coalition six weeks after the General Election? Brian Topp wrote a book, we learned the Plan was much more sinister. Blogging Tories Tag here

 

In my opinion each political party is too fond of their entitlements, they want more money, do we make it easier for all of them to take it?  Should we require them to earn it and disclose how they spend our money?

All parties are NOT interested in having their books audited and how they spend through the The Board of Internal Economy. MPs seek $550 million worth of blind faith

Let's try no audit on your expenses, no political party funding for you! Any bets how fast each party changes their mind and allows the auditor general to review the The Board of Internal Economy?

Here is my Culture of Entitlement post here. (April 25, 2010)   The Liberal Party of Canada Disconnect here. (September 28, 2009)

Lights Stay On Political Party Welfare Culture of Entitlement

Culture of Defeat, Culture of  Deciet, Culture of Entitlement.

I would like to thank the politicians in Ottawa for voting to keep their lights on with our money and refusing to allow audits into their expenses.

 Link to Political Party welfare here.

When they come to your door, ask for a donation, ask your MP, ask the candidate, canvasser on behalf of the political party why they deserve to keep this subsidy and refuse to provide a full audit at the Board of Internal Economy.

Bloc: A Separtist Fantasyland Paid For By Taxpayers

The Liberal Party decided unilaterally to change the rules regarding how politicial parties raise funds. In 1993 fourteen political parties were able to participate in the general election.
A great summary on Election Finance Reform called  Canadian Campaign Finance Reform Since 2000: Path Dependent or Dynamic? is a must read. It provide a background with details regarding court cases and challenges in the changes.

Another site is Mapleleafweb Campaign Finance Legislation Examining Canada’s past and present election expenses legislation.

Why is Gilles Duceppe so unhappy about Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia having additional seats in the Federal Parliament?

The Bloc greatly benefit from the divided federalist political parties in Quebec since their inception. The changes in the political pay subsidy has allowed the Bloc to benefit the most.

Why are we supporting a political party subsidy transfers to subsidize a separtist political party in 2008 that was passed unilaterally by the Liberals?

Bloc Benefits From Liberal Political Subsidy: Nearly $ 300 million in welfare

The four opposition Political Parties are "entitled" to their entitlements!

Follow the money to see who Canadians are supporting with donations through membership to their political party.

On the surface, it would appear Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives have the most to lose if subsidies were cut because they garnered the most votes in the October election. The Conservatives earned $10 million in subsidies, compared to $7.7 million for the Liberals, $4.9 million for the NDP, $2.6 million for the Bloc Québécois and $1.8 million for the Greens.
But because the Conservatives have such a strong fundraising base, their subsidy represents only 37 per cent of the party's total revenues.
By comparison, the subsidy amounts to 63 per cent of the Liberals' funding, 86 per cent of the Bloc's, 57 per cent of the NDP's and 65 per cent of the Greens'. - CBC November 2008

 

Between 2004 and 2008, Canadians will have spent $290 million on subsidies to federal political parties. If subsidies continue, either because of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s reversal on the matter, or if a Liberal-NDP-Bloc Quebecois coalition takes power, Canadians will pay out another $260 million to parties between 2009 and 2013. That’s almost the price tag on another federal election fight between Ottawa’s warring forces.- Frontier Centre
..The BQ continues to depend on state subsidies like no other party: over 80% of the party's revenue comes from the annual subsidy. The Liberals are the only other party that gets a majority of its money from the state (though well behind the BQ at about 60% in 2008).
The fact that the Liberals and Michael Ignatieff essentially hold the balance of power in Parliament (the NDP and BQ have signaled that they will always vote against the government) means that it is unlikely that the Conservatives will reintroduce the measure to remove the subsidy. Unless, however, Stephen Harper wants to provoke an election ... but that likely won't be for a while. But it is imperative for the Liberals to learn how to thrive under this new regime. By my estimates, Conservative revenue is up about 60% since the 2004 changes to party finance. The Liberals are down 12%. Righting that balance has to be one of Michael Ignatieff's biggest priorities as Liberal leader.- Mapleleaf Web
The Conservative government nearly blew itself out of the water last November when it tried to cut off $27-million a year in federal allowances to political parties. Although polls showed the idea was popular with the public, the commentariat generally panned it as a low blow against competing parties, because they are more dependent on the subsidies than the Conservatives are. The opposition parties formed their famous coalition and threatened to vote non-confidence against the Conservatives, who quickly retracted the proposal. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, however, has vowed to bring it back as part of his campaign platform in the next election.-Globe & Mail
 
I don’t care what their motivations are: it’s the right thing to do. The public subsidy came in with the Chretien campaign finance reforms in 2003. But it was entirely contrary in spirit. The point of the restrictions on corporate and union donations was that elections should be a matter between the candidates and the voters. Corporations and unions don’t get extra votes in the ballot box, and shouldn’t get extra voice in the fund-raising contest. Nor should corporate and union leaders be able to donate other people’s money on their behalf. Whether to contribute to a political party, and how much, and to whom, should be a private, personal matter — voluntary, individual decisions.-Andrew Coyne
H/T to Pundits' Guide (Great Site for non-partisan information on Canadian Federal Politics)

The party raised $208,455.07 in the last three months of 2009 from 1,936 contributors, for an average donation size of $107.67. This yielded an annual take of some $621.5K, the Bloc's best ever non-election year since quarterly numbers were first reported in 2005, and the new party finance regime took effect.-Pundits Guide