By Dori Modney (@Dori_Modney on Twitter)

Big money being removed from political campaigns in Alberta

Nov 28, 2016 | 7:10 PM

EDMONTON –  Alberta’s NDP government intends to bring in new spending limits for future political campaigns.

Right now, single contributions of $15,000 are permitted for politics, with an increase to $30,000 in an election year.  However, the government will reduce that figure, to prevent any one contributor from giving more than $4,000 to politics in any given year.
 
This limit would apply to any combination of parties, constituency associations, candidates, byelection candidates, leadership contestants and nomination contestants.
 
The bill, introduced by Christina Gray, the minister in charge of democratic renewal, will also cap political party spending $2-Million in an election campaign.  There will also be limits on nomination contests and byelections.
 
A news release from the government states, “the Fair Elections Financing Act will ensure Albertans – not big money and special interest groups – decide the outcome of elections. It would also create a “sunshine list” for third party advertising.
Other parties in the government agree that big money needs to be removed from politics, but say there also needs to be a restriction on government advertising as well.

This limit would apply to any combination of parties, constituency associations, candidates, byelection candidates, leadership contestants and nomination contestants. The limit would replace the current maximum contribution of $15,000 per individual each calendar year, which doubles to $30,000 in an election year.

The new act also clarifies ‘Third party advertising” –

The act would set spending limits on election advertising by third parties. The limit would apply from the dropping of the writ to the close of polls and would be set at $150,000, of which no more than $3,000 could be used to support or oppose candidates in a particular electoral division.

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Between elections, third parties would have to register with Elections Alberta and disclose contributions on a “sunshine list” if they planned to spend $1,000 on political advertising, incur $1,000 in expenses for political advertising or receive $1,000 in donations for political advertising. Contributions to third parties for the purposes of advertising would be disclosed on a database maintained by Elections Alberta. Third parties would also be required to identify themselves in their advertisements.

More information on Bill 35 – Fair Elections Financing Act can be found on the Government website.