OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s opponents say his plan to campaign on killing direct financing for political parties is irresponsible, arguing the current subsidies are good for democracy.
The Liberals and New Democrats made it clear Thursday they have no intention of agreeing to repeal the subsidies introduced in the past decade, saying they ensure the ideas of voters are represented by vibrant political parties that no longer have to rely on “big money” from the business community.
But on Thursday, Mr. Harper wasn’t backing down on his plan — first revealed in an exclusive interview this week with Postmedia News — to make the end of the subsidies a “clear plank” of the Conservatives’ election platform.
“A subsidy where parties make no effort whatsoever to raise money is not acceptable, I don’t think, to Canadian taxpayers,” Mr. Harper said during a news conference in Toronto.
Also Thursday, the opposition reacted to two other comments made by Mr. Harper in the Postmedia News interview: that the opposition parties will try to immediately form a coalition government if the next election produces another Tory minority; and that the current minority Parliament appears headed for a conflict over the government’s refusal to bend to opposition pressure to back down on corporate tax cuts.
Liberal House leader David McGuinty mocked Mr. Harper over his allegation that a coalition is in the works.
“Apparently, we’re also going to be causing a hailstorm, and we’re going to be causing flash floods,” said Mr. McGuinty. “This is nonsense talk from the prime minister, who is desperate to try to create a bogeyman. He’s now retrenched, backed himself into a corner, and he’s lurching and he’s lashing out.”
And while Mr. Harper continued to bang the drum in Toronto over the need for corporate tax cuts to create jobs, NDP leader Jack Layton said he thinks the more pressing concern should be for people such as the seniors he recently met who can’t pay their heating bills.
“The banks and oil companies may be out of the recession, with profits of those companies soaring, but the average Canadian is not out of the recession,” Mr. Layton said.
“If he wants to campaign on that, if that is what he is deciding to do, I guess he can go out and explain that. I think a lot of Canadians feel that they get gouged by some of these companies.”
Mr. Harper’s government is preparing a budget to be tabled in February or March and speculation is swirling over whether it will be defeated by the opposition parties, thereby sparking an election.
In the Postmedia News interview, Mr. Harper spoke candidly about how he hasn’t given up on repealing direct subsidies for parties.
In late 2008, shortly after the last election, the Conservative government introduced an economic update that proposed to end the system of direct funding for political parties.
The subsidy was put in place in 2003 after the Chretien government banned contributions to parties from businesses and unions, and also set a $5,000 contribution limit from individuals (later reduced by the Harper government to $1,100.) The rationale was that if the parties were limited in how they could raise funds, they should be at least able to rely on public financing.
Under the system, parties receive every year just over $2 for every vote they received in the previous election — which amounts to $27-million a year given to the parties.
Critics said the government’s plan was a mere ploy because the Tories, thanks to their strong fundraising system, are less reliant on the public subsidies. They said the Conservatives knew that, if the subsidies were ended, rivals such as the Liberals could be left bankrupt. The Tories shelved their idea to avoid being toppled.
Mr. Harper told Postmedia News he thinks there is a clear role for some public finance (for instance, people get tax receipts to encourage them to contribute to parties).
“But it has got to be tied to a party’s own efforts, or to the willingness of voters to actually contribute this money,” Mr. Harper said. “And that’s not the case here, so it remains our position that that particular subsidy should be repealed.”
Mr. McGuinty said the Liberals support the subsidies because they enable a system that removes “private sector” money from politics. He accused Harper of putting forward a “self-serving” proposal.
“It’s an attempt by Mr. Harper to try to position himself as ‘Mr. Fiscally Responsible.’ If he was so fiscally responsible, he wouldn’t have spent $50-million on 9,800 signs across the country advertising infrastructure projects.”
Mr. Layton was equally supporting of the subsidies.
“A key element of democratic reform was to make sure that political parties represent the ideas of Canadians and can have their ideas considered in the public discourse.”
Ending the subsidies would have dire consequences, Mr. Layton warned.
“You’re going to end up with those who are able to ante up the bucks getting heard. And that is not democratic. It’s not right.”
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http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada ... z1Az9RN1UN The Liberals and New Democrats made it clear Thursday they have no intention of agreeing to repeal the subsidies introduced in the past decade, saying they ensure the ideas of voters are represented by vibrant political parties that no longer have to rely on “big money” from the business community.
Guess you'd better hop off the gravy train and work your base.
CKA Uber 
It's THEIR money 
