Originally written by: \u00a0Heather Libby, BC NDP Digital Team |\u00a0March 28, 2017<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When BC NDP MLA Carole James proposed a committee to fix BC\u2019s broken electoral finance rules, she knew that taking a stand was important \u2013 and necessary for our democracy.<\/p>\n
The BC Liberals voted down that first bill, but that hasn\u2019t stopped BC NDP MLAs from fighting to ban big money from our political system.<\/p>\n
To date, the New Democrat Party (NDP) has proposed six bills that would get the job done.<\/p>\n
Each time, the BC Liberals voted them down or let them die.<\/p>\n
And each time they do that, it says something about their priorities and who they\u2019re working for (Psst, it\u2019s not you).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
May 2008:<\/strong><\/p>\n MLA Carole James\u00a0tables a bill<\/a>\u00a0to ban big money from politics for the first time. The BC Liberals ruled it out of order.<\/p>\n May 2010:<\/strong><\/p>\n BC NDP MLA Carole James\u00a0tables another<\/a>\u00a0election finance bill. It was voted down in its first reading.<\/p>\n May 2011:<\/strong><\/p>\n A BC NDP MLA\u00a0tables a bill<\/a>\u00a0for a third time. Like they did to the one before it, the BC Liberals voted down.<\/p>\n May 2015:<\/strong><\/p>\n Gary Holman\u00a0tables the BC NDP\u2019s fourth bill<\/a>\u00a0to ban corporate and union donations and to put a cap on individual donations. It is part of a suite of other bills that would fix our broken electoral system. None of them make it past the first reading.<\/p>\n Between January 2005 and December 2015, the BC Liberals<\/em>\u00a0raised a jaw-dropping $103,997,993<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in political donations \u2013 out-raising their nearest competitor by more than $62 million.<\/em><\/p>\n April 6 2016:<\/strong><\/p>\n John Horgan\u00a0tables a bill<\/a>\u00a0to make corporate and union donations to political parties illegal. For the fifth time, the BC Liberals vote it down on its first reading.<\/p>\n April 27 2016:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Globe and Mail\u00a0reveals that Premier Clark receives<\/a>\u00a0between $30,000 and $50,000 a year from the BC Liberal Party, as a \u2018top-up\u2019 to her taxpayer-funded salary. She earns this \u2018top-up\u2019 by attending secretive fundraising dinners with elite BC Liberal donors who pay up to $10,000 a plate to attend.<\/p>\n May 17 2016:<\/strong><\/p>\n A former BC Liberal donor\u00a0pleads guilty<\/a>\u00a0to not disclosing a $2000 donation to the party while working for the government. This is\u00a0highly illegal<\/a>.<\/p>\n January 16 2017:<\/strong><\/p>\n The BC Liberals\u00a0announce<\/a>\u00a0that they raised 12 million in 2016 and 2 million so far in 2017.<\/p>\n February 16 2017:<\/strong><\/p>\n John Horgan\u00a0tables a bill to end big-money donations<\/a>, now called the \u2018Get Big Money Out Of Politics\u2019 Bill.<\/p>\n February 18, 2017:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Globe and Mail reveals<\/a><\/p>\n lobbyists donating to the BC Liberals may have done so on behalf of their clients. If those lobbyists were repaid by the companies they represented, it breaks one of the few laws BC does have on political fundraising. And the punishments aren\u2019t small, either: Up to a $10,000 fine or even jail time.<\/p>\n March 6 2017:<\/strong><\/p>\n Elections BC confirms<\/a><\/p>\n that it is investigating donation practices by BC Liberal donors.<\/p>\n March 10 2017:<\/strong><\/p>\n Elections BC\u00a0officially refers the investigation<\/a>\u00a0to the RCMP.<\/p>\n March 13 2017:<\/strong><\/p>\n Christy Clark\u00a0announces plans<\/a>\u00a0to implement a\u00a0special panel<\/a>\u00a0to investigate election finance practices and rules.<\/p>\n March 16 2017:<\/strong><\/p>\n The BC Liberals\u00a0end the legislative session<\/a>\u00a0without moving forward on Horgan\u2019s bill \u2013 or their own.<\/p>\n That evening the Vancouver Sun\u00a0reports that more than half of the BC Liberal\u2019s top 50 donors<\/a>\u00a0have received money from the BC government, totalling a staggering $885 million between 2007 and 2016. \u00a0Seriously, though. That’s a lot of cash.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019re frustrated just reading this, you\u2019re not alone. More than 7,000 people have\u00a0joined our call to ban big money<\/a>, and\u00a0seven in ten British Columbians support<\/a>\u00a0ending union and corporate donations to political parties.<\/p>\n It\u2019s time for a government that works for you, not for big-money donors. We will ban union and corporate donations, and put a hard cap on individual donations.<\/p>\n There\u2019s only one way to break big money\u2019s grip on the BC government:<\/p>\n\u00a0Vote for the BC NDP on May 9.<\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Originally written by: \u00a0Heather Libby, BC NDP Digital Team |\u00a0March 28, 2017 Six times, the BC NDP has tried to get big money out of politics. On May 9, you can finally make it happen. 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