Party Subsidies


Stephen Harper is once again attacking his opponents’ wallets instead of their policies. Mr. Harper thinks that the twenty-seven million dollars of taxpayers’ money that is given annually to the parties is a waste of taxpayer money.

Says the man who spent a billion dollars of our money securing a 2 day conference in Toronto, more money than was spent on security at the entire Olympic Games. The same man who wants to spend sixteen billion of our dollars on an untendered jet fighter contract. But giving each party approximately two dollars per year per vote is a waste of money. Let’s face it: twenty-seven million dollars is a blip in the federal budget.

Notice that Mr. Harper isn’t going after the seventy-five percent tax credit one gets for donating up to four hundred dollars to a political party. The amount tax payer money that goes into that subsidy is quite a bit more than twenty-seven million, but Mr. Harper hopes that you won’t think about that. He won’t cut those subsidies, of course, because that would actually hurt his party too much.

He also isn’t talking about cutting the election rebates, which gives sixty percent of the money spent on a local campaign back to the riding as long as the candidate got at least ten percent of the vote. Again, you are talking about a great deal more than twenty-seven million dollars. But also again, eliminating that subsidy would hurt his party too much.

The Bloc, Green and New Democratic parties are completely dependent on the party subsidies for their continued existence. The Federal Liberals would survive the elimination of the subsidies, but it would hurt. Since we have eliminated corporate, not-for-profit and union donations in our political system, the per-vote subsidies have become the most reliable source of financing these parties have.

In some ways, the per-vote subsidy is the most democratic institution we currently have in Canada. You go to the polls, you cast your vote for a party, and two dollars a year of your tax dollars then goes to that party. How much more democratic can you get?

Mr. Harper and his collection of trained seals… err… bloggers… would have you believe that your tax dollars go to subsidize the Bloc or the Green party. But that just isn’t an accurate way of looking at it. Your tax dollars go to the party you voted for.

Now, if you are ideologically opposed to this form of subsidy, so be it. But then you must provide the parties with a way to raise money elsewhere. Increase the personal donation limit back to five thousand dollars, and allow corporations, not-for-profits and union locals to contribute five thousand dollars as well.

But Mr. Harper isn’t doing this for ideology. He’s trying to bankrupt his opponents so that he doesn’t have to face them over policy issues. And that is just wrong.