They’re the forgotten cousins of political donors, a beast that’s neither corporate nor union: trade associations.
If you have a shingle to hang, there’s one out there for you (even for the shingle maker).
There are associations for brewers, vintners, distillers and beverage licensees, for the owners of golf courses, apartment buildings and shopping centres, and the operators of wharfs and convenience stores.
Many are known to donate generously to political parties, particularly when they want to curry favour.
In the U.S., it’s called “dark money,” a way to spend big bucks on politics and remain relatively anonymous. It doesn’t have the same bad rap in B.C. yet but it’s problematic.
In tracking the donations of 116 associations over the last 10 years, 106 have donated more than $4.1 million to the B.C. Liberal party, with $2.6 million of that coming from just 10.
Fifty-eight of the associations donated $715,986 to the BC NDP. Nine of the 10 most generous with the BC Liberals also found $282,725 for the NDP.
Coming in tops for both parties was the New Car Dealers Association of BC, which, since 2005, has given $1.08 million to the BC Liberals and $82,790 to the NDP.
The Cement Association of Canada has donated $142,920 to the provincial Liberals, with $105,500 of that donated in 2012 and 2013, just as the B.C. government was conducting a review of the carbon tax.
Canada’s National Brewers Association has donated $125,191 to the BC Liberals, $44,596 of it between 2013 and 2014.
The BC Wine Institute gave the bulk of its donations ($14,068 of $15,523) in the same two-year period as well.
You might almost think a review into liquor policies was underway.
The Big 10 — the most generous of the generous — are interesting not just for the size of their donations but the fluctuations from one year to the next.
Drop the year where they gave the most and that outlier year jumps off the page with more than a handful of them.
Coast Forest Products Association gave an average of $3,698 annually to the BC Liberal party between 2005 and 2014, except for 2009, when it gave $53,500.
The Construction Labour Relations Association gave an average of $8,735 to the Liberals, except for 2009, when it gave $53,238.
The BC Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association gave an average of $3,148, except for 2009, when it donated $112,610, including a single cheque for $110,000.
Must have been some bake sale.
In 2010, the association’s president told the Globe and Mail that it restricts political spending to election years and planned to donate the same amount in 2013.
Not even close. In 2013, it donated $2,550 and reported spending less than $500 during the election.
These aren’t the types of groups that raise money through car washes. Annual membership fees in the New Car Dealers Association range from $550 to $2,750.
It’s not chump change being tossed into party coffers.
In 2006, the Big 10 donated $64,313 to the Liberals; three years later, they gave $503,202 and, in 2013, they forked out $501,263.
That’s a lot of top-up cash.
--Dermod Travis is the executive director of IntegrityBC.
www.integritybc.ca
@integritybc
