The BC Liberals should stick to their guns and oppose any efforts to change the rules around political donations.
Somebody has to pay for these hugely expensive election campaigns and it may as well be wealthy corporations and unions because average taxpayers sure can't afford to pay to play.
If it wasn't for companies such as 0744625 B.C. Ltd., which donated $30,000 to the governing BC Liberals last year, the cost of campaigning would have to be scaled back big-time.
Politics in B.C. would come to a standstill without lobbyists and special interest groups lining up to pay $5,000 to $10,000 apiece to rub shoulders with the premier or premier-in-waiting at a fancy dinner party. Sure, it may be a bit of a shakedown by the political parties but that's how things have always been done.
So why should they change?
Imagine if political parties had to rely on $200 donations from real people instead of nameless corporations. Would we even have the kind of bare-knuckle battle that B.C. is known for?
So what if these big spenders wield too much influence — consider it the cost of doing business in B.C. (they do).
There are groups such as Integrity BC that are trying to make B.C. politics more fair and open. But really, they are fighting a losing battle.
No political party with an eye on winning the next election is going to give up this cash cow, and while the BC Liberals might be better at the shakedown than the NDP, the opposition party still gets it share of big spenders.
Still, without pay to play and individuals shelling out huge sums on behalf of their unnamed bosses to participate in the political campaign, there would be no one to ante up for those expensive, and often wrong, poll results, the back-room operatives, the negative advertising and annoying social media blitzes.
What's more, the political donations are all online, so you can see who is paying what, with the BC Liberals leading the way with their not really real-time posting. For example, 0926141 B.C. Ltd. gave $10,000 three times last year. So that's helpful, right?
And what good is it all, anyway? Only 52% of voters even bothered to vote in the 2013 provincial election, so you might as well have government run by special interest groups, such as developers and unions, because nearly half of potential voters are apparently not interested.
