Vaughn Palmer: B.C. politicians consider extending taxpayer subsidies past ‘expiry’ date

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VICTORIA — An all-party committee of the B.C. legislature is asking the public whether to continue the taxpayer subsidy for political parties that was brought in by the New Democrats four years ago.

The annual allowance has already paid almost $15 million to the New Democrats, B.C. Liberals and Greens. They are on track to collect a further $5 million by July 1, 2022, when the allowance expires unless extended by the legislature — which is the question before the committee and the subject of virtual public hearings that start later this week.

Before the 2017 election, NDP leader John Horgan flatly denied he intended to provide taxpayer subsidies for political parties, mocking the accusation as “alternative facts” from then Premier Christy Clark.

“More distortion, more fabrication, more making stuff up for the premier,” said Horgan. “At no time have I said that I prefer to make public dollars responsible for political parties.”

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Within weeks of taking office, the New Democrats tabled legislation providing $2.50 in public funding for every vote a party garnered in the 2017 election, dropping to $1.75 this year and next. The reversal was all Horgan’s doing according to the NDP’s partner in power, then Green leader Andrew Weaver.

“We did not push for the subsidy,” said Weaver.

Horgan defended the subsidy as a necessary offset to the NDP decision to ban corporate and union donations. He explained it as “a transition fund and it will be gone at the end of this mandate.” He meant it would expire just after the Oct. 16, 2021 fixed election date that the New Democrats enacted at about the same time as the allowance.

Later he reneged on the fixed election date as well, calling a snap election and putting the government into caretaker mode in the middle of the pandemic.

The B.C. Liberals denounced Horgan’s flip-flop as “disgusting” and voted against the enabling legislation. But when the first instalment of the allowance arrived at party headquarters in January of 2018 — it was for almost $1 million and the first of two for the year — the Liberals cashed the cheque. They have somehow found the strength to swallow their disgust and bank the allowance ever since.

After the 2020 election, the Liberals appear to need the subsidy more than ever. The party ended the year with a $2 million deficit while the New Democrats reported a $3 million surplus and the Greens came out $1.3 million ahead.  The Liberal entitlement from the allowance is down from $1.6 million last year to $1.1 million this year. Their vote tally dropped by about 20 per cent in 2020 and the base calculation for the allowance is down from $2 to $1.75 a vote.

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The New Democrats gained enough votes in 2020 over 2017 to ensure that their subsidy will hold at about $1.6 million this year. The Greens dropped votes as well and their allowance is down about $170,000 to $500,000. The B.C. Conservatives got enough votes in the ridings where they ran candidates to qualify for an allowance of $63,000. The Rural B.C. Party stands to collect $1,300.

These amounts are separate from a second entitlement whereby taxpayers are also obliged to cover half of the valid campaign spending by the major parties. Once the claims are audited, the payout is expected to be in the $10 million range. And that reimbursement is not subject to the sunset clause or the committee review.

Horgan characterized the two allowances, totalling an estimated $30 million, as “only a modest cost to taxpayers in the grand scheme of things.”

Taxpayers have until May 28 to submit their views to the committee, which to that end has established an email address: electionactcommittee@leg.bc.ca. Those inclined to make a presentation on line can request a spot at one of the virtual hearings, starting Thursday.

The four New Democrats, two Liberals and one Green on the committee have until Sept. 1 to report to the legislature with recommendations on whether the allowance should be paid after 2022 and if so at what amount and for how long. Don’t be surprised if members see no conflict of interest in voting to keep the money flowing into party accounts.

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Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman is neutral on those questions. But he did suggest that if the committee decides to maintain the allowance, it should tweak the dates for the twice-a-year payouts, currently Jan. 1 and July 1.

“They are holidays and banks are closed,” explained Boegman. “The approach that we have taken is to make these payments to the designated financial accounts on the day following, and that has not proved to be an issue with the recipients.”

No surprise there either — despite the delay, the parties still managed to bank the money without complaint.

David Rosenberg was the lawyer who successfully argued the Tsilhqot’in Aboriginal title case at the Supreme Court of Canada, not Jack Woodward as I wrongly reported in a piece on the passing of Tom Berger last Friday. My apologies to both — and especially to Rosenberg — for getting it wrong. “Although I was there, sitting in the courtroom beside the clients, having co-signed the factum with David, it was David who stood up and presented the very fine and persuasive arguments that won the day,” as Woodward put it in a note to me.

vpalmer@postmedia.com