Re: CivicAccess-discuss Digest, Vol 19, Issue 9

[Joe Murray]

You would do well to check in with Prof Bob MacDermid at York U who has been
working on municipal and I believe Ontario donation info, and trying to make
it more publicly available. The data for Ontario is not that great: buried
in candidate by candidate files, only contains name and amount:
http://www.electionsontario.on.ca/en/finances_returns_en.shtml?nocache=true

Joe
 

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> Today's Topics:
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>    1. Re: CivicAccess-discuss FYI "Following the Money Trail
>       Online" (Judyth)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 26 May 2007 23:17:25 -0400
> From: Judyth <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [CivicAccess-discuss] CivicAccess-discuss FYI "Following
> the Money Trail Online"
> To: [hidden email]
> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hugh McGuire <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >careful with your teeth:
> >http://www.elections.ca/scripts/webpep/fin/welcome.aspx?lang=e
> >
> >to me, perusing some of this data, the surprising thing was how
> >*Ilittle* canadian politics appears to be financially supported.  
> >candidates collect thousands, and maybe tens of thousands in
> >funding...but not hundreds and certainly not millions.
>
> Keep in mind that our population and thus our economy are
> about 1/10th the size of their American equivalents.
>
> You can legally run for parliament as long as you can cover
> the $3000 deposit and gather 100-or-so-signatures (figures
> from memory as of 2004), whether anyone likes you much or
> not. It's not even beyond the realm of possibility that you'd
> win running as an independent, or as a member of a party too
> small to be recognized by Elections Canada. Rather a lot of
> our MPs, regardless of party, run relatively small campaigns
> staffed by volunteers and essentially financed by the local
> merchants' association or chamber of commerce or the main
> company in the company town.
>
> Running for a Congress or Senate seat in the States means
> campaigning statewide, not just in a 45,000-ish voter
> circumscription, and normally doing so within the
> money-driven political machine of one of two dominant
> parties. The enshrined two-party system, in which both
> parties are in the pockets of the wealthiest industries
> offering the biggest contributions with which to buy the
> biggest photo ops and media coverage, means that only a
> millionnaire like Ross Perrot has a reasonable chance of
> being considered a serious opponent to rhe system, and even
> he couldn't win: the dominant political class don't trust any
> politician whose soul they can't own.
>
> In other words, Canada is "small potatoes" when it comes to
> political corruption. We've got it, alright, but it's on a
> scale that would hardly count as lunch-money south of the
> border. Our "major" political parties (federal or provincial)
> generally have fewer than 5000 members each, of whom perhaps
> a hundred or two have any actual power at setting the
> political agenda. [The reason the PQ is chronically in
> trouble is that it's more democratic: more members, having
> more say and not hesitating to fire a leader who won't do
> what they want!] It's the 100-or-200 that have financial and
> political control of the party, do the collecting, dole out
> the favours ... and cook the party books if need be (which I
> suspect is usually, Election Financing Act or not).
>
> The only federal political party that's actually solvent
> enough for an election at the moment is the Conservative
> Party, thanks to Alberta oil and not-entirely-above-board
> contributions from "interested parties" south of the border.
> Note in particular the pay-for-play system by which the
> recorded music and IT industries own culture, pharmaceuticals
> and biotech own health, agribusiness owns food regulations,
> and the oil-patch owns the environment. Note also the degree
> to which consultants from the Republican right are brought in
> to advise on changes to the way government handles public
> accountability and even on changing the parliamentary system
> itself to something more like a presidential one without the
> requisite checks and balances.
>
> The Liberals are chronically in the hole: not that they don't
> collect lots, but they spend lavishly on media coverage and
> make promises to supporters that take lots of cash to keep
> after an election, some of which has to come from party
> rather than public funds. The "sponsorship scandal" wasn't a
> scandal because of the sponsorship aspect -- which is
> politics as it's usually practiced, even by the Conservative
> accusers -- but because it was handled so ineptly. (I mean,
> if you're going to pay off half a million to somebody for
> political favours with a dummy government contract, it only
> makes sense to ensure that the dummy invoices and dummy
> reports are on file... and you don't want witnesses seeing
> you hand off bundles of cash in public places.)
>
> The NDP has broad support from the broke but the election
> financing rules have cut what they used to get from the
> unions (some might argue that was the real reason for the "reform").
>
> The Greens spent 20 years on budgets that wouldn't run to one
> full-time secretary, let alone a "war chest," took a major
> gamble on the federal contributions to come under the new
> law, and in the process were sold out by the "inner circle"
> in some fairly shady dealings with a "venture capitalist" who
> operated the way such people often do.
>
> The BQ has few big contributors but lots of smaller ones
> within Quebec, mostly from those voters who know neither the
> Libs nor the Cons is even interested in speaking to their concerns.
>
> Major lobbyists are hardly interested in suborning
> politicians from the minority parties, of course. They
> sensibly concentrate the money in the hands of those who have
> the most power or are likely to have it shortly. Being good
> capitalists, they don't spend any more than they need to: a
> lavish vacation here, a campaign contribution there...
>
> And of course those lobbying for restoration of the public
> health system, better environmental regulations, etc.
> generally operate on a shoestring. Even the biggest advocacy
> groups like the Council of Canadians rely almost entirely on
> the folks who contribute $35-$50 a year so million-dollar
> payoffs aren't really an option. Playing devil's advocate for
> a moment, I could argue that instead of repeatedly
> petitioning parliament, such groups should simply take that
> money and buy themselves one or two possible-
> Cabinet-minister politicians within each of the major
> parties. A coupla hundred grand goes a long way here in
> Canada, especially if you can slide it under the table somehow.
>
> Cynically yours,
>
> Judyth
>
> P.S.  Much interesting reading on Canadian lobbying can be
> found at
> http://www.orl-bdl.gc.ca/epic/site/lobbyist-lobbyiste.nsf/en/h
> _nx00162e.html
>
> For some reason, the statistical information is available
> only on Industry Canada's Strategis site and via https :
> https://strategis.ic.gc.ca/app/secure/ec/lrrs/statisticalRepor
> t.do;jsessionid=0000OBy6e8wLryrlSCLStrKXXM6:10hc5g1ed?lang=eng
>
>
> https://strategis.ic.gc.ca/app/secure/ec/lrrs/statisticalRepor
> tLobbyists.do;jsessionid=0000OBy6e8wLryrlSCLStrKXXM6:10hc5g1ed
>
> Active Lobbyists by Type
>
> The following is a report of the number of Consultant,
> Corporate and Organizational lobbyists listed within active
> registrations.
>
> Active Lobbyists for: 2007/05/26
> Consultant lobbyists: 886
> In-House Corporation lobbyists: 1887
> In-House Organization lobbyists: 2546
> Total lobbyists: 5319
>
> https://strategis.ic.gc.ca/app/secure/ec/lrrs/statisticalRepor
> tTopAreasOfConcern.do;jsessionid=0000OBy6e8wLryrlSCLStrKXXM6:10hc5g1ed
> Contact Us
>
>
> Areas of Concern in Active Registrations
>
> The following is a listing, in descending order, the top
> subject areas (Areas of Concern) most frequently identified
> in active registrations.
>
> Areas of Concern in Active Registrations for: 2007/05/26
>
> Area of Concern Active Registrations
> Industry 1890
> Taxation and Finance 1463
> International Trade 1235
> Environment 1206
> Health 1106
> Science and Technology 1037
> Transportation 843
> Employment and Training 832
> Consumer Issues 779
> Energy 774
> Regional Development 759
> Government Procurement 723
> International Relations 621
> Infrastructure 621
> Aboriginal Affairs 564
> Intellectual Property 562
> Internal Trade 541
> Defence 535
> Agriculture 514
> Education 501
>
> View the complete list
>
> The number of active registrations which have indicated an
> Area of Concern not available from the predefined list (shown
> as "Other" within the registration).
> Other 391
>
> https://strategis.ic.gc.ca/app/secure/ec/lrrs/statisticalRepor
> tTopGovtInstitutions.do;jsessionid=0000OBy6e8wLryrlSCLStrKXXM6
> :10hc5g1ed
>
> Login
> Public Registry
> Registration
> Act and Other Documents
> Contact Us
>
>
> Government Departments and Agencies in Active Registrations
>
> The following is a listing, in descending order, of the top
> Government of Canada departments and agencies most frequently
> identified in active registrations.
>
> Government Departments and Agencies in Active Registrations
> for: 2007/05/26
>
> Department or Agency Active?Registrations
> Industry Canada 2360
> Finance Canada 1773
> Privy Council Office 1444
> Foreign Affairs and International Trade 1334
> Members of the House of Commons 1274
> Environment Canada 1193
> Health Canada 1190
> Transport Canada 921
> Treasury Board of Canada 908
> Revenue Canada 880
> Natural Resources Canada 877
> Prime Minister's Office 848
> Public Works and Government Services Canada 826
> Human Resources Development Canada 807
> Indian and Northern Affairs Canada 698
> Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 687
> National Defence 667
> Canadian Heritage 635
> Justice Canada 554
> Fisheries and Oceans Canada 500
>
> View the complete list
>
> The number of active registrations that have indicated a
> Government Department not available from the predefined list
> (shown as "Other" within the registration).
> Other 951
>
> The public registry search is at
> https://strategis.ic.gc.ca/app/secure/ec/lrrs/displaySearchReg
> .do;jsessionid=0000OBy6e8wLryrlSCLStrKXXM6:10hc5g1ed?lang=eng
>
> Interestingly, if you want to register as a lobbyist, you
> must first create a user account which, once approvoed (by
> whom? on what criteria?) will enable you to register. I'm
> tempted to try it, just to see what happens!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ##########################################################
> Judyth Mermelstein   "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
> Montreal, QC         <[hidden email]>
> Canada H4G 1J4       <[hidden email]>
> ##########################################################
> "A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
> "Un mot suffit aux sages; pour les autres, il en faut plus."
>
>
>
>
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> End of CivicAccess-discuss Digest, Vol 19, Issue 9
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