Ontario’s new law banning corporate and union donations in municipal elections could have significant impacts in Hamilton, especially if ward boundaries are also changed to give voters more equal representation. While providing the option of ranked ballots has drawn most attention, other changes in the recently adopted legislation shorten election campaigns, regulate third party interventions, and require more accessible polling stations.
The Municipal Elections Modernization Act now specifies that only “an individual who is normally resident in Ontario” including the candidate and her/his spouse “may make contributions” in city and school board elections. The legislation goes on to specify who cannot make donations including “a corporation that carries on business in Ontario,” and “a trade union that holds bargaining rights for employees in Ontario”.
Most Hamilton city councillors have relied heavily on corporate and union monies to fund their election campaigns (and in some cases lavish post-election parties and handouts). For example, in the last city election two years ago, corporate and union monies comprised over 80 percent of the contributions reported by Terry Whitehead and Chad Collins.
That was also the case for over two-thirds of donations to Tom Jackson, Jason Farr, Scott Duvall (since resigned) and Maria Pearson. Councillors Sam Merulla and Lloyd Ferguson also got most of their election funds from corporations or unions. Judi Partridge, Robert Pasuta and Arlene Vanderbeek each reported their corporate or union monies provided 43 to 48 percent of their donations.
The least affected by the new ban might be Brenda Johnson and Doug Conley who reported no corporate or union gifts – the latter using only personal funds for his campaign. Also little affected would be Matthew Green and Aidan Johnson who collected over 85 percent of their donations from individuals.
In last March’s by-election, winner Donna Skelly reported corporate and union donations covered more than half of her fundraising. None of this money came from companies with addresses in her central mountain ward, a situation that was also true for all but one of her individual donors.
If the changes had been in force for the November 2014 election, they might also have affected the mayoralty race. Winner Fred Eisenberger got more than two-thirds of his financing from corporations and unions, while his two main competitors both relied primarily on individual donations. Monies from the 185-plus individuals who donated to Brian McHattie’s campaign made up nearly three-quarters of his contributions, while Brad Clark got a little over half of his monies from 82 individuals.
In Hamilton, some business owners shifted their election gifts to their personal accounts after the revelations over illegal donations led to the conviction of former Mayor DiIanni. The rules should now prevent corporations from writing off municipal donations as business expenses, and may give them less influence over city and school board decision-making.
Some municipalities, including Toronto which banned corporate and union monies from elections years ago, provide rebates to individual donors – similar to the practice long followed in provincial and federal elections. This might now be considered by Hamilton council to partly offset the loss of funders imposed by the new provincial rules.
Other legislative changes establish “a framework to regulate third-party advertising, including contribution and spending limits, and to define third-party advertising as advertisements supporting or opposing a candidate”. Both unions and corporations, once registered with the city clerk, are permitted to be third-party advertisers.
The start of campaigning is now the beginning of May instead of January. The Act also permits municipal governments to implement ranked balloting for voting – something that could have major effects on races where there are multiple candidates and no incumbent. In the by-election won by Donna Skelly, for example, there were 23 candidates and Skelly won with less than 20 percent of ballots cast.