CATCH Articles:
Give vote to corporations
Aug 18, 2009
Last week’s debate on reforming election donations generated a proposal to extend voting rights to corporations. While the majority of councillors supported Mayor Eisenberger’s move to limit corporate and union influence, some argued for a move in the opposite direction.
Lloyd Ferguson initially raised the issue when he noted that corporations “can’t vote, but they pay taxes”. He argued that banning corporate and union election donations would send the message that “business is bad” and “can’t be trusted”.
“And we already think we have an image problem in our city,” he noted. “That is the wrong message to put out to investors that want to come in to our community.”
Maria Pearson said she agreed with Ferguson’s concerns and also picked up on the corporate voting idea.
“I‘ve had business owners complain to me – business owners from other communities that have businesses in my ward that are disappointed that they can’t vote at the municipal election time because as a company, they have no voting rights in the city,” she told councillors. “So it even goes further than just contributions, but they feel even slighted that they can’t vote.”
And that inspired Dave Mitchell who praised Pearson’s “good point” and demanded that the franchise be extended to correct what he believes is a problem.
“Where a local business that’s working very hard here lives in another municipality, and doesn’t have the right to vote here, and is a valuable business in this city, but pays taxes, that needs to be corrected,” he declared. Absolutely needs to be corrected.”
Eisenberger’s motion was approved 9-5. It asks the provincial government to give authority to all municipalities to ban corporate and union election donations, and requests a report from a city committee on “options, criteria and formula” on giving individual donors a rebate similar to existing rules in federal and provincial elections. Cities already have the right to implement such a program which is already in place in Ajax, Markham, Oakville, Ottawa and Toronto.
Supporters of the mayor’s initiative didn’t respond directly to the councillors’ arguments for extending the franchise. Some argued, however, that the current system allows corporate owners to make multiple contributions, both as individuals and through any companies they control.
It’s not clear if Mitchell and others intend to pursue a suffragette type effort to win the vote for corporations.