Greg Sorbara, former Liberal finance minister, welcomes campaign finance reforms
'I think the model is old, it's time for a change,' says Greg Sorbara amid campaign finance controversy
The Heritage Dinner is one example of the astronomical sums involved in political fundraising in Ontario.
The dinner, happening on Wednesday night, costs around $18,000 per table. Premier Kathleen Wynne and her cabinet will be there, raising more than $3 million for the Ontario Liberal Party. But changes could be coming to political fundraising in Ontario.
Wynne has said she plans reforms to the province's campaign finance laws later this year. This comes after pieces by Martin Regg Cohn in the Toronto Star this week exposed large fundraising quotas for Liberal ministers.
The Star cites the pressure some ministers are under to meet fundraising targets, particularly from the Liberal Party's chief fundraiser Bobby Walman.
Greg Sorbara knows the requirements of that role very well. Now the Chancellor of York University, Sorbara is a former Liberal Party president and fundraising was a system he oversaw. He told CBC's Metro Morning that the way the political system is paid for is ripe for change.
"My mission was to raise as much as possible," he said. "You get on the phone, and you get a list of people, and you call them and you say, 'Would you please buy a table?'"
In Sorbara's day, the tables at events like the Heritage Dinner cost closer to $5,000. But the effect was the same — people would ask him what they would get in return for paying large amounts of money to the governing party.
"My answer was always the same: what you get is the satisfaction of supporting the democratic process in Ontario," the former finance minister said.
Perception of unfairness
Premier Wynne said on Tuesday there are significant reforms coming to campaign finance, including new rules on third party advertising, moving away from corporate and union donations and lowering the annual donation limit.
Sorbara seems to agree with that, though he said he always had faith in the system.
"I think the model is old, it's time for a change," he said. "But I'm not one who believes there's something nefarious going on and public policy is somehow set at quiet soirees with ministers — it just doesn't happen."
Canadian banks are a good example of how fundraising events sell tickets, according to Sorbara. Boards of directors at banks support two or three parties in Canada, and most often give the maximum allowable amount. However, the government does not always legislate in favour of the banks, he suggested.
But still, Sorbara admits there is a perception in Ontario that the campaign financing system is flawed. And since the way political parties raise funds does not have the confidence of the people, it must change.
He said he thinks ending corporate donations is "progress."
The inevitable solution, said Sorbara, might be a system much like the federal campaign finance rules brought in by former Prime Minister Jean Chretien. He published names of donors, put a maximum on personal donations and eliminated corporate and union donations.
Regardless of the uproar over campaign finance, Sorbara pointed out the majority of funding still comes from the public.
"The biggest funder of political parties in Ontario is actually the provincial government by way of rebates. If you make a donation, you get about 45 per cent of that back in a tax credit, and if you're a riding association, you get a per capita benefaction based on the number of people in your riding," he said.
"I don't think that's going to change much and I'm not one who believes the entire system should be funded by the public. I think the national rules are the ones we're going to inherit in Ontario when the premier gets around to it."