NEWS: Voting for change

Many political critics have long expressed concern that no limit is imposed on the amount of outside financial contributions a local election campaign is legally entitled to accept, arguing that it grants an unfair advantage to candidates who are able to attract wealthy donors.

With another municipal election coming next year, the work of the province’s Local Government Elections Task Force (LGETF) is timely for Vancouver. If all goes as planned, a new set of rules will be in place by then, marking significant changes to the way people vote and are elected in the city.

Vancouver City Council submitted a list of recommendations for electoral reform to the LGETF last week, as part of a province-wide review of local electoral processes. The deadline for submissions is April 15, and the task force will give recommendations to the province and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities by May 30.

Council’s submission includes recommendations to ban union and corporate donations; limit the annual contributions given by an individual; and limit the amount of money spent annually by elector organizations, campaign organizers, and individuals seeking elected office. It is also recommends that all donations and expenses for candidates, elected officials, and elector organizations be disclosed every six months. As well, council recommends that the municipal term of office be extended from three to four years (matching the provincial system), and that the province give local governments the authority to “use any method of elections they wish to use.” That means the City of Vancouver could employ voting systems other than the at-large system it currently uses, in which candidates are elected by all of Vancouver’s voters rather than by voters within a specific district.

“The thing that we really like here is that the City is taking a public stand on electoral choice, system choice,” says Neil Monckton, chair of Think City, a local civic-issues group. “One of the key issues in democratic reform is the type of voting system you have, and Vancouver’s putting it back on the table.”

What happens next is in the hands of the provincial government, which must make legislative changes to the Vancouver Charter if city council’s recommendations are to become policy. “There may be more options than a binary ‘yes/no’ here,” Jim DeLaHunt reminded council at a March 25 meeting. As the spokesperson for the non-partisan organization Fair Voting BC, DeLaHunt is, as yet, more interested in the broader implications of electoral reform than picking at details. “We’re trying to make elections fair, accountable, and transparent, and it’s a long-term project,” he says. “We will take what we can get done with this task force and move forward either way.”