Campaigning for seats on town council in Okotoks or any other Foothills municipality are not big budget affairs. Many councillors were elected with modest, even shoestring campaigns, dipping into their own pockets and some were able to draw on donations from supporters.
However, a proposal by Alberta Liberal Party leader David Swann to bring in new financial rules for municipal elections has merit and changes should be in place before the 2017 vote.
Swann proposes all donations should be publicly disclosed before election day; they should be limited to the calendar year when an election is held; donations to municipal candidates should be eligible for tax credits; and banning corporate and union donations. The same rules should apply to all municipal candidates, regardless of the size of their community, he said.
Granted, campaigning for office in a town or rural municipality is a different league compared to high-pressure, high-stakes politics in major urban centres such as Calgary and Edmonton. However, Foothills municipalities are growing, particularly Okotoks and the MD of Foothills.
The proposals are modest and would put everyone on a level playing field.
The Liberal Party has made several attempts at getting the changes made since first raising the issue in 2012 and the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association is now echoing its call.
It’s time for all sides to work together to ensure new campaign finance rules are in place for the 2017 municipal election.
