The NDP is being called tone deaf and out of touch by opposition parties and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation regarding a vote on subsides to political parties.

In an Ethics and Accountability Committee meeting, members voted in favour of political parties and candidates receiving taxpayer-funded subsidies for 50 per cent of campaign expenditures provided they receive at least 10 per cent of the overall vote,

The motion was introduced by NDP MLA Rod Loyola and was passed 8-6, prompting immediate criticism.

Wildrose Government House Leader Nathan Cooper said while the system does exist in other provinces, considering the current state of the economy, now is not the time to do the same.

“We don’t think this is the time or the place to even be considering a conversation like this,” he said. “The NDP is a centrally-ran organization that sees this as an opportunity to fund future campaigns on the back of the taxpayer and not on the back of those who support the NDP.”

Stunning.

NDP members of Ethics & Accountability Cmtee just voted for taxpayers to fund 50% of party & candidate election expenses. #ableg — Richard Starke (@RichardStarke) August 10, 2016

Committee member and PC MLA Sandra Jansen said she was surprised and disappointed.

“This government surely has more pressing matters to focus on, given the current state of Alberta’s economy,” she said in a release, adding an overwhelming majority of public submissions received by the Committee did not support the motion. “The tone deafness of this proposal is staggering.”

But NDP MLA Jessica Littlewood, the chair of the committee, defended the recommendation, which also exists at the federal level.

“It’s something that will help strengthen democracy in Alberta so that it’s not about the size of a person’s wallet, that it’s really an election that’s about ideas,” she said.

Despite the current state of the economy, Littlewood said the government is also tasked with electoral reform and this is part of a larger package to get big money out of politics.

Other recommendations included limits on campaign contributions, as well as campaign spending on each registered party.

“It’s a little bit ironic that the opposition takes issue with this measure of trying to restore democracy in Alberta, because if you look to the east in Saskatchewan, they have something very similar,” she said.

Paige MacPherson of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation points out a system already exists, where if someone donates $200 to a political party, they receive a tax credit of 75 per cent and if the same family donates $200 to a charity, they receive a combined provincial-federal tax credit of only 25 per cent.

“Just because other provinces have something in place doesn’t mean that it’s good policy or that it’s the right thing to force taxpayers to be a part of,” she said. “The combined sales tax in Nova Scotia is 15 per cent, that doesn’t mean that we should go and impose a 15 per cent sales tax on Alberta taxpayers.”

Idea that with $14 billion deficit, #abgov would prioritize subsidizing political parties is nuts. Should taxpayers fund attack ads? #ableg — Paige T. MacPherson (@paigemacp) August 10, 2016



Since it’s at the committee stage, the recommendation will likely be seen in the fall.

“Unless the government decided to withdraw their motion or propose a separate motion at the committee stage, this is what we could expect to see in a piece of legislation when it’s presented in the assembly,” Cooper said.

On the criticism of being called tone deaf and out of touch, Littlewood said the Wildrose suggested an amendment to have a referendum on the issue at a cost of $23 million.

“They say that they’re interested in fiscal responsibility, but their amendments and motions don’t necessarily reflect that when they’re doing the work,” she said. “The leader of the Wildrose when he was a Conservative member of the federal level, he would have received these rebates back and they are supported by people like him.”

“This isn’t something that is new, but it is something that is necessary.”