Why have so many municipalities, the Town and County of St. Paul included, felt compelled to fork over thousands of dollars in donations to the governing party? The Town forked over $3,775 since 2005, the County forked over $2,245 since 2004. But the amounts hardly matter. It would still be troublesome even if it were only a few bucks.
The law prohibits parties from accepting money from any group that gets government funding. This law needs to be upheld, and the full scope of donations from municipalities across the province must be investigated. The Town and County have both provided donations almost every year to the PC party, and they are certainly not alone.
It's a problem because government, which is supposed to act on all of our behalves, is a neutral body. Parties are the conduit for arguments and do not represent the province in an official capacity. Yet parties make the government wheels turn round and it is a party that takes over the many, many departments of the province when forming a government.
There have been two explanations given for the oversight. The first is that as the law passed several years ago, administrators were not aware donating to a political party is illegal.
The letter from the County of St. Paul to Elections Alberta claims a Municipal Affairs advisor told the county it was not looked on well, but that doing it was legally OK. If correct, the letter would indicate the provincial department responsible for municipal governance was not sure of the rules.
The second explanation says towns and counties are scared government will punish uncooperative municipalities by withholding funding they need, if they do not repay with in kind donations to the PC party.
If around $6,000 has gone to the party from the Town and County of St. Paul since 2004, the possibility exists that much more has been paid by municipalities across the province. Eliminating funding from municipalities could pose big risks to Progressive Conservative fundraising, unless individual councillors and administrators decide it's worth paying their own way all the time.
Part of the problem may lie in the funding structure of towns and counties. The government gives grants and because these grants must be applied for, it is reasonable to think towns and counties feel funding could be endangered if they don't follow the party line. The recent scandal speaks to larger issues than political fundraisers.
