Big Surprise, faux populist backed by real estate moguls
When election hopes are based on how much money your campaign has and how much of it is corporately supported …
… it’s starting to look more like a plutocracy rather than a democracy
While I’m opposed to corporate money in politics, the amounts these executives contributed seems rather paltry.
In 2019 Canada enacted Bill C-76 which allows third-party donations (somewhat equivalent to America’s super PACS) which allows unlimited donations … from here:
Can I donate to third parties?
Even if you are not organizing events or producing advertising, you may still choose to engage in the election by making contributions to third parties to support their regulated activities. Unlike political contributions, individuals, businesses, and other organizations are permitted to make contributions to third parties, and are not subject to any monetary or non-monetary limit on the amount of their contributions.[30] A third party, however, must not use funds from a foreign entity to pay for regulated activities.[31]
Each contributor’s name and their contribution amounts must be reported in the third party’s financial returns, which are then published on the Elections Canada website.[32]
What really??? We intentionally legislated the equivalent of Citizens United, one of the worst US Supreme Court decisions on political speech?
Yup. Political parties felt hamstrung so enacted laws that got waaaayyyy too little attention at the time.
It’s essentially open season for political donations from Big Business but you will NEVER hear a politician say that out loud.
