The Telegram
Justice Minster Andrew Parsons is still nervous about wading into democratic reform, but he says letting an all-party committee decide the direction is the way to go.
Parsons introduced a motion in the House of Assembly on Wednesday that would see members of all three parties tackle issues like campaign finances, electoral reform or any issue they see fit to take on.
Electoral reform infamously fell flat for the federal Liberal party, which proclaimed the 2015 election as the last to be based on the current electoral system, only to back off on that promise.
When Parsons spoke with The Telegram in January about the prospect of tackling democratic reform, he said, “Who in their right mind wants to undertake something that you know is fraught with issues?”
Parsons still has those nerves, but he’s hopeful the eventual committee will be productive.
“This is only going to be as productive as the members want it to be. The fact is, they are highly politically charged,” said Parsons.
“The good news about ours is that we’re not going in with a defined mandate saying this is what we need to accomplish. I want us as legislators — all three of the parties — to be able to say, ‘Where are we on this? What do we want to do?’ It’s going to be as successful as we want it to be.”
Parsons didn’t lay out specific goals he’d like to see accomplished, for fear of the committee going in a different direction.
There’s no specific deadline for recommendations. Parsons didn’t say for sure if the government would implement any recommendations before the 2019 election, but made it clear that if a good idea is presented, the government will take it into consideration.
Opposition Leader David Brazil says he hopes the committee will look at why voter turnout is low and how to get more people involved in the political process.
“How do you engage our citizens? Why are people complacent about politics here? How do you find ways to make it more inclusive when they vote? How do we get the message out to people?” said Brazil.
“The regulatory processes around corporate donations, the structure internally, how you attract candidates – the whole democratic process itself. It’s about modernizing.”
When it comes to political donations, NDP Leader Gerry Rogers saw her party come under fire this week on some of those issues.
Former NDP executive member James Murphy was quoted by VOCM saying he saw evidence of the NDP resisting the idea of eliminating political donations – particularly union donations, which make up the bulk of the NDP’s election fundraising.
Rogers says nothing could be further from the truth.
“What’s being represented on Facebook is not at all a true representation of the issue. The NDP is not beholden to any funders,” said Rogers.
“That’s something that needs to be talked about for all parties. We are not in the least bit resistant to that.”
In 2016, the Liberals received $506,846 in donations, 82 per cent of which came from businesses. The Progressive Conservatives received $58,525 in donations, 94 per cent of which came from businesses. The NDP took in $72,814 in 2016, 24 per cent of which came from unions.
Now that the motion has passed to have the House of Assembly as a whole strike the committee, it’s up to the House – which is set to close Thursday – to get the ball rolling to decide what our democracy will look like in the future.
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