Revelations of a secret path to those in power made a big splash on the front page of the Toronto Star this past Tuesday.
Wynne’s Liberals are desperate to raise funds, so much so that cabinet ministers are assigned annual targets to reach. The Liberals aren’t talking about chump change either, with goals from $250,000 to $500,000 for high-profile members.
Ironically, the targets are in excess of what the ministers personally make leading their assigned departments. This is extra work – for the party – as if lives as ministers weren’t busy enough.
For politicians, it is a delicate job finding the balance between doing the party’s business and doing the business they were elected to conduct.
The provincial Liberals are not alone. Federally, Trudeau’s crowd has pestered us on a weekly basis since before the last election. How we got on the list remains a mystery, but without fail, we get a weekly “important” message to donate. First it was to win the election and now it’s all about getting ready for the next election. Keep in mind, that election is four years off after Trudeau won a majority government last fall.
Although the Conservatives don’t deluge us with email quite the same way, last summer was a vexing time for after-dinner phone calls. With a script out of the 1950s, an often elderly woman would ask if we were scared of the potential for a Liberal government last fall. Fear seemed to be the driver and without help, the Canada we know and love would end. We didn’t give them any money either.
As a point of clarity, we tend not to donate to political parties so there is little confusion amongst parties as to why we would support one instead of another.
The idea of fundraising isn’t new, but with the advent of social media and email campaigns, drumming up funds is far easier than it once was. It’s a click away for many people.
State-side much has been made of fundraising in the recent party nomination races. Candidates who operate outside the mainstream seem to keep going based on their ability to fundraise using similar digital techniques.
Arguably, the likes of Bernie Sanders running for the Democrats has capitalized greatly on the social media apparatus, because his ideas aren’t held up to the light of day had he been forced to rely solely on traditional media.
Instead, Sanders has been able to generate donation revenue from a broad spectrum of followers that simply think they like the guy.
A point that we haven’t faced as heavily in this country is the use of third-party advertisers to support or decimate a candidate. Literally billions of dollars have been poured into advertising – traditional and social media – to either make or break a candidate. More often than not, it is negative advertising against a particular person. It’s a strategy we find repulsive, but it seems to be the reality today. This is something Canadians should fight wholeheartedly if we see anything approaching the brutal campaigning tactics deployed south of the border.
As a point of reference, according to our latest email from Liberal headquarters, that party and the Conservatives have raised over $10 million jointly in the first quarter. If we read the chart correctly, net results have doubled since 2013.
By all accounts they have no intention to stop looking for money. Call us old fashioned, but surely there are better uses for this money than party politics.
