Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner has been sharing GPO’s ideas for restoring trust in the integrity of our system by reforming political party funding rules.
Some of these Green ideas have been incorporated in Bill 201, currently being considered by the House. Clearly our message is gaining traction, since the Liberal Government took the unprecedented step of inviting Mike to participate in the drafting new legislation by speaking to the Standing Committee on General Government today.
“The Liberal bill reflects many GPO priorities, including eliminating corporate and union donations, limiting third-party advertising, and introducing a per-vote allowance to finance political parties.
However, there are still some glaring omissions that need to be addressed, and Mike’s presentation is making sure these are still on the table before the bill gets past..
—Becky Smit, Executive Director, GPO
This afternoon Mike told the Standing Committee on General Government what the Ontario Green Party likes about Bill 201:
- It eliminates corporate and union donations
- A more democratic way to fund political parties: per-vote funding
- It restricts third-party advertising during writ and pre-writ periods
- Establishes donation limits for nomination contestants and leadership races
- Eliminates general and by-election contribution periods to a party
Then he outlined the significant revisions the GPO would like to see in Bill 201:
- Lower contribution limits and eliminate loopholes
- Lower spending limits for political parties
- Eliminate the partial reimbursement of campaign expenses
- Improve disclosure and oversight rules
You can read the full text of Mike’s presentation to the committee:
at gpo.ca/how-fix-elections-finances-bill
We can help by:
- Spreading the word on Twitter:
@OntarioGreens live tweeted during Mike’s presentation #onpoli #QPnot4sale - Like our post on Facebook
- Send a message to Premier Wynne