Political donations have always been the fuel of all election campaigns; it's a fact of life and we must understand how money affects our democracy. One might argue that money is pushing the agenda of special interests and selling public policy to the highest bidder. But on the other hand our citizens are far less involved in the political system and advertising is the only way to encourage participation.

So just how much does an election cost Canada? In 2004 the nation spent $280 million dollars on the election, 2006 would have been considerably higher. This represents $10 per person; to put this in perspective, the US spends $13 per person ($4 billion per election). The price of democracy is significant but similar between other nations around the world.

Even though i have compared the election costs, Canada and the US have very different methods of donations. Most of the poltical funding in the US comes from corporations, organized labour and special interest groups. An individual in the US can donate up to $100,000 every 2 years and a multiperson committee can donate unlimited funds. This may seem unfair but both poltical parties did agree to these rules and both parities seem to end up with very similar funding for election cycles. Most US corporations donate to both political parties within the ratio of 60/40 and you will rarely see one company donate more than 60% of their contributions to any one party; with the exception of organized labour who are firmly Democrat.

How does Canada compare to this? We are currently in the process of modifying our contribution rules; included in the Accountability Act (the first bill proposed by the Conservative government). The new rules restrict all corporations, unions, and special interest groups from contributing to political parties. The parties will get money from 3 areas; individual donations, $1.87 for every vote and additional funds for the number of seats won. This puts the power back in the hands of the people (like a true democracy) and all political donations are tax deductable. The maximum donation for any one person will be $1,000.

As wonderful as this sounds; the Liberal majority in the senate refuses to pass the Accountability Act, even though the bill was passed unanimously in the House of Commons. The Liberals have always been tight with Bay St. and corporate Canada; they fear losing large donations from Canada's elite.

Even during the Liberal leadership race (3rd quarter 2006), the number of donations were as follows: Conservatives (37,453) Liberals (7,269) and NDP (13,137). It's no wonder the Liberals don't want to shift the power to voters; they just don't have the grassroots support.

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