Law Times

Page 6 September 17, 2018 • Law timeS www.lawtimesnews.com Political financing under scrutiny BY KADY O'MALLEY H eads up, shy and retiring partisans. If you're among the thousands of Canadians who regularly, if quietly, exercise their democratic right to fork over their hard-earned cash for the chance to get up close and personal — or at least be in the same room as — your federal party leader of choice, the details of your participation in such after-hours political activities may soon be a matter of public record. At some point between now and the end of the year, Team Trudeau's much- self-vaunted bid to "set a higher bar" on transparency in political financing by imposing new disclosure requirements for fundraisers featuring in-person ap- pearances by cabinet ministers, party leaders and leadership candidates is set to kick in. Under the new rules, parties will be obliged to publicize, via a "prominent location" on the website, the details of such events at least five days in advance, including the date, time, venue and ticket price, if applicable, as well as con- tact information for anyone — read: the unquenchably curious media — seeking more information. They also have to prepare a follow-up report — which has to be posted within 30 days of the event — with the full list of attendees (ex- cept, that is, for support staff, reporting press and guests under the age of 18), includ- ing names, city and province of residency and, most cru- cially, the total amount paid to attend the event, whether as a one-off ticket price or to meet the minimum dona- tions required (by the party) to get in the door. For those scratching their heads and trying to recall the impetus for this par- ticular legislative push, here are three words that should jog the collective memory: "cash for access." That was the universal journalistic shorthand for the Liberals' now volun- tarily discontinued practice of letting well-heeled party supporters pay up to $1,500 a pop to rub shoulders with senior cabinet ministers — and even, on more than one occasion, the prime minister himself — at exclusive off-the-record get-togethers, the very existence of which were largely unknown outside the par- ty until the fall of 2016, when it made headlines in the Globe and Mail and promptly became the biggest — and, for the Liberals, most damaging — political story of the year. And while PM Justin Trudeau and his front bench did their best to defend them- selves — pointing out, repeat- edly, if pointlessly, that it was all totally legal — they really had no choice but to crack down on the practice, even if it meant turning their own party's fundraising strategy into a cautionary tale. And to give the Liberal party credit, it has been vol- untarily adhering to the new regime for more than a year, as a quick scan of the data posted to the "open fundraising" portal will confirm. What we don't yet know, however, is how it will affect the already tension- fraught relationship that we, as Canadi- ans, have with the very notion of parti- san politicking — particularly when it can be assigned a dollar value. Elections Canada already maintains a publicly accessible database of federal political contributions, after all, and if you've ever wondered about the ideo- logical leanings of your boss, co-worker, in-laws or nosy neighbours, it takes all of five minutes to pull up a complete list of their donations, if any. It would be a shame if, in our enthu- siasm for opening up the political pro- cess to public scrutiny, we inadvertently wound up discouraging those on the margins from paying to get a closer look, simply out of concern that they may be forever branded as a partisan actor and not an impartial, but interested observer. In fact, if I can be glass half full for a moment, it's entirely possible that pub- licly posting those attendance lists may actually dispel some widespread fears about the inf luence of money in our fed- eral politics. This isn't the United States of America, after all — you're not going to see anyone donating $100,000 to attend a dinner party at Rideau Cottage. The rules are pretty clear: You get to donate $1,575 per year to a party and another $1,575 to a riding association and that's it. Whether you spend it all at once to attend a reception with a cabinet minis- ter or your contribution is broken down into automatic monthly withdrawals, that, it seems, is the real safety net on po- litical financing: When you come down to it, there's just not that much money involved and the new reports will only emphasize that. LT uKady O'Malley is a member of the par- liamentary press gallery in Ottawa and writes about politics, procedure and pro- cess for iPolitics. She also appears regu- larly on CBC television and radio. COMMENT u EDITORIAL OBITER By Gabrielle Giroday ©2018 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or stored in a retrieval system without written per- mission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. 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Karen Lorimer Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Brown Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabrielle Giroday Staff Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anita Balakrishnan Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patricia Cancilla CaseLaw Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leah Craven Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phyllis Barone Production Co-ordinator . . . . . Jacqueline D'Souza Electronic Production Specialist . . . Derek Welford Never a dull moment A dmittedly, when I heard about the move by lawyers to chal- lenge Ontario over the constitutional validity of cutting the Toronto council wards in the midst of an election cycle, I had my doubts about its success. That's why the ruling by Justice Edward Belobaba was a bit of a bombshell — especially with its catchy wording (s. 77's reference to crickets had everyone talking) and no-nonsense language that cut straight to the heart of the matter. "The Province has clearly crossed the line," said the ruling. "Here, the law changing the City's electoral districts was enacted in the middle of the City's election. This mid-stream legislative interven- tion not only interfered with the candidate's freedom of expression, it undermined an otherwise fair and equitable election process," it added. But the battle isn't over yet. At press time, the province had said it was appealing and also seeking a stay of Belobaba's decision, along- side introducing a new bill and invoking the notwithstanding clause in s. 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to override eligible Charter protections. The city has countered by voting to pursue further legal challeng- es. Rocco Achampong, a lawyer who was part of the effort to stop the province, says lawyers are "going to have a lot to do" for the next four years. He was one of 20 counsel named in Belobaba's decision, acting on behalf of different groups. "The rule of law must be defended at all costs," he says. But it's unlikely to change before Oct. 22, says one scholar. "I don't see much room of further chal- lenge of this in the courts," says Carissima Mathen. For lawyers and judges, it's a fascinating time to see how various levels of the courts will interpret the matter, as well as how the showdown will re- solve. One silver lining? Issues around the law have never been more topical — or more pressing. LT The Hill Kady O'Malley Kady O'Malley

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