Vision Vancouver and NPA latest to promise to release campaign donor lists
Both parties release dueling news releases within an hour of each other
All of Vancouver's civic parties have now announced they will voluntarily address campaign financing before the election.
The move comes only a day after CBC questioned whether the parties would follow the lead of Toronto mayoral candidates who released their list of contributors and donations.
The Green Party of Vancouver said it would release its list and COPE mayoral candidate Meena Wong said she would push for it.
But the Non-Partisan Association and Vision Vancouver initially said they would not release their figures, fearing one would give an advantage to the other.
But all that changed Thursday.
The Non Partisan Association was the first out of the gate, announcing it would disclose its campaign donor list by Friday November 7, in a news release shortly after 2 p.m. PT.
"I challenge Gregor and Vision and all opponents to do the same if they really care about openness at City Hall," said mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe.
Less than an hour later, Vision pledged to release its donor list on the weekend, "building on nearly a decade of advocacy for campaign finance reform in British Columbia that has often been blocked by the NPA," said the Vision Vancouver statement.
It still isn't clear whether voters will see a list of donors with individual amounts or a list of contributors with a total at the bottom.
Meanwhile, Elections B.C. has announced it is taking a closer look at a new form of online campaign fundraising some civic elections candidates are using for the first time.
Crowdfunding isn't new, but it is new to B.C. politics.