Experts, advocate say Regina mayoral candidates should release donors lists before election

Experts and an advocate say Regina voters should know who is contributing to mayoral candidates' campaigns before the election, because of concerns about developers funding municipal campaigns.

In Regina, mayoral candidates don't have to disclose how much money they raise for their campaigns until 90 days after the election.

There is no cap to donations from any one source, but the election expenses for a mayoral candidate can't exceed $68,776. Candidates also have to disclose the name of any donor that gives $500 or more.

Duff Conacher is the co-founder of Democracy Watch, an advocacy group pushing for democratic reform and corporate responsibility. Conacher said in places where finances aren't disclosed until after the election, private interest groups could potentially influence politicians during the election process. 

"Voters have a right to know who is bankrolling any candidate before they vote," Conacher said. "This disclosure is definitely needed in order to have a democratic fair election."

Democracy Watch is calling for campaign contributions to be limited to $100 per donation and for corporate donations to be banned.

"Saskatchewan really is the Wild West of Canada now by allowing corporate and union donations, and other organizations donations, and not having limits on individual donations," Conacher said. 

CBC Saskatchewan asked all nine candidates for a list of their campaign contributions. Darren Bradley said Evraz donated $500 and three individuals donated a total of $349. Bob Pearce said his campaign cost zero dollars. George Wooldridge said two individuals donated a total of $100. Mitchell Howse said he's only had small donations, none large enough to be disclosed.

Jim Elliott and Tony Fiacco said their campaigns are mostly self-funded. Elliott said his budget is about $4,400 and Fiacco said his is about $12,000.

Jerry Flegel said he supports the Elections Act and will release his finances after the election. Fougere and Sandra Master did not respond to requests for their campaign donor list.

'The numbers were just astonishing': researcher

A researcher looking into the issue in Ontario found what he called a concerning trend where those who took contributions from developers were twice as likely to be elected than those who didn't. 

Robert MacDermid was one of the researchers behind the 2016 report: If It's Broke, Fix It: a Report on the Money in Municipal Campaign Finances of 2014 and a professor emeritus at York University in the Department of Politics. 

"The numbers were just astonishing," MacDermid.

MacDermid's research found it difficult to link council decisions to developer funding, but he said the anecdotal evidence in Ontario was difficult to deny. 

In Regina, there isn't documented evidence that developers helping a candidates' campaign has led to specific projects being approved, but MacDermid said he is concerned that the dynamics are similar everywhere. 

"I've talked to people across the country and different provinces and it's the same, because municipalities have control of zoning and decisions that affect developers," MacDermid said.

Regina's incumbent mayoral candidate Michael Fougere has had multiple developers fund past campaigns, but Fougere said such contirbutions do not affect what happens in the future. 

"This is democracy. You're allowed to raise money and therefore it should be fine. But if the insinuation is somehow that if you raise money in a certain category, [that] people, developers may have a way through the door for decision making, that's false," Fougere said. 

"There's no evidence that that's the case."

Fougere's 2016 campaign received funding from Royalty Developments Ltd., Greenview Developments Ltd., Century Management & Development Ltd., North Prairie Developments Ltd., Property Developments Ltd., M2 Construction & Development Ltd., Mitchell Developments Ltd. and 101017129 Saskatchewan Ltd., according to his public disclosure after the election.

Fougere's 2016 campaign raised a total of $46,405. Contributions from developers made up $12,625.

Meanwhile, Tony Fiacco raised a total of $2,418 for his 2016 mayoral campaign. In his publicly filed submission, Fiacco said no contributors donated more than $500, the total above which he would be required to disclose their name. 

Jack Lucas, an associate professor of political science at the University of Calgary, said developer and corporation funding is concerning because those who can afford to give a large sum of money to candidates aren't typically the average person.

"Ideally, you would want a council that's responsive to the preferences of the general public and not to the preferences of some minority in the general public," he said. 

Not everyone is concerned, however, because there is a debate on how developers priorities line up with the general public, Lucas said.

Professors say candidates should release finances before Election Day

MacDermid said he would like to see any connection between developers and municipal candidates severed. One way to do this is to have candidates disclose who is funding their campaign before election day, he said. 

"Politics should be funded by individuals, not by corporations."

He would also like to see the donation cap lowered. He said that would help limit corporate donations.

Lucas agreed that disclosure before an election would be a good step. 

Mayoral candidate Jim Elliot agreed, saying the disclosure date should be the day before advance polls open in the city. 

"This disclosure may change the voter's opinion of who they should be voting for," he said.

Both Fougere and candidate Sandra Masters say they make a point to not focus on who is funding their campaign. 

Fougere said it isn't appropriate for developers to be hand picking candidates.

"It's important for transparency that all the money raised by every candidate is disclosed," Fougere said. "That, to me, signals to the public that you're open, transparent."

Fougere said he would be open to discussing rule changes, but pointed out there would be many things to consider, such as whether it would also apply to people running for council or school boards.

Masters said she doesn't think she is being funded by any developers, but that she stays out of the fundraising intentionally and her finances go directly through an auditor.

"I would never want an interested party of any kind to actually think they had undue influence or sway on what I may do at City Hall," Masters said. "The intention has to be, you serve the city first and whatever is best for the city is what needs to happen."

Masters did say that anyone who wants to contribute to her campaign should be allowed to. She said she's spoken to developers during the campaign, but that the conversations were about concerns at city hall, not specific developments.

She said it is important to remember the importance of developers. 

"Growth in the city requires development. Buildings too require developers, they're important to the fabric of any city," she said.

Masters did not respond to a question about whether she would support mayoral candidates releasing their campaign contributions before the election. 

MacDermid said he's skeptical about what Fougere and Masters said. He said he hasn't seen many politicians over the years who don't have a good idea where their money come from. 

"Let's take ownership of this. If you're a candidate who really believes that you're there to help people and not just to help developers, then you should be willing to fess up to where your money comes from," MacDermid said. 

Fiacco said he hasn't been receiving any money from developers during his 2020 campaign and joked that his campaign needed some.

"It's unfortunate that they don't support all candidates to stay neutral," Fiacco said. "The new council has to work with them."

Fiacco said there is no need to release personal, tax or financial information before the election. He said he's already declared his private business and has been very clear about his motivation for running.

"Info for the sake of info is just distraction," Fiacco said. "Candidates should only have to declare conflicts and recuse appropriately."

Union contributions also removed, if needed

MacDermid said the donations from unions are often thought of as similar to corporate donations. He said union donations often have to be prohibited along with corporate ones.

He said unions are actually fundamentally different than corporations. 

"Unions are democratic organizations. They are organizations where members can vote," MacDermid said. "If members are unhappy with their executive giving contributions to candidates, they can vote them out."

The rules for the Regina mayoral candidates are laid out in the Regina Municipal Election Expenses Bylaw 2007-34. 

Election expenses for a mayoral candidate are not to exceed $68,776. All candidates who appear on the ballot must complete and submit a form with 90 days of the election day of the following:

• The name of each contributor that gives $500 or more to mayoral candidates.
• The name of each contributor that gives $200 or more to council candidates.
• A summary of all election expenses.
• A statutory declaration that they have complied with the spending limits and disclosure requirements.