An NDP government elected Nov. 7 would cut out all but personal donations to political parties, party leader Liz Hanson announced late Tuesday morning.

Hanson told reporters the NDP would pass legislation banning corporate and union donations as well as donations from outside the territory.

Last spring, the party introduced a private member’s bill in the legislature calling for a similar ban on donations, but it was too late in the session to do anything with the bill.

“After all, our democracy belongs to the people who live here,” Hanson said during what was her first official policy announcement of the territorial election campaign that began last Friday.

“The last election also saw thousands of dollars pour in from outside of the territory and from corporations to fund political parties.

“Over the last five years, 70 per cent of donations to (Premier Darrell) Pasloski’s conservative Yukon Party didn’t come from people – they came from corporations,” she said.

The leader of the official Opposition said nearly 40 per cent of those corporate donations came from outside the Yukon.

The territory belongs to Yukoners, not special interest groups or corporations from Outside who can pay the most, she said.

Hanson insisted special interest groups and corporations can influence decisions that do impact the daily lives of Yukoners.

“It’s hard to stand up for Yukoners when you’re answering to others,” she said.

Unlike the private member’s bill introduced in the legislature, Tuesday’s commitment does not include capping the amount of personal donations.

But Hanson said bringing the legislation forward would certainly provide the opportunity to have that discussion.

Along with the campaign commitment to abolish corporate, union and outside donations, Hanson presented a summary of the donations received by the three main parties in recent years, taken from mandatory reporting documents.

From 2011 through to the end of 2015, the Yukon Party raised $364,732 in donations.

That was followed by $334,269 generated by the NDP and $166,853 raised by the Liberals, says the NDP summary.

Of the total amount the Yukon Party took in, $258,869 or 71 per cent originatged through donations from banks, corporations or unions.

And of that amount, $141,400, or 39 per cent, came from outside the Yukon.

The summary says the NDP raised $41,642, or 12 per cent, of its total in the five years through bank, corporate and union donations, of which $6,492 (two per cent) came from Outside.

Of the total raised by the Liberals from 2011 to 2015, $12,700, or 7.6 per cent, came from banks, corporations and unions, most of it – $10,900 – arriving from Outside, according to the NDP summary.

The summary points out in 2015 alone, the New Democrats generated $71,101, more than any other party, without receiving any donations from banks, corporations or unions.

Of the $69,615 raised last year by the Yukon Party, $42,300 (61 per cent) came banks, corporations or unions, says the NDP summary.

Of the $20,275 raised by the Liberals in 2015, $1,000 came from banks, corporations and unions.

On Tuesday, Hanson emphasized how the Yukon Party has used lavish yacht cruises around Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet during the annual Mineral Exploration Roundup in January to entertain “wealthy corporate insiders” who contribute to the party.

For a price, suggested the Opposition leader, corporate executives get to meet with the premier and cabinet ministers – whose transportation to Vancouver and back has been fully financed by taxpayers due to their attendance at the roundup.

“We think Yukoners’ voices should be heard first and foremost in the legislature,” Hanson said.

She encouraged voters to ask the other party leaders about where they stood on the question of political donations.