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Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon
Yukon Party would close funding transparency loophole
The Yukon Party has unveiled a package of commitments that would improve transparency and accountability in politics and strengthen democracy in the territory, the party said.
The Yukon Party has unveiled a package of commitments that would improve transparency and accountability in politics and strengthen democracy in the territory, the party said.
If elected in next year’s election, the Yukon Party would:
• cap political contributions from individuals or businesses;
• close the loophole that allows parties to hide the source of political donations; and
• legislate a mandatory review of the Elections Act every five years.
“Yukon voters need to know the source of donations to territorial political parties, so that they can have confidence in our political system,” Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon said Monday.
“Implementing a cap on political contributions and ensuring that electors know the source of financial donations to political parties will help make our political system more open and transparent.”
Currently, there is no limit on the amount of money that individuals or businesses can give a political party.
Parties can also effectively hide the source of significant amounts of donations, the official Opposition party noted.
“In the 2019/20 reporting year, the Liberal party abused a loophole in the current rules to hide the source of over $100,000 in political donations,” the Yukon Party said.
“This means that Yukon voters, the conflicts commissioner, and the chief electoral officer do not know the source of the vast majority of money that the Liberal party raised in 2019/20.”
The report on party financing was made public over the summer.
The Star made several requests to the executive of the Yukon Liberal Party for an explanation of the sources of the $100,000.
Other than a brief emailed statement from a former executive member, the Liberal party provided no response to the Star’s inquiries.
“Further, in 2016, the Liberal party accepted the largest political donation in the Yukon’s history – $50,000 – from one company,” Dixon said.
“Financial contributions are an entirely legitimate way for individuals and businesses to support political parties, but having no cap at all on donations makes Yukon an outlier in Canada,” Dixon added.
“Yukon voters deserve to know if an individual or business has donated large sums of money to a political party.”
“In both Ottawa and Whitehorse, the Liberal Party has strained the public’s faith in our political system, and reforms are needed to build back the public’s trust,” said the Yukon Party leader.
“Closing this loophole that the Liberals have exploited will help build back the public’s trust.”
The party’s proposed regular review of the Elections Act would help ensure that caps, limits, or thresholds in the act remain at an appropriate level, Dixon added.
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Comments (16)
Up 2 Down 2
Unfeckingbelievable! on Oct 6, 2020 at 8:00 pm
Dear Melba - What goes on in the Yukon is not normal... Hahaha... We all know this and yet we allow that which is hoped for to remain a hope in spite of its unattainability.
The Yukon, those who run it anyway, are a sad and pathetic joke to the rest of the world... They watch, they listen and they mock... Make sure you get the D!
Up 8 Down 6
melba on Oct 4, 2020 at 9:20 pm
No entity who is not able to vote in the election should be able to donate to a political candidate or party, except if it is an individual who is considered a resident of the territory for tax purposes. Ie, someone might not be able to vote in the Yukon because they are not a Canadian citizen, but if they live here and pay their taxes here, they should be able to donate. All the corporations, unions or other individuals and entities should not be able to donate to political parties. The politicians are supposed to be working for the citizens of the Yukon, not foreign mining companies etc. The Yukon Party was and perhaps still is the worst of the worst for being the Party of the Mining Industry, often at great expense to Yukoners as we clean up their messes, build their roads, and allow them to walk off with irreplaceable wealth.
The Yukon needs to do a lot more than Currie is suggesting in order to get in line with what is considered normal in the rest of Canada. MacLeans Magazine calls the Yukon, 'The Wild West', in terms of our ridiculous election finance laws. What goes on here is not normal! We need reform in a much bigger way than he is suggesting. Of course, that would hurt his own election financing.
Up 13 Down 9
Woodcutter on Oct 3, 2020 at 6:13 pm
Yukoner 3 you hit the nail on the head and I would like to add that Silver is incredible, he's making the Yukon Party sound like the NDP. Soon they will say they care about the poor, wait for it.
Up 17 Down 14
Angry on Oct 2, 2020 at 6:57 pm
Pay back the Golden Parachute money you and Pasloski got after you were in government last time Currie. Until then, you have no place pretending to be transparent and virtuous.
Up 18 Down 6
Klaus G. on Oct 2, 2020 at 6:35 pm
Would the yukon party have to disclose things like the $500,000.00 they got from Alberta last election for Facebook Ads and the like under Curry's proposal?
Up 14 Down 13
JC on Oct 2, 2020 at 5:22 pm
Yukoner3, the money for elections comes from the donors. And most countries have 4 year mandates. I know JT and Sandy would like elections every 25 years. They crave the power. Four years is good.
Up 31 Down 25
stephen on Oct 2, 2020 at 12:31 pm
Sorry I was laughing so hard I fell off my chair. I'm ok though.
This from a guy who was part of the YP government who spent all their time being less transparent than most other governments. Now he says we should do all these things if we get in again. Hahaha
Right wonder boy, how about you say if we do not institute all these changes within the first 6 months we as a party will resign. Put up or shut up as you already have a bad track record of those items you want to implement.
Up 19 Down 4
Groucho d'North on Oct 2, 2020 at 11:06 am
I wish there was some way to confirm how some of these loopholes get approved, because it's the politicians that create them and different ones remove them after they are revealed to be less than appropriate in some way. Perhaps outlawing Omnibus bills could help?
Up 32 Down 5
BnR on Oct 2, 2020 at 7:59 am
Personally, I'd like a political party that will work for Yukoners, and is not beholden to either a property development company from Alberta, or to mining companies that think nothing of cashing in and checking out.
But that's just me.
Up 16 Down 9
Yukoner3 on Oct 1, 2020 at 11:24 pm
@JC Why do you want to go from 5 to 4 years? Having more elections means more wasted money and wasted time. Plus political parties rarely have long term visions, they just want to get past the next election and so the shorter the term, the shorter their plans and the more time they spend campaigning instead of doing actual work. If anything they should be 6 years so that parties can complete some kind of agenda before heading back to the polls.
Up 23 Down 20
Yukoner3 on Oct 1, 2020 at 11:19 pm
hahah seriously?! The 'Yukon Party' is proposing transparency? Anyone who has lived in Yukon awhile knows that the Yukon Party is the definition of an Old Boys Club that makes decisions and gives out contracts on a handshake and a wink. This is how they ruled for 15 years prior to the Liberals winning the last election.
So what could have possibly happened that made them have a change of heart? Ohhhhh right, the Liberals started out fundraising them LOL. Currie and all of the current MLAs were in the Pasloski Government and had plenty of time to make these changes. In fact, the NDP called for this many times and were laughed at by the conservatives (IE Yukon Party). Funny how this has changed with the shoe on the other foot now, ha ha. If these guys were all new faces it might be believable, but it's just 'Back to the Future' if the conservatives win the election. Sorry but you aren't fooling anyone frat boy.
Up 29 Down 13
Nathan Living on Oct 1, 2020 at 8:19 pm
Yukon Party was kicked out over the Peel and other blunders.
They want to create transparency which was not part of the way they did business. Was not much transparency when they gifted the golf course 750,000 dollars.
Up 44 Down 14
Sarah on Oct 1, 2020 at 4:12 pm
Hartleyd....what? Do you get how this whole thing works? He is the Leader of the Yukon Party. He says what Yukon Party would do if they were elected. People vote for Yukon Party at election. Yukon Party does the thing the Leader said they would do. He has a mandate from his party. He is obviously not writing legislation from a living room, numpty. He is proposing legislation that makes complete sense.
Up 37 Down 13
JC on Oct 1, 2020 at 4:01 pm
Great idea Currie. Now, shorten the election dates to 4 years from 5.
Up 37 Down 12
JC on Oct 1, 2020 at 4:00 pm
Hartlyd, Currie said if the Yukon Party gets elected. Read the report.
Up 31 Down 42
Hartleyd on Oct 1, 2020 at 3:09 pm
This dude has ZERO mandate from the people to do anything. He is in no elected position. It would be like me or you randomly writing Legislation from our living room.