UCP promising to 'restore confidence' in elections with new bill, NDP disagrees

EDMONTON -

Alberta's government released details of a major voting overhaul Thursday – one that aims to raise spending limits for parties, ban foreign money, and make donations during leadership contests unlimited in an effort to "increase trust" amongst voters.

But the NDP alleges the premier is writing laws in his favour to "steal the next election."

Bill 81 – the Election Statutes Amendment Act – also allows voter cards to be sent electronically, sets an exact election date and changes the rules that force employers to give staff time off to vote.

"Not only would Bill 81 help restore Albertans' confidence in the electoral system, but it would also deliver on our promise to remove foreign influence in our system," Justice Minister and Solicitor General Kaycee Madu said.

Madu was asked for an exact number of how much foreign money was entering Alberta elections but he didn't answer, and no figure was offered in government documents announcing the changes.

The bill was tabled Thursday and is expected to pass with a UCP majority.

If it does, people who do not live in the province will no longer be allowed to donate to political advertising during a campaign.

Only Canadians would be allowed to contribute outside of that period.

"These changes would prohibit other jurisdictions from unduly influencing Alberta elections," Madu said.

The act would also replace Alberta's fixed election period with a specific date, in this case the last Monday in May. This would place the next election on May 29, 2023.

SPENDING LIMITS FOR PARTIES RAISED

Madu argued this will "remove the advantage" his governing party has in picking the election date and "increase trust" amongst voters.

Spending limits for parties during elections would be raised from a flat cap of $2.12 million to $1.16 per registered voter, which currently works out to about $3.3 million.

The limit only affects party spending, not money spent by specific candidates or expenses not subject to the cap.

In the 2019 Alberta election, the UCP declared a total of $5.5 million spent, while the NDP declared $5.4 million.

Bill 81 would also impose an annual cap of $30,000 on donations to political action committees (PACs) and ban parties, candidates and constituencies from contributing to PACs, often called third party advertisers, who push policies.

Employees who already have three consecutive hours off to vote while the polls are open, either during advanced polling or on election day, will no longer be entitled to an additional three hours off of work.

The bill also seeks to increase the number of advanced voting stations, make contributions to nomination candidates no longer tax deductible and align elections laws with the new Recall Act.

Bill 81 also removes a requirement for constituency associations to post donations quarterly, changing that to annual reporting.

'UNFAIR AND RIGGED': REACTION TO BILL 81

"I don't think there's much evidence to suggest that there has been interference by foreign interests into Alberta politics," said Lisa Young. She's a political science professor at the University of Calgary.

While Young believes the bill addresses a foreign influence problem that doesn't exist, she said there's "nothing wrong" with having it in legislation anyway.

"I think we do want elections to belong to the people in the province."

The NDP accused the UCP of trying to sneak "hundreds of thousands of dollars" into party coffers, by removing donation limits in nomination campaigns.

"This is a plan to conceal illegal activity," MLA Thomas Dang alleged.

"The RCMP and Elections Alberta are currently investigating the premier for fraud, bribery, and corruption in the premier’s campaigns. I believe that the unlimited donation loophole, where you can give hundreds of thousands of dollars through nomination contests, is fundamentally unfair and rigged."

Madu denied Dang's allegations and said there is still a "hard cap of $12,500" that any candidate can spend on nomination contests.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski