The Globe and Mail. The legislative changes to legislation introduced by the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Josie Osborne, purport to close the funding loophole allowing municipal candidates to fund-raise and spend with impunity provided it is more than 30 days before an election. As interpreted, however, the changes apply only to civic parties. “[It] appears that candidates who don’t belong to a party will be able to raise as much money as they like in non-campaign years without having to report.” If so, the changes do nothing for the majority of BC communities that do not have civic parties in their municipal races – cities like Nanaimo. Osborne should know this intuitively, coming from Tofino, where municipal candidates also tend not to belong to parties. All of which position the change as a questionably applied, partial solution. Why did the government exempt individual candidates? It’s not the the first time they have been selective in their legislation. Remember the Speculation and Vacancy Tax. And it begs the question of whether the legislation was caucus whipped, rather than majority endorsed as a solution to the problem. [ARTICLE LINK]