In Canada pre-election campaign advertisement spending is unregulated.

I bring to your attention the well documented findings of
Corruption and democracy: Political finances - conflicts of interest - lobbying - justice (2008)

Author(s) :
Alexander Seger, Drago Kos, Alvis Vilks, Ömer Faruk Gençkaya, Manuel Villoria Mendieta, Alan Doig, Siim Kallas, Rogier Chorus, William Dinan, David Miller, Pim Albers, Nihal Jayawickrama
ISBN 978-92-871-6355-4



In Canada pre-election campaign advertisement spending is unregulated. The removal of public political financing will only lead to greater political favoritism and corruption of the public trust.

The effects of unregulated political financing is summarized on page 34. I also highly recommend reading the whole document.



At the same time, unregulated political finances carry considerable risks

- they exacerbate political inequality. The principle of "one person, one vote" is compromised by unequal influence bought through contributions. Financial contributions create an uneven playing field where big money (often coming from the corporate sector) has an undue advantage. Interested money may override equal voting rights and equal access to decision makers and elected office;

- political money may buy access to office and access to decision makers. Those in a position to contribute have a greater chance to be heard by political decision makers. And those able to finance political parties and electoral "pre-election" campaigns have bigger chance to secure places on election lists of established by political parties;

- elections may represent less a competition of political positions and ideas and more the ability of political parties and candidates to raise funds, leading to an arms or propaganda race disconnected from political debate;

- political parties and politicians risk being co-opted to represent and pursue particular interests rather than the common public interest. They are more accountable to those who pay than to their constituency. This risk is particularly great if parties rely on a small number of donors only. Parties relying on private funding may have a weaker connection to their voters and are less connected to party members. Party leaders may transform contributions into political capital to secure control over their party;

- unregulated political finances are not transparent. It is thus impossible for voters to determine whose interests politicians are representing, and to hold them accountable.