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For earlier materials see Table of Contents

‘Conflict of Interest’

Part 3: public perception

Using Mayor Pond example

Because Pond has most varied number & value of campaign supporters offers best example

  At Community Charter level questions is did X ‘have pecuniary interest’ in decision
at ‘court’ level: ‘was decision biased’

But as important is public perception – important so that public does not become cynical about (local) politics

 

Ending Sun Wave tax benefit

Pond & ‘Points North Consulting’ $3000 donation

A difficult file to deal with – Pond spoke at length on Sun Wave only after Belsey contract w Sun Wave had been terminated. (See Jan 8th mtg and better the conflict part 1)

A cynic might conclude that attack was retaliation and only incidentally ‘public interest’

 

600$ family donation

Contracting Consultants

Family member gets city contract. Again superficial and could easily be avoided with more transparency in how contracts, purchase orders etc handled. See the Kamloops example where everything online including requests for proposals

 

200$ + from appointees

Airport Society example

Again matter of transparency—people that are appointed to committees who only donate as a group to a single election candidate.

 

 

Conflict of interest: no easy answers: ‘benefit financially; to bias

 

In BC municipalities the path chosen is a simple declaration which public can view

 

Cheap but probably not very effective

Critique

Presumably the rationale behind Harper federal ‘Accountability Act’ limiting campaign donations and ‘gifts’ was to remove potential conflict between public interest and mechanics of getting elected.

It might be noted that in Rupert election amounts of $$ spent on campaign did not translate into votes (one candidate spent as much as Pond did and was not elected to Council)

 

Plus what if a municipal party were formed to ‘fight poverty’ and gave $$ to several winning candidates? Would they have to declare ‘conflict of interest’ whenever an issue of poverty came on agenda? But what about a municipal party of real estate agents who wanted to remove zoning restrictions?

Created by LG on Jan 18, 2006

Last updated on Friday, January 19, 2007