campaign finance

A Maclean’s analysis of the party’s fundraising statements finds that 68 of its top 100 donors are its own elected MLAs and their staff

Limits on campaign expenses do the opposite of what is intended, giving the advantage to the well-known and the politically connected

Can a few of America’s richest citizens sway the outcome in critical races?

Colby Cosh on the latest chapter in a Calgary drama

The Globe and Mail, by means of outstanding spadework, has accounted for the particulars of all of the $430,000 donated to the Alberta Progressive Conservative party in its hour of electoral need by Edmonton Oilers owner and pharmacy magnate Daryl Katz. Actually, David Ebner and Dawn Walton traced the $430,000 and then some—others with close business relationships to Katz, it turns out, contributed to the PC kitty. But even the $430,000 donated this spring, supposedly in the form of a single cheque, represents more than a quarter of the cash raised by the Tories during the 2012 election period. The party managed to raise just $1.6 million—while spending almost $4.7 million protecting its flanks from the upstart Wildrose Party.

The former French president, now under investigation for illicit campaign financing, has close ties to Quebec business titan Paul Desmarais

When Alison Redford suspended Gary Mar as head of the Alberta Hong Kong Office and summoned him home last week, it looked a little like a settling of scores between the premier and the man she narrowly edged out in October’s PC leadership battle. Mar had enjoyed the support of a crushing majority of the PC caucus, amidst whose ranks Redford found exactly one (1) backer not named Alison Redford. Giving Mar the Hong Kong job looked like a graceful and generously-compensated way of ushering him out of the drama of Alberta politics. And when he presented a pretext for genuine retaliation, she was not slow to seize upon it.

Colby Cosh on how we might as well go ahead and hold the funeral if democracy is so easily buyable

COYNE: The Tories were gaming the system, but transfers of campaign funds are not illegal

The 2006 election campaign that brought Stephen Harper to power on a promise of new accountability continues to raise questions of accounting.

We’ll see about the deficit later, but for now this is fantastic news:

Here is my take in this week’s Maclean’s.