Since the law banning political funding by corporations and unions was passed, a lot has been said about how superior the federal Tories are when it comes to "grassroots funding."
Two thoughts occur to me:
First, most of the people in this country with enough personal income that they can afford substantial political contributions are Tory supporters.
Second, many of them are corporate executives and shareholders. Should any corporation decide to sort of informally funnel money through these people to Tory coffers, there is no way on earth you could pin it on them. By contrast, if any union should try something similar with the opposition parties, it would involve so many people and create such an organizational horror show that it couldn't help but be noticed.
So four things become obvious:
1) There is nothing "grassroots" about most of the Tory political funding.
2) The proposal by the Tories to cut off government funding of political parties is a blatant attempt by Stephen Harper and his bully boys to ensure that only their message will get through to the public.
3) They hope to do this while making the opposition parties look like the bad guys.
4) Given the source of most of the Tory funding, eventually government in Canada will become government of the rich, by the rich, for the rich.
Canada is on the verge of being turned into a semi-industrialized banana republic where right-wing politicians sit around handing out tax breaks and receiving support from their rich beneficiaries while the social fabric and physical infrastructure of this country falls apart.
The opposition parties must stand up to the Tories and prevent this. If an election results, the people of Canada must back them right down the line.
Stephen Langevin, Toronto
