Liberals launch committee to review political financing, but opposition calls it 'dishonest'

How political parties raise money could change before the next election, says Justice and Public Safety Minister Andrew Parsons.

On Monday Parsons announced the formation of an all party committee to tackle democratic reform.

"I know the other individuals on the committee or their parties have indicated that they'd like to see change. We'd like to see change," Parsons told reporters.

• Opinion | Political contributions have corrupted the system, and they have to stop

The committee will be made up of three Liberals, two Progressive Conservative MHAs and one member from the New Democratic Party. Parsons will chair the committee, giving the Liberals the power to override the other parties in the event of a deadlock, although Parsons says he hopes decisions will be made by consensus.

Will they ban corporate and union donations?

Right now companies and unions can donate unlimited amounts of money to politicians, putting Newfoundland and Labrador out of step with other provinces, which have either capped or entirely banned corporate money.

"I'm not sure if I support that completely," said Parsons. "I think that at least a cap is a really good step forward in the right direction."

The committee will also examine ways to encourage more people to get involved in the political process and allowing online voting.

Other provinces like PEI, BC and Ontario have looked at introducing proportional representation, but that is not listed as one of the goals of the committee.

None of those provinces have adopted proportional representation after low support in plebiscites.

An election is expected this spring or fall, not leaving much time for the committee to make changes before the election.

Parsons says the committee would continue after the election.

'Dishonest politics'

The opposition is not happy with the timing of the announcement.

"There's no time for this committee to actually do anything so it's an empty exercise and it's dishonest politics," said Ches Crosbie, leader of the PC party.

Crosbie said this move is to allow the Liberals to say they fulfilled an election promise.

This is cheating the people of the province- NDP leader Gerry Rogers

He said this should have been launched much earlier

"The Liberal Party feels that it's filled its boots with donor money and now they're willing to do something," said Crosbie.

The NDP is taking issue with what the committee won't examine, saying proportional representation should be part of the mandate, along with the lack of committees in the House of Assembly.

"This is cheating the people of the province and the people of the province are not fooled by this," said leader Gerry Rogers.

"This is a government that's in power and their only goal is to hold on to that power."