CBRM mayoral candidates raked in business donations under 'Wild West' rules

Close to 60 per cent of campaign donations in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality's 2016 election came from businesses and unions, a CBC News investigation has found.

That's a higher rate than the Halifax Regional Municipality, where only 37 per cent of donations came from those sources.

• INTERACTIVE: Search the 2016 CBRM municipal campaign donations database

Unlike provincial and federal elections, municipal elections in Nova Scotia have no restrictions on who can donate, or how much.

"The question is whether a reasonable person looking at it would think there is a potential to be influenced," said Guy Giorno, an Ottawa-based lawyer who chairs an ethics committee on lobbying with the Canadian Bar Association

Unsuccessful CBRMmayoral candidateRankinMacSweendescribed the current system as"very much like the Wild West."

"I think this is an incredibly important issue," he said. "It's really time for the province to move here and reposition elections, particularly mayoralty elections in these larger municipalities."

CBC News Nova Scotia Investigates created a searchable database of donations based on candidate declarations filed after the election, and sorted them by donor type.

• Twenty-five CBRM candidates raised a total of $221,648.31 from 372 donors.
• Twenty-three candidates reported no campaign contributions.
• Businesses donated $118,611.91, or 53.5 per cent of the total raised.
• Individuals donated $88,836.50 or 40.1 per cent of the total.
• Unions contributed $12,000to the race, or 5.4 per cent of the total.
• Candidates donated $2,200to their own campaigns, or one per cent of the total.

Most of the CBRM donations, $192,238.41, were raised by the mayoral candidates Cecil Clarke and Rankin MacSween.

Clarke raised $101,528.06, which was $10,817.71 more than his rival.

Clarke and MacSween received several donations that were larger than anything in the 2016 race in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

MacSween received a $13,000 donation from his sister, Grace Steele of Calgary. He also received a $12,250 donation from ProtocaseInc. of Sydney.

Among donations to Clarke was$7,000 from Offshore Technical Services (OTS).

Reforms supported

In Nova Scotia, provincial campaign donations are capped at $5,000, while federal campaign donations are limited to $1,550.

Only individuals are allowed to donate in Nova Scotia and federal elections, eliminating contributions from businesses, unions or non-profits.

CBRMdeputy mayor Eldon MacDonald told CBC News he supports reformingmunicipal campaign finance rulesprovincewide.

"When you look at provincial and federal levels having caps in place and guidelines and regulations to follow, I think absolutely municipalities should follow suit with that," he said.

In an email, CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke stated he would support moving to a provincial model of campaign donations. He points out the boundaries of CBRM overlap the constituencies of seven Nova Scotia MLAs and two federal MPs.

"I am totally open to change and would welcome it, but this is a matter the province should lead on equally with larger municipal units," he said.

Public consultations coming

In May, Halifax will begin public consultations on new donation rules after the provincial government amended its municipal charter.

Nova Scotia's minister of Municipal Affairs,Zach Churchill, has said the province intends to wait to see what Halifax decides before opening the process to other municipalities.

An urban studies professor in Montreal believes all municipalities can benefit from tighter rules.

"Reforms would apply to both big cities and small municipalities because you need to make sure you're doing what you can to level the playing field," said Ray Tomalty of McGill University.

Tomalty said Canadian research shows incumbent municipal candidates have a strong advantage over new candidates and that extends to campaign fundraising.

He said campaign finance regimes helpencourage diversity and faster turnover in municipal council positions.

• If HRM used federal rules, half of 2016 donations would be banned
• Find out who gave $478K to candidates in Halifax's2016election