My mail bag is full of notes from readers who think politicians are corrupt, self-interested liars. I guess we all need someone to blame for the things that go wrong in our lives. Politicians make a perfect target.

But, during almost 10 years in elected politics, I didn’t meet many politicians who got into it to enrich themselves. I’ve met lots who’ve made stupid mistakes, and even more with kooky ideas. And I’ve seen a few who are hopelessly incompetent, but not many who are corrupt.

Mostly that’s because politics attracts people who are there for the right reasons.

And for those who are there for the wrong ones, there are enough rules to make sure they get caught.

When it comes to keeping politicians on the right side of wrong, Canada has some of the better disclosure rules around.

Federal and provincial politicians must say how much money they’ve raised and where it came from.

That makes it much easier for citizens to decide if the decisions politicians make have been influenced by the supporters who bankrolled their campaigns.

Every penny spent in a campaign must be reported. This ensures all candidates meet strict spending limits.

Elections in Canada are not cheap, but spending limits keep the contests open to more than just the rich.

Disclosure and spending limits don’t make the system perfect. They ensure that almost anyone can stand for election. And they also help keep everyone honest.

But the rules have one big gaping hole: They don’t apply to our municipal politicians.

There are some requirements for disclosure, but you could drive a truck through the loopholes. Local politicians can take money from offshore donors, and there is no limit on the size of a single donation.

There is no limit on how much candidates can spend. That gives the candidates with the most money a huge advantage. Obviously, the ones with the money are the ones with connections to big corporations and big unions. Candidates without those connections are doomed.

Lots of us obviously don’t think municipal politics matter much. Otherwise, more of us would turn out to vote in local elections.

Nonetheless, it is our municipal politicians who award lucrative garbage contracts. They make zoning decisions that are worth millions to developers. They decide how big the raises will be for thousands of public employees. And in B.C., they can do all that without telling voters where all their money came from.

Don’t expect municipal politicians to fix the problem. The ones in charge of fixing things have benefitted nicely from the current system. It’s the provincial government that needs to bring in tough rules.

Mayors and city councillors are mostly honest people, just like the vast majority of their colleagues in Parliament and the Legislature.

But democracy requires the confidence of citizens if it is to work well. Democracy can’t function on trust alone.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 4th, 2007 at 1:01 am and is filed under Columns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.