CRAZY COSTS OF CAMPAIGNING
Did You Know:
Did You Know:
The maximum expense limit (*) for EACH of the TWELVE candidates for City Councillor in Ward 18 Davenport is $28,747.30 or $344,968 total, of which about 75% is rebated to campaign donors out of the city coffers = about $259,000.
(*) The expense limit is determined by so many cents per elgible voter in any ward.
That's a quarter of a million dollars - just for this ward.
Multiply that by 44 wards that exist across the city and that amounts to about $11 MILLION dollars. (yes I know not all wards have 12 candidates, but they could - and we are amongst the smaller of the wards)
Add in the $1.3 million that Mayoral candidates can each spend on their campaigns (there are FIVE so called frontrunners that are/were probably doing so: Ford, Smitherman, Pantalone, Rossi and Thomson who has dropped out, forgetting Mammoliti) and we can add $6.5 million to that, modifying to reflect that 75% gets rebated to donors: or roughly $4.9 million... be fair and round that down to $4 million taxpayer support for mayors... and forget the relatively small amounts that are donated to school trustees and still:
We could see in an election that the taxpayer essentially pays about $15 MILLION for people who run for election in the city.
I really wonder how many people realize that?
Is this perhaps the reason we see so many names registered for city elections? Why people who don't even live in our ward, and perhaps have no realistic prospect of winning essentially buy name recognition on the taxpayers' dime, so to speak?
Is this right and fair?
Perhaps it is simply the true cost of paying for the democratic process at the city level (this is my view).
The election process was changed for this election to prohibit obvious donations from corporations or trade unions. However, as I have noted before, it still allows the loophole of 'free' support by paid political party machine volunteers (who don't figure into the equal playing field of elections which is a great advantage), who are sent to help out their respective party favourite... in this ward? Ana Bailao - the Liberal Kevin Beaulieu - the NDP
(is it any wonder that the media jump to the conclusion that they are the only two front-runners worth reporting on, and why some people desperately want to label others as 'the fringe' to be ignored ?)
Just thought people should know.... because ...
DAVENPORT DESERVES BETTER
