A proposed Toronto ban on corporate and union donations, expected to win council approval in time for next year's civic election, means even big-name candidates would have to work harder for every campaign dollar.
"It's an absolute and total game-changer," said Liberal Rob Silver, who has raised funds under federal rules that outlaw such donations and under an Ontario law that permits them.
"It's not as though someone like George Smitherman or John Tory could not raise the money, it's just that much harder," he said of the former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister who plans to run and the 2003 Toronto mayoral candidate who has yet to declare his intentions.
As the heavyweights in an open race to succeed Mr. Miller, both Mr. Smitherman and Mr. Tory have relied on corporate and union donations in their past political careers.
Yesterday, in separate e-mails, both pledged to follow whatever rules council adopts for the Oct. 25, 2010 vote.
In 2006, Mr. Miller and his main rival Jane Pitfield opted to decline corporate and union donations.
The proposed ban is the most contentious part of an election reform package that goes to Mr. Miller's executive committee on Nov. 24 and to the full council on Nov. 30.
In 2007, a year after the last election, Toronto won new powers to set its own campaign finance rules and would be the first municipality in Ontario to impose a ban.
The proposed reform package includes a tax rebate program, like one in effect for the past two elections, for individuals who give up to $750 to a councillor candidate and $2,500 for a mayoral hopeful.
As well, the new rules would make a permanent requirement for financial statements to be posted electronically. But there is still no provision to report such information during the campaign.
Advocates hope Toronto's ban would force the province to rethink its decision to continue allowing corporate and union donations. Ottawa and several other provinces already forbid such donations.
"If the [Toronto]council stands up for democratic reform and electoral reform in two weeks, it will help a wave of change right across the country in other jurisdictions," said Larry Gordon, executive director of Fair Vote Canada, one of several reform groups who held a news conference yesterday to urge council support for the measures.
York University political scientist Robert MacDermid, who tracked the funding of municipal candidates in the Toronto region by corporations and developers in the 2006 election, found that corporations accounted for 12.1 per cent of $5.5-million in election campaign donations in Toronto, with unions representing 2.2 per cent of total contributions.
He says it is time to end what he sees as a "discriminatory" practice that allows those who own or control companies to give in their own name and that of the business.
Municipal lobbyist Bernie Morton, a top adviser to Mr. Tory in his 2003 mayoral bid, questioned the need for a ban.
"Those at city hall have far bigger problems they need to be dealing with than trying to prevent hard-working small business owners from being able to support a candidate," he said, urging the matter be turned over to the next council.
Mr. Smitherman is no stranger to corporate donors. Prof. MacDermid noted that the Liberal riding association for Toronto Centre, represented at Queen's Park by Mr. Smitherman, had raised over $1.2-million between 2004 and 2008, about 45 per cent from corporations. It is "quite an impressive sum" that far outpaced any other Liberal riding association in the province, he said.
"If the ban is not passed by the council, it will be interesting to see if Smitherman decides not to take corporate money," he said in an e-mail.
With a report from Josh Wingrove
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Tracking donations
A move to ban corporate and union donations in civic elections could pose a problem for mayoral candidates, who have traditionally relied on them for about a quarter of campaign funding.
In 2003, a three-way race for the mayor's chair saw all three candidates - John Tory, Barbara Hall and David Miller - accept a total of $1,424,122.32 in donations from unions and corporations.
Mr. Miller accepted $304,041.43 from corporations, or 21.2 per cent, and $78,025 from unions, about 5.4 per cent/
Mr. Tory relied more heavily on business, taking $520,323.92 from corporations (28.7 per cent) and just $8,500 from unions, a paltry 0.5 per cent.
Ms. Hall was close behind him, taking $486,731.97 in corporate donations (29.4 per cent) and $26,500 from unions (1.6 per cent).
The 2006 election brought signs of change to come. Both candidates promised to not accept donations from companies, though only one kept the promise.
Mr. Miller did without donations from either unions or corporations. All of his $1,029,300.50 in donations came from individuals.
Jane Pitfield, his chief challenger, faced a heavy campaign deficit and eventually took $24,300 from corporations (4.8 per cent of her total).
Source: Robert MacDermid, York University
Jennifer Lewington