(Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Battle lines

Nowoselsky v Dionne: campaign financing debated

Jan 28, 2020 | 2:13 PM

In what appeared to be the first salvos in the battle ahead of November’s municipal election, the issue of campaign financing was debated at council Monday night.

The discussion seemed to confirm Coun. Dennis Nowoselsky wants to run against Greg Dionne for the mayoral position. Neither Nowoselsky nor Dionne have officially confirmed their candidacies, although Dionne is widely expected to launch his re-election bid on Thursday during his state of the city address.

Coun. Dennis Nowoselsky speaks during a November council meeting. (File photo/paNOW Staff)

On Monday night, Nowoselsky proposed the idea to implement limits on campaign spending and the disclosure of donors in time for the next election.

“A progressive city should have something on the books,” Nowoselsky told council, citing other cities like Saskatoon already had such regulations.

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“It gives a declaration of how much you can spend and then after a certain amount it’s on the public record.”

Dionne said he would support the idea if it were for 2021 but figured Nowoselsky’s motion left too little time.

Mayor Greg Dionne during a November council meeting. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

“But it’s for this election that you want it for [nine] months away. I’m almost done my fundraising,” Dionne told the meeting. “I’m not going to go back to my people and say ‘Now we have a motion on the table because one of my competitors that is running against me brought this motion forward.'”

Coun. Dennis Ogrodnick and Coun. Evert Botha said they both agree the city should have regulations on campaign spending and financing, but like the mayor, thought the time limit was too short.

“I think this is a good start for transparency, but I can’t support it if we’re going to rush this through before this next election,” Botha said.

Meanwhile, Coun. Blake Edwards raised concerns that several businesses told him they wouldn’t want their name publicly disclosed.

Ultimately, Nowoselsky agreed to amend his motion to have the regulations implemented by May 2021, but wanted the public to know he was prepared to follow the spirit of the regulations immediately.

“In running for mayor I have no hesitation of putting on the form who’s supporting my campaign and what business and individuals,” he told council. “I’d like to see everybody else do the same.”

The amended motion failed by a narrow 5-4 margin.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom