Standing on the land purchased for the Kenmount Crossing Acute Care Hospital – land sold for pennies on the dollar than bought back for $23 million dollars from a Liberal party insider and donor – Newfoundland and Labrador NDP Leader Jim Dinn made a commitment to all Newfoundlanders and Labradrorians: an NL NDP government would end the decades of backroom politics and insider influence by banning all corporate and union donations.
“It’s been the same old politics for decades. Liberals, Conservatives – back and forth – and where has it gotten us?” asked Dinn. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate donations. A record of rewarding their buddies and insiders. It’s been going on for years – we all know it, we all see it.”
“Enough is enough. ”
In 2016, the Liberal government sold the land near Kenmount Road to H3 Developments Ltd for $3,215,000 – or $84,605 an acre. The Liberals bought back the land just 8 years later for about $23 million – or $400,250 an acre – despite similar properties available on the same road available for $1.75 million. One of the owners of H3 Developments is Bert Hickman – owner of Hickman Motors – has donated $26,000 to the Liberals since 2011, and $5,800 to the Conservatives.
Dinn pointed to Newfoundland Power’s corporate donations of $377,570 to both the Liberals and Conservatives – in addition to recent comments made by Mark Dobbin that he got a private, backroom briefing on the MOU deal and that he would use his political donations to influence the deal – as clear examples that both the Liberals and Conservatives answer to wealthy insiders and donors rather than the interests of everyday Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Democracy Watch – a Canadian non-profit – has called the province’s lack of rules and regulations around political financing “unethical and undemocratic”.
“It’s not even an open secret anymore that big donors and insiders are influencing our politics with their money,” said Dinn. “They’re now saying it publicly on TV.”
Newfoundland and Labrador is one of two provinces in Canada that allows for corporate and union donations with no donor limits – including accepting donations from outside of the province. Dinn has pledged to be the most transparent government in the province’s history and today promised that an NL NDP government would completely overhaul political financing in the province to get big money and insider influence out of Newfoundland and Labrador politics.
Dinn stressed the difference between unions – who answer to their members – and large corporate donors – who answer to stakeholders – but called for elections to be funded by individual grassroots donors, like they are in eight other provinces and federally.
The New Democrats are proposing a complete ban of all corporate and union donations in the province, banning all out-of-province political donations to ensure no outside influence, and putting a cap on individual donations to $1,750 a year to ensure wealthy donors can’t reach deep into their pockets to influence political outcomes in their favour.
“For decades under both the Liberals and Conservatives, insiders and donors have gotten ahead while the rest of the province falls behind,” said Dinn. “If you’re tired of the backroom politics, tired of the business as usual – this election, we have an opportunity to vote for change. The people of our province deserve a better deal and the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP is ready to be your voice.”
“When you go to the ballot box, this election comes down to one question: do we want to continue with the same old politics, the same old backroom insiders and donors or do we want a better deal.”