Money: The Mother’s Milk of Politics.

Originally published in the Whistler Question December 6th 2016

“There are two things that are important in politics”, Ohio Senator Mark Hanna once said. “The first is money, and I can’t remember what the second one is.” Hanna said this over 100 yeas ago, but it’s as true today as is was then, that’s why we have scandals like the one the Trudeau Liberals created for themselves this week.

In case you missed it, the Globe and Mail reported that Trudeau attended a $1,500 a plate diner with some Chinese Billionaires that are keen to open some banks in Canada. In addition to the $1500 cheques to the Liberal Party there was $200,000 for the Trudeau Foundation and an additional $50,000 for, laughably a bust of Trudeau’s dear old dad Pierre. Giving cash to politicians wouldn’t normally raise any eyebrows, but what caused the uproar was the sheer hypocrisy of it. Just three weeks into his term, Trudeau was waving around his “Ethics Guidelines” for Cabinet Ministers. In case you haven’t read it, here’s the salient paragraph: “There should be no preferential access to government, or appearance of preferential access, accorded to individuals or organizations because they have made financial contributions to politicians and political parties.” The main reason the Liberals are playing the cash for access game is because they’re broke and they have no grass roots supporters to create a donor base from. If there’s one thing Justin Trudeau knows, it’s who butters his bread.

In his book “The Audacity of Hope”, Barack Obama expressed his discomfort with the term ‘special interests’ which lumped together groups ranging from the pharmaceutical lobby to parents of special-education kids. He does however acknowledge that “the impact of interest groups on candidates for office is not always pretty”. Obama also points out that as a consequence of fundraising the candidate becomes more like the wealthy donors he associates with and less like the people he represents.

Local politics (even in Whistler) is not immune to fundraising fever and indeed even scandal. The Mayor’s unofficial campaign team in 2011, The Whistler Coalition of Concerned Citizens, wasn’t exactly forthcoming or transparent with its fundraising efforts. Elections BC and the Whistler voters didn’t seem to care.

Whenever I was fundraising I never thought of it as a down payment on future favours, but as a bet that a supporter was placing on me because they thought I was the guy they wanted to win, presumably because they shared my values and my ideas. At no time during my term on council, did any donor ever ask me for any special treatment. That said, if you donate, even a small amount to a local politician’s campaign, you’re guaranteeing a very prompt return phone call, for as long as that person is in office. Fundraising is also a barometer for how a campaign is doing. I’ll never forget the first time a donor called me and asked to come by so I could pick up a cheque. When I got that call I knew I was going to win.

The key for politicians is to be transparent with their fundraising efforts and understand what Jesse Unruh meant when he said “Money is the Mother’s Milk of Politics.

Ralph Forsyth is an entrepreneur and ski instructor, he served as a Whistler Councillor from 2005 to 2011. He always dances as if everyone is watching.