I was humbled to pass #Bill29, which will:
Force incumbents to donate war chests to charity
Create fundraising flexibility for candidates, including those who lack name recognition
Allow candidates to start campaigning earlier
Protect speech for advocacy groups
1/7 #ableg https://twitter.com/jkenney/status/1287127038248148993

Through consultation, we embraced many recommendations from stakeholders. As a result, we’re continuing a ban on corporate and union donations, keeping party politics out of local elections and changing donation rules from a per donor limit to a per donor-per candidate limit. 2/7

The reality is the incumbency advantage in local elections has become so steep that voters have begun to disengage. Participation rates are regularly in the 30 and 40 per cent range. This is troubling, as local elections should be the closest to people’s everyday lives. 3/7

Many of those criticizing Bill 29 did nothing to tackle this troubling power of incumbency over the past several years. This has resulted in incumbents having a nearly 100 success rate in many of our municipalities, shutting the door to new and diverse voices and ideas. 4/7

Some have also criticized the issue of pre-election day disclosure. This is hypocritical. Before Bill 29, candidates were not required to disclose their donations before elections. The 2018 law simply gave municipalities the right to pass bylaws requiring this if they chose. 5/7

To be clear, no council in Alberta passed a bylaw in this regard and no other jurisdiction in Canada has this provision. Also, full disclosure of donations will still be required following the next round of local elections in 2021. 6/7

These changes and others will ensure our local elections are fair and democratic, yet competitive and meaningful. Hopefully, in 2021, we see record voter turnout in our local elections, and results that reflect the true will of our great people. 7/7