Our Democracy for Sale, Still

Federal election law limits some donations to limit unethical influence of wealthy interests, but secret, unlimited donations are still legal
On August 1, the Globe and Mail claimed to have "discovered" in Canada's federal political donations law a loophole that allows a donor to donate more than $60,000 in secret to a political party through small donations to each of the party's riding associations. Actually, this is neither a discovery, nor is it the only or most serious federal secret donations loophole.
The association donation loophole was highlighted in Democracy Watch's 1999 report "For the Best Government Money Can't Buy."
And yes, it is illegal for corporations, unions and other organizations to make donations to parties, riding associations or candidates (since January 1, 2007), and illegal for individuals to exploit this loophole to make donations larger than the legal limits of $1,100 annually to each party, $1,100 annually combined total to each party's associations, and in an election year an additional $1,100 combined total to each party's candidates (all three limits increase each April 1st based on the inflation rate). But these limits cannot be enforced because of weak disclosure and enforcement measures.

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