The leadership race to succeed British Columbia Premier John Horgan is officially underway, and the B.C. New Democratic Party (NDP) has taken steps to remove financial barriers that may prevent individuals from underrepresented communities from running for public office.
During the ratification of the leadership race’s campaign rules and regulations earlier this month, the B.C. NDP provincial council approved a new rule that will see the creation of an equity fund, designed to “remove personal barriers to participation in the 2022 Leadership race.”
According to B.C. NDP President Aaron Sumexheltza, approved candidates from “equity-deserving groups” can request up to $10,000 from the designated fund to help offset “personal contestant expenses, personal care expenses, and excluded expenses” towards their leadership campaign.
“All British Columbians should see themselves reflected in government but a number of groups are underrepresented in our legislature,” Sumexheltza said in an August 5 statement to rabble.ca, noting that the party has implemented “a variety of equity policies and targets related to local nominations” since 2009.
The result, he added, is the B.C. NDP’s current gender-balanced caucus and cabinet—one Sumexheltza calls “the most diverse caucus in B.C.’s history.”
“But obviously, we still have more work to do,” he said in the statement. “Establishing this equity fund is one of the steps we’re taking to remove barriers that prevent people from getting involved in politics, and to ensure that equity is addressed in all our Party policies.”
Former political candidates weigh in
While the B.C. NDP sees the creation of an equity fund a positive step towards a more inclusive electoral process, others — including those who have run for office in the past — believe it’s simply not enough.
Breen Ouellette is one of them. He ran under the NDP banner in the constituency of Vancouver Centre during both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, but fell short to veteran Liberal challenger Hedy Fry.
Ouellette, a Metis lawyer who worked on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, believes the best way to promote democracy within political parties is to remove any financial barriers for anyone who wants to run for office.
“The other barriers that exist, which seem to work really well, are the nomination meetings at the electoral district level,” Ouellette explained. “I’ve been through two of those myself at the federal level, and that in itself is a substantial hurdle, but it’s the right kind of hurdle. It’s not about how much money you have. It’s about whether or not the grassroots members of the party believe in you and are willing to vote for your nomination.”
Not only does Ouellette want to see leadership fees eliminated and nomination processes reformed, he also wants to see the elimination of campaign contributions. Rather than individual campaign donations, Ouellette believes the federal government should allocate each campaign $50,000—something he believes would level the playing field financially across party lines.
While leadership races have rules requiring prospective candidates to pay a fee to be included on the ballot, Ouellette believes the bigger financial barriers come at an individual level on the campaign trail.
“You have to have enough time to do the campaign,” he said, adding that running for office is a full-time job itself. “I’d probably put in 70 to 80 hours a week as a candidate.”
Dedicating such a significant amount of time to a campaign often forces many people to take time off of work in order to put all their effort into door-knocking and scrumming. In his case, Ouellette put more hours into his campaign than he regularly would at his law practice. Since Ouellette is a lawyer, he was able to put his day-job on the backburner for the duration of the campaign. But, he noted, a lot of working class people simply don’t have the resources to run.
Former Nova Scotia MLA Lisa Roberts agrees.
After spending five years representing the electoral district of Halifax Needham under the Nova Scotia NDP banner, Roberts announced she would not seek re-election and instead challenge Liberal MP Andy Fillmore for the Halifax seat in the House of Commons. She would go on to finish second in the race to Fillmore.
It was a risky decision to leave her safe-NDP seat in Province House for the House of Commons—one that Roberts admits wouldn’t have been a reality for many working class people.
Referring to the pursuit of elected office as a “one-way door” from a day-job, Roberts says it’s often difficult for those who have shared their politics in such a public way to return to their career. Despite the challenge, she still believes it’s important to take the risk.
How the equity fund works
Roberts pointed out that the Nova Scotia NDP also has a diversity fund—not for leadership races, but for equity-seeking candidates—one that was recently renamed the Yvonne Atwell Diversity in Leadership Fund, after the first Black woman elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 1998.
Unlike Ouellette, Roberts believes there are some pros to having a candidate fee specifically for leadership races. Unlike a nomination meeting, she pointed out that a leadership race gauges how well a candidate can mobilize support for the party, and unfortunately—in the current political process—the ability to bring in donations is crucial for success.
In this case, candidates need to raise an initial $15,000 that must be paid when they apply to finalize their campaign. But that fee doesn’t get candidates on the ballot. They also need to pay a second fee of $25,000—due by October 19—to be on the ballot.
According to the rules of the leadership race, equity-deserving candidates are generally defined as women, people of colour, Indigenous people, people living with a disability, 2SLGBTQ+ and gender-diverse folks, and young people between the ages of 18 and 25.
While the $10,000 available to eligible candidates won’t be enough to pay their fees in full, it can be used to pay a portion of their registration fee, which is included under the “excluded expenses” category.
Payments can also go towards care of a child or other family member, renting a temporary residence if it’s deemed necessary, and a variety of other costs that candidates typically incur on the campaign trail.
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Nick Seebruch, editor
