MONTREAL - A former Parti Quebecois minister who helped author the province's political party financing rules is lashing out at proposed changes to those very laws.
Robert Burns, who served in Premier Rene Levesque's cabinet in the 1970s, said Quebec would be making a serious error in allowing party financing to be opened to corporate contributions.
"We make a mistake when we say the law is being bypassed, so we need to throw it out and let companies contribute," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"It's like saying: people always run red lights, so let's get rid of them."'
Burns instead recommended stronger penalties for those caught breaking the rules and increasing the powers of the province's electoral officer to seek out offenders.
Contributions in the province are limited to $3,000 per year to each political party and can only be made by Quebec voters.
Three Quebec Liberal ministers recently mistakenly stated that corporate donations were allowed under the provincial laws.
"It's worrying when you hear the ministers make those comments," Burns said. "It makes a number of slips."
He wouldn't comment further because Quebec's electoral officer is now looking into the blunders by Transport Minister Julie Boulet, Minister of Education Michelle Courchesne and junior Transport Minister Norman MacMillan
Burns remains proud of the law he tabled in 1977 as the minister overseeing electoral reform.
"It was copied at the federal level and by other provinces," he said. "It was truly unique at the time."
