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There’s something unseemly about the notion of putting politicians in a financial straitjacket and telling them there’s a limit to how much they can engage with the people they hope to represent. It smacks of arrogance to think the government knows best how much parties should spend in trying to win the hearts and minds of Albertans.

One would hope Sucha would be wise enough to know there isn’t a clear correlation between how much parties spend and how many votes they attract. In the 2015 election campaign, for instance, the NDP spent about $1.7 million in its successful attempt to end the four-decade-old Progressive Conservative dynasty. The Tories spent a whopping $4.3 million and finished in third place, while the Wildrose spent just $1.2 million to become the official Opposition.

The NDP’s opponents have it right about Sucha’s worrisome proposal.

“Our biggest concern is that we’re not handcuffing parties so much they can’t actually get out and communicate with Albertans,” says Wildrose MLA Jason Nixon. He’s not opposed to a spending cap, but believes the NDP is setting the threshold too low.

Nixon observes that a low spending cap may hand incumbents an unfair advantage because they begin a campaign with better name recognition than their rivals.

And as Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark says, the NDP may end up giving itself an edge if it accepts Sucha’s recommendation, given it has the resources of government at its disposal during the approach to the election call in 2019.

The NDP might have the best of intentions in considering a cap on campaign spending, but some decisions are best left to political parties and the voters they hope to court.