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British Columbia took a step this week to join the club of advanced democracies.

But you might not realize it, in light of the feverish reaction to the B.C. NDP’s proposed bill to ban corporate, union, foreign and out-of-province political donations.

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The Opposition B.C. Liberals stirred up a surge of media attention by hammering one section of the proposed bill, which asks taxpayers to directly finance part of the budgets of political parties.

Many British Columbians may not realize most democracies consider it fair, if not essential, to fight potential corruption by having the public bear some of the cost of political campaigns.

Otherwise, backroom oligarchs — the companies, unions and individuals with deep pockets to fund political parties — can and do infiltrate the legislative process to shift it to their own ends.

Many argue that powerful people and organizations have been shaping B.C. politics in much of the past 16 years, with the governing Liberals accepting more than $80 million in corporate donations in just over a decade (and the NDP taking in $12 million from unions).