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Taxpayers will now be counted on to subsidize B.C.’s political parties after the NDP government introduced legislation Monday that bans corporation and union donations.

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As part of the Election Act amendment, B.C. political parties will receive $2.50 for every vote they received in the last election. The funding will drop by 25 cents each year until 2021.

The legislation also limits individual donations to $1,200 a year, bans out-of-province donations and caps contributions to third-party advertisers.

“The Wild West financing of the past will come to an end,” Premier John Horgan said. “It’s time elections were decided by voters, not by those with the most money in the kitty.”

However, passing the buck to taxpayers was something Horgan said his government was not going to do.

“What we propose is that Elections B.C. will look across the country and around the world at the best way to make sure that only individuals are paying for our political process and election process,” Horgan told Kamloops radio station CHNL seven months ago.

What do you think?

With Canadian Press files