The Liberal party's decision to hold closed-door fundraisers under Prime Minister Mark Carney's leadership is being criticized by experts in political ethics, with one calling the move a "step back."
Carney is attending a Liberal fundraiser at a private residence in Vancouver Wednesday night and tickets cost $1,775. The event is not open to the media.
The decision to block media from Carney's fundraisers marks a shift from the approach under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, who in recent years allowed journalists to listen to opening remarks and observe participants at his fundraising events.
The Liberals announced in 2017 that they would stop holding closed fundraisers in private homes after coming under fire over the events.
In 2018, Liberals passed legislation requiring that political parties publicly advertise fundraising events priced at more than $200 per person that are attended by ministers, party leaders or leadership candidates. The legislation also requires parties to post a list of fundraiser attendees afterward.
In 2024, the Toronto Star reported that the Liberals planned to reverse course and resume holding fundraisers in private homes in an effort to catch up to the Conservatives ahead of the federal election.
Ian Stedman, associate professor at York University's school of public policy and administration and a former employee of Ontario's integrity commissioner, said the Liberals' move to restrict access to fundraising events is "deserving of scrutiny."
"I think the public now more than ever expects that politicians will be transparent about who is influencing them when they make their decisions," Stedman said.
Matteo Rossi, a spokesperson for the Liberal Party of Canada, said that while Liberal events have varying levels of media participation, they are "always fully in line with all of Elections Canada’s rules."
The Liberal party website says the party believes that fundraising events with special guests that include cabinet ministers, party leaders and party leadership candidates "should meet high standards for transparency."
"This includes advance posting of events, timely reporting of event details, and ensuring registered lobbyists don’t attend ticketed events where they’re registered to lobby the relevant special guest," the website says.
Stedman said that while fundraisers closed to media were standard practice before 2017, returning to them now might lead the public to believe the government is hiding something.
"The cash for access part is what really puts the most distaste in our mouths," he said. "And this is not new. It's not unique to the federal level.
"With something like this it's easy to assume the worst, and the reason you want more transparency is so that people don't assume the worst and that we can continue to build public trust in government."
Carney celebrated Lunar New Year at the Continental Seafood Restaurant in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday, handing out red envelopes containing chocolate to mark the start of the Year of the Horse.
He also toured an affordable housing project in East Vancouver.
Stedman said that while scheduling government events around a partisan fundraising event seems "distasteful," it doesn't break the rules against public funds being used for fundraising.
Duff Conacher, co-founder of the advocacy group Democracy Watch, said he believes the party should pay part of the travel costs if a partisan event forms part of a politician's itinerary.
"They're reaping part of the benefits because he's doing a fundraising event while he's out there," he said.
Conacher said that while the Liberals have committed to keeping lobbyists away from their fundraising events, there's "no way to double-check" whether the rules are being followed if reporters aren't present.
"The Trudeau Liberals' own rules, and the changes to the Canada Elections Act, are half measures that still allow for cash-for-access events that keep secret key information that the public has a right to know," said Conacher.
Conacher added that closed-door fundraising events also allow the Liberals to control their messaging.
"The more public speeches the prime minister or cabinet ministers give, the more chance that they say something that hurts them in some way," he said.
Conacher said a Democracy Watch analysis shows the average annual federal political donation is $75, so events that cost $1,775 are essentially the prime minister "selling access to wealthy voters and their private interests." He argued that donation limits should be lowered to $100.
"Currently, we have an undemocratic, unethical, legalized bribery political donation system and the rules should be changed to make it democratic, ethical and to stop the possibility of using money as a means of influence that corrupts government policymaking," he said.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
