OTTAWA — A former adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he's not surprised to see right-leaning political organizers fighting back against union-financed third-party groups on the left.
Tom Flanagan, a retired University of Calgary political science professor, says the group known as HarperPAC will help counterbalance pre-writ advertising efforts by other left-leaning organizations.
One of them, Engage Canada, was launched earlier this month by former Liberal and NDP strategists.
It was followed earlier this week by HarperPAC, the brainchild of a team of Conservatives that includes several former political staffers.
Third-party groups can accept money from anyone, anywhere. There are also no limits on their advertising efforts in the period leading up to the election call.
Former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley says a lack of regulation will take Canada down a path similar to the U.S., where political action committees, or PACs, raise and spend untold amounts of money to influence political outcomes.
