Such a deal for candidates — you scratch our back, we’ll put you on our website

Right about now, civic election candidates must feel like noodles at a spaghetti-pulling factory. Not only do they have to fill out media questionnaires and attend a packed calendar of campaign events, but they have to sort out bribe offers from any number of organizations courting their support.

“Bribe” is a strong word but there’s usually a quid pro quo involved — you back our cause; we’ll put you on our website.

The B.C. Health Coalition, Kamloops branch, asks candidates to take the “Candidate Pledge,” which includes promises like “speak out against the privatization of health care” and “demand sufficient funding for local home support servers.”

The reward is inclusion on a list of “Health Care Champions.”

The Kamloops chapter of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association wants candidates to answer questions about the Sustainable Kamloops Plan. How would the candidate reduce greenhouse gas emissions; what has he or she done to aid environmental sustainability?

Answers will be shared “with our email list of 500” and posted on the group’s website.

Then there’s KamloopsParents.com, “your trusted online resource for all things family friendly,” who up the ante to an 800-family newsletter, 1,000 Facebook friends, and 200 Twitter followers.

All this group wants is 300 words of general information, but I’m betting a candidate would be wise to say something nice about families.

Cycling B.C. “would like to hear that if elected you intend to advocate the sport of cycling.” If so, of course, it will go up on the organization’s website, social media and “our E-newsletter which reaches 13,748 current and past participants….”

The most offensive of these proposed deals is the Canadian Taxpayer Federation’s “Contract with Taxpayers,” now in the computer in-basket of every local candidate.

In return for signing the so-called contract, candidates will be listed on the CTF’s website and Facebook page “and their names and communities will be emailed to thousands of CTF supporters in British Columbia. The CTF will also issue news releases to media outlets with signees listed.”

I would advise candidates to run, not walk away from that one.

The “contract” includes some harmless and even positive clauses. The candidate agrees, for example, that “Under my watch, citizens will receive complete, accurate and timely information….”

Another is that “I will publicly disclose and publish copies of all receipts I charge to my municipal expense account.”

Quite alright. But some of it represents blatant promotion of the CTF’s biases on municipal finance. One clause corners the candidate into voting against any tax increase beyond inflation without going to a referendum, on penalty of a 15 per cent pay cut.

The CTF is notorious for ignoring the needs — such as new infrastructure and services — that are unique to each community, instead advocating for a blanket policy that would handcuff them all.

Another clause, equally as fraught with peril, is that “I will move our municipality toward fee for service for as many functions as possible.” Municipal revenues are a combination of property taxes, senior-government grants, and fees for service. There’s nothing magical about the latter, and an over-emphasis on them sets up unpalatable inequities.

There’s a fine line between asking candidates their positions on issues, and trying to entice them into supporting vested-interest causes.