ROTHENBURGER – Coun. Middleton’s answer on her donation promise

IT’S THAT TIME of year, the time for giving. Not only giving to friends and loved ones with nicely wrapped presents under the tree, but giving to favourite charities.

One of the incentives is getting credit on our tax returns. If we’re going to give to a cause, we may as well get it done before the end of the year to take advantage of tax deductions.

An organization such as CanadaHelps.org makes it so easy. We can simply go online, pick our charities from among the hundreds needing help, donate, and receive an instant tax receipt.

Among those who are no doubt getting their donations sorted out (if it hasn’t been done already) is Coun. Margot Middleton.

She takes the spirit of giving seriously. During her election campaign in 2022, she made the bold statement:

“If elected to be a Kamloops City Councillor, Middleton’s key areas of focus will be: Kamloops’ Youth, Clean/Light Industry, Kamloops’ Livability, and the Power of Participation. To further show her commitment to the community, Middleton will be donating her annual after-tax Council pay to local registered charities.”

One can argue to what degree she’s lived up to her promises of such things as livability and community participation, but it should be simple to determine whether she’s been donating her after-tax council pay as she said she would. It’s a yes or no question.

It’s certainly no small commitment. Kamloops councillors were paid $49,916 each in 2023. So, for the first two years of her term, depending on her tax bracket, she’d theoretically have, well, quite a pile of cash to distribute. I’m not an accountant and have no idea about her total income and deductions but let’s agree that the gesture of giving away her council pay is generous indeed.

But we don’t know to whom she’s been making donations, because she won’t say. I had coffee with the councillor not long ago to talk about it because a few people had been asking. She confirmed that she was, indeed, donating her after-tax council pay to charities.

When I’d asked her about it earlier in the fall, she told me, “I will confirm I am donating what is left of my city stipend after deductions including taxes, CPP, benefits and a small amount of expenses to attend functions/events/seminars that are not covered by the City).  I am not going to provide a list. Most of my donations go to registered charities or not-for-profits  that can provide a receipt but other donations are made at charitable fundraising initiatives/events  ie  Jail & Bail and Salvation Army Kettle Campaign. I have tried to ensure that these donated funds stay in Kamloops for the benefit of the community.”

When I wondered why she wouldn’t provide a list, Middleton said she might do one up and release it around the end of October, which would be halfway through her term.  “I am a little uncertain on how to present/ broadcast the list,” she said.

We eventually got together for coffee to discuss it face to face. By then, she’d again decided not to release a list. The reason, she explained, was that she didn’t want people drawing political conclusions about who she was giving money to.

Would people think she was giving money to an organization for political purposes, or perhaps that she was showing political favouritism?

I understand that concern, though I still disagree with her decision not to release an annual list of her donations. That’s the only way to reassure the public that she’s keeping her election promise, though I have no doubt she’s making those donations like she said she would.

Her plan is to tell anybody who asks if she’s keeping the donation promise that, yes she is, period.

One way of looking at it is that, once the City issues a paycheque, it’s her money to do with what she wants, and it’s none of our business. (By the way, there’s no provision for a councillor to simply turning down their stipend.) The only difference with this is to what extent she wants to prove her promise.

Politicians who give away their pay via donations don’t get thanked for it. I’ll bet few people even remember that Margot Middleton made the campaign promise. Taxpayers judge their politicians on the decisions they make, not necessarily on what they promised. So, if they give away money, it has to be for their own reasons and principles, not in expectation of some sort of political reward.

Giving away her after-tax council stipend is an honourable thing for Middleton to do, so we’ll simply have to accept her way of doing it, say thank-you, and carry on.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.