The Alberta Liberals are questioning the role of money in financial politics and pointing fingers squarely at PC leadership candidate Gary Mar.
The Grits called into question Mar’s health care policy last week, specifically citing donations he has received from Dr. Kabir Jivraj.
Jivraj is the managing director of AgeCare, a Calgary firm that runs several for-profit long-term care facilities, mostly in southern Alberta.
The Liberals cite Mar’s support for public-private partnerships in creating new long-term care beds as an indication Jivraj’s donations are influencing policy.
Liberal leader David Swann said the donations are a symptom of a broader problem with money in provincial politics.
“We question the way that money influences public policy and specifically here is an example. It is not the only example.”
Swann said the Alberta Liberals favour legislation similar to federal election rules limiting individual donations to $1,000. He said the party would also ban union and corporate donations.
Swann said long-term care is essentially medical care. He doesn’t favour any measures that would take medical care out of the provincial system.
“I don’t think we should be going down the slippery slope of privatizing long-term care, which is really medical care, 24-hour medical care.”
When he announced his health care policy, Mar said he was interested in public-private partnerships (P3s) to build new long-term care beds.
He said expanding P3s could involve the private sector or not-for-profit arrangements, but with a focus on standards that could expand the available space.
“Whatever P3s we strike in the future, we have to ensure they maintain standards for the care of our seniors,” he said earlier this summer.
The Gazette was unable to contact Mar directly before press time.
Jivraj also donated to Alison Redford’s campaign. Her campaign manager Stephen Carter said donations do not equal influence.
“It is kind of ridiculous that people think for a donation you can buy policy. It just isn’t the case.”
Carter said Redford developed her health care policy by talking to Albertans and a lot of people in the system. She then brought her own perspective to the issue.
“Every person you talk to gives you a different point of view as to what is important to them and you have to weigh it out with what the candidate believes is important to them.”
A recent poll identified Mar as the front-runner in the PC leadership race. Swann said the party singled him out for the combination of the donations he has received and the policy he is advocating, not because of where he stands in polls.
He said while Redford has the same donor, she hasn’t expressed the same position.
“I haven’t heard Allison Redford talk about her support for private long-term care.”
Mar and Redford are the only candidates so far to put lists of their donors on their campaign websites.
