• Vancity Lookout
  • Posts
  • Should Vancouver politicians be allowed to receive gifts?

Should Vancouver politicians be allowed to receive gifts?

Currently, Vancouver elected officials must declare any gift above $50.

What happened: While councillors and the mayor were always required to report gifts, the issue has been gaining more attention recently after the City Clerk’s Office made finding those gifts much easier on the website. It’s got us wondering: is this a practice that should be continued?

Background: Any gift over $50 must be declared, and councillors and the mayor are technically not allowed to receive gifts, “connected directly or indirectly to their duties, except when they are part of social obligations that normally accompany the responsibilities of office,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office shared by CTV.

  • Yes, but: They are allowed to accept gifts if it’s “an incident of the protocol of social obligations that normally accompany the responsibilities of office.”

Some examples: Sports and event tickets were the big ticket items that councillors received. For example, councillors Mike Klassen, Christine Boyle, Peter Meiszner, Rebecca Bligh and Pete Fry all attended Cirque de Soleil’s “Kooza” according to Business in Vancouver.  

Dealings: As noted in that story, Concord Pacific provided the Cirque de Soleil tickets to all those councillors above except Pete Fry, as well as $1,300 in tickets for the “Feast of Fortune and Seeking Your Insights” dinner gala.

This is the same Concord Pacific that has huge development projects throughout Vancouver, including the False Creek North development with 5,000 homes. Back in February of 2023, the city was given land for 650 units of affordable non-market housing from the developer, while Concord Pacific, in agreeing to waive the right to purchase the land for $11 million, was given unencumbered ownership of three other sites in the area, according to CBC. 

Problems: There is no oversight body to ensure that councillors declare those gifts, and according to reporting by Business in Vancouver, there were inconsistencies around gift reporting in the past. Also, according to the integrity commissioner, gifts given by friends do not need to be disclosed. 

  • Councillors have claimed that these gifts are useful because it allows politicians to attend local events.

What it means: It is less the direct actions coming from gifts to politicians that matter — it is impossible to know if gifts from an organization would change how a politician would vote or feel about an issue. But in politics, the issue of perception matters a great deal. Should any group that has dealings with the city be able to give a gift? And politicians receiving event tickets from, say, a developer who has issues before the city, does raise questions and create a perception problem, which is never a good thing when it comes to politics.

  • To see each elected official’s gift disclosure, visit this page, click the elected official’s name, scroll down and click gift disclosure.

Do you think politicians should be allowed to receive gifts like tickets to events?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.