What if we ended political fundraising? Instead of politicians getting themselves in all sorts of trouble by shilling for money, why don't we simply support our political activities through public subsidies? Before you dismiss this idea as crazy, let me point out several things about political fundraising that you may have never realized. Before doing that, full disclosure time: As a former Ontario cabinet minister I was an active fundraiser for the Ontario Liberals. Like every other member of the legislature, part of my job was to hunt for political donors — I was actually pretty good at it. That said, I admit that it is an activity fraught with dangers, complications and the potential to create some unhealthy relationships. I also recognize some other things that make replacing fundraising with public subsidies an attractive option. The first is that although donations may come from individuals, unions and businesses, taxpayers already end up footing a big chunk of the bill. Through generous tax credits, donors receive a significant portion of their contribution back through the tax system — leaving everyone else to pick up the slack. Parties love to point out that a $400 donation only costs you $100 once tax benefits are taken into account. In fact, it has been estimated that since 2004, the federal political tax credit has cost taxpayers well over $250 million. Parties and candidates that get a minimum number of votes in federal, and most provincial, elections also receive generous reimbursements of a portion of their election expenses directly from the public purse. Based on the most recent federal election results, for example, mainline parties and most of their candidates are set to receive tax-funded rebates that will add up to tens of millions of dollars. Fundraising is also an incredible waste of time. Whether we are talking about selling a $50-ticket to a corn roast or for a big-ticket reception, the first rule of political fundraising is that the candidate or elected member is the best salesperson. As a result, instead of focusing on real issues, politicians are forced to spend inordinate amounts of time working the phones and putting aside pressing priorities. There is no nefarious reason behind the fact that Ontario has seen so many high-price fundraisers: It is simply because it is less time consuming to sell a handful of high-price tickets than hundreds at a lower price. There is no way to limit donations that is foolproof. Ban corporate and union donations and make the limit $1,500 as they do at the federal level and you will see enterprising business people get ten of their colleagues to each personally contribute the maximum – creating a $15,000 donation from a business interest. Even at a $100 limit, there is nothing to stop a union or other public interest group from getting multiple members of their organization to write personal cheques in order to create the equivalent of an above-limit donation from a banned group. As an aside, it is interesting to note that for a few weeks everyone spoke about stricter federal fundraising rules as the gold standard. Then we learned that these very same rules allowed a questionable fundraiser at a Toronto law firm involving the federal justice minister. And don't think that the answer lies in limiting parties to mass fundraising of small amounts à la Bernie Sanders. Have you ever read an e-mail fundraising request from a political party? They all tend to use the most recent political controversy or new party policy as their hook. Do we really want decisions being made in Ottawa or in our provincial capitals with one eye on their potential to raise dollars on the internet? Developing and implementing effective public policy involves tough choices. Politicians need to stand up to a hostile media, special interest groups, and a public that often refuses to accept collective responsibility or a longer-term view of the world. Lately, politicians have also had to deal with permanent campaigns. The second an election is over, parties begin fighting the next one, complete with a cadre of advisers and operatives who wield inordinate power and often discourage difficult decisions that would best serve the public. Permanent campaigns raise big money. They also spend money on things like expensive television and radio advertising. Eliminate political fundraising, ban political advertising on radio and TV as they do in Britain (something I have advocated for in the past), and introduce lower spending limits for political parties — all of sudden the importance of the permanent campaign and its advisers and operatives withers. For a variety of reasons, a consensus seems to be emerging in our country that money and politics are an unhealthy combination. Instead of tinkering with new rules and regulations, why don't we just go the extra step and stop it all together? A ban would pay huge dividends for our political culture. John Milloy is a former Ontario cabinet minister who served as MPP for Kitchener Centre from 2003 to 2014.  Prior to that, he worked on Parliament Hill, including five years in the office of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. He is currently the Co-director of the Centre for Public Ethics and Assistant Professor of Public Ethics at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, and the inaugural Practitioner in Residence in Wilfrid Laurier University's Political Science department. He is also a lecturer in the University of Waterloo's Master of Public Service Program. John can be reached at: [email protected] or follow him on twitter at: @John_Milloy.