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economist sunsimtribune municipal news saturday oct 15 2005 11 campaign donation rebate debated limit program to voters some councillors argue by joan ransberry staff writer offering rebates to nonmarkharri residents who contribute to municipal election campaigns is a misuse of tax payers money some members of markham council charge following a onehour debate tues day markham council adopted a new set of rules linked to the towns election- rebate program which cost taxpayers 149700 in 2003 but the attempt to limit the rebate program to markham residents only failed people not living in markham and getting the rebate is a misrepresentation of taxpayers money mayor don cousens said some might see it is a way candidates can fund campaigns at the expense of taxpayers councillor george mckelvey agrees with the mayor if i ask someone in ottawa to give to my campaign do they really care what kind of service i offer mr mckelvey said residents living outside of markham are getting rebates despite the fact that they have no stake in the town thirtyfour of the 52 candidates who ran in the last election in markham took advantage of the rebate program simi lar programs are in place in toronto ajax and oakville a staff report shows 1101 markham residents contributed a total of 154000 to candidate campaigns while receiving 82575 in rebates a total of 895 non- markharn residents contributed 134150 while receiving 67125 in rebates letting all ontario residents give to campaigns is a way of discouraging a candidates dependency on contributions from developers markham paid out more money than ajax and oakville because their rebates were limited to electors who lived in the municipalities contributors also had to apply for their rebates regional councillor jack heath took part in the 2003 rebate program to help fund his campaign valued at 75000 letting all ontario residents give to campaigns is a way of discouraging a candidates dependency on contribu tions from developers mr heath said i took advantage of the rebate pro gram in the last election so did the mayor and so did mr mckelvey i did not however take any money from developers at least three quar ters of the issues we deal with are tied to planning and development i dont want to be sitting there having people think im on the hook to developers or anyone in the building and contracting business arguments to restrict the rebates to markham residents only is all hog wash councillor khalid usman said its the program in place in other places including toronto under the program those contribut ing between 50 and 300 will receive a 75percent rebate from the town if the contribution is for more than 300 the rebate will be on the first 350 plus 50 per cent of the rest up to a maximum rebate of 350 meanwhile council determined that 150000 is to be ear marked for the program to run from 2006 to 2009 the names of candidates taking part in the rebate program and the names of candidates not taking part should be posted on the towns webpage council lor erin shapero suggested frank edward markhams manager of administration pointed out candi dates can choose not to take part in the rebate program- in these cases a cam paign donor signs a consent form stipu lating that he or she will not get a rebate council is expected to pass a bylaw authorizing the rebate program in late october economistsun stoufmhetribune new address phone number are 145 renfrew drive unit 160 markham ontario l3r 9r6 ph 9055131717 fax 905 5137525 the complete package of safely performance and exceptional value the crv special edition features a rugged package of standard features including a 156 hp sae ivtec engine front fog lights and a roof rack like all honda trucks crv is built around a rigid safety cell which contributes to its consistent 5star safety rating plus outstanding crv fuel economy realtime 4wd vehicle stability assist vsa and 4wheel independent suspension take you almost anywhere and back crv se lease for 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