Re: "Public funding too high, political parties becoming empty shells,'" (The Hill Times, Oct. 2). What's really interesting is the impact that public funding can have on stabilizing the status quo. Candidates receive money from Elections Canada in proportion to the votes they attract. By definition, winning candidates receive more funds than losing candidates. This obviously gives them a publicly-funded advantage over their opponents in later campaigns. At some point, we have to be concerned that a governing party can develop a stranglehold on the political process: it could receive most of the public money while other parties become more and more reliant on severely limited–and therefore inadequate–private contributions.

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