Photo: The Canadian Press

The amount of public money parties would receive under British Columbia's new campaign finance rules before the next provincial election is virtually identical to the amount political donors received in tax benefits between the last two elections, an analysis of the two systems shows.

The province's new NDP government is experiencing a backlash after flip-flopping on its campaign promise not to use public money to fund political parties, but an analysis by The Canadian Press shows the payout under the proposed system for a per-vote subsidy mirrors what is already happening.

Based on the results of May's election, the three major political parties would receive $16.36 million in subsidies before the next election scheduled for 2021 under the new system.

The analysis of Elections BC data reveals the province would have paid out nearly that same amount — $16.31 million — in tax benefits to subsidize contributions made to political parties from donors, which include individuals, corporations and trade unions.

The subsidies proposed by the NDP have been described by Premier John Horgan as a transitional measure and would expire after five years.

The New Democrats also propose reimbursing parties and candidates up to 50 per cent of their election expenses if they receive at least 10 per cent of the vote, which amounts to about $11 million based on last May's election.

Experts say while existing subsidies may be less obvious, a lot of public money already goes into political financing either through public finding or tax rebates.

But subsidizing parties on a per-vote basis tends to attract attention from voters because it is more visible, said Robert MacDermid, a campaign finance expert at York University in Toronto.

"I think, as citizens, we would rather have money come out of the pool of taxpayers than come out of the pool of wealthy individuals or unions that have very specific interests to push. We should see that as a benefit," he said.

In B.C., donors are eligible to claim 75 per cent on the first $100 donated, 50 per cent on any amount between $100 and $550, and 33.3 per cent for donations between $550 and $1,150. Benefits are capped at $500, which means contributions above $1,150 earn no additional tax benefit.

Those rules will not change with the passage of the new campaign finance bill.