Records show some donors may have double-dipped by donating more than permitted
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Elections B.C. has audited the finances of ABC Vancouver’s 2022 mayoral and councillor election campaign.
On Tuesday, Elections B.C. spokesperson Andrew Watson said several elector organizations and candidates from the last municipal election had been audited and that most of those were complete — including the one conducted on Vancouver’s ruling party.
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“Our audit of ABC Vancouver has concluded and we are following up with them to resolve our audit findings,” Watson said.
“As this work is ongoing I cannot speak to specifics. However, contraventions identified through this process do have the potential to result in an investigation and possible administrative monetary penalties.”
In Vancouver, Elections B.C. also audited the campaign finances of Forward with Kennedy Stewart, Vision Vancouver, Ken Sim, Lisa Dominato, Christopher Richardson and Sarah Kirby-Yung.
So far, no administrative monetary penalties have been assessed on any of the Vancouver parties or candidates.
According to Elections B.C., for the 2022 municipal election only individual Canadians were permitted to make campaign donations. Each individual could donate $1,250 to either an elector organization (like ABC Vancouver, TEAM Vancouver or the Non-Partisan Association) or one of its endorsed candidates, or break that amount down and donate to both.
To donate the maximum amount to both an elector organization and a candidate endorsed by that party could be in breach of the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act.
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“An eligible individual’s contributions to an elector organization and its candidates in total must not exceed the contribution limit ($1,250),” Watson said.
According to Elections B.C.’s Financial Reports and Political Contributions System, in the lead-up to the 2022 municipal election there are several examples of donors contributing the maximum amount to both ABC Vancouver and its endorsed candidates.
A campaign by former rival municipal political party TEAM Vancouver to draw Elections B.C. attention to these examples has also highlighted several donors to ABC Vancouver that did not appear to be individuals.
This includes donors called Floata Tix, Neil and Ankush.
When an elector organization endorses a candidate, the financial agent for the candidate must give the elector organization’s financial agent the candidate’s contribution information.
The financial agent for the elector organization must ensure that contributions from eligible individuals do not exceed the limit.
Elections B.C. states “if a contributor has exceeded the contribution limit, the excess amount is a prohibited contribution. There are significant monetary penalties for exceeding a contribution limit.”
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ABC Vancouver financial agent Corey Sue told Postmedia News that he had not received any official correspondence from Elections B.C. related to the audit.
Sue said it was his understanding that donating the maximum allowed amount to both the party and to a party candidate was “double-dipping” and that ABC Vancouver absolutely followed the rules.
He said the party would correct any mistakes that had been made during the election campaign.
ABC Vancouver, led by mayoral candidate Ken Sim dominated across Vancouver council, parks board and school board in the October 2022 election.
dcarrigg@postmedia.com
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