It would seem that the BC Liberals weren't paying close enough attention to the revised election finance rules last year and in one instance, a financial donation from a Prince Rupert contractor ran afoul of election finance rules and has now brought a fine to the Liberal party.
According to a report from Elections BC, the donation in question dates back to March of 2018, when Prince Rupert contractor, Sullivan Mechanical Ltd., made a contribution of 500 dollars to the BC Liberals through the party website.
And as the BC Liberals processed their paperwork in July a number of errors were recorded as they filed their interim report for Elections BC.
Included on the list:
The donation was made under the name of a corporation which is not eligible under the Election Act; as was the acceptance of a Post Office Box, as opposed to a Street Address which is also a violation.
The Summary of the findings of Elections BC included:
“On 2018-03-28 at 1645h Sullivan Mechanical Ltd. made a contribution to the BC Liberal Party of $500. The contribution was made through the BC Liberal Party’s website www.bcliberals.com. Sullivan Mechanical Ltd. used a corporate credit card under the name of Sullivan Mechanical Ltd. to make the contribution. The billing address for the contribution also listed the name as Sullivan Mechanical Ltd. and provided a Prince Rupert post office box rather than a street address.
On 2018-07-27 [The] BC Liberal Party completed the interim financial report (F-P(I)), which was subsequently signed by the party’s financial agent David Goldsmith and sent to Elections BC. The F-P(I) report included a $500 contribution from Sullivan Mechanical [Ltd.], dated 2018-03-31.” Sullivan Mechanical Ltd. is not an eligible individual who may make a political contribution under the Election Act and accepting the contribution was a contravention of s. 187(1.01) of the Election Act."
The full report which was released in June from Elections BC can be examined here.
As a result of the investigation into the Liberals handling of the donation, they are facing a 200 dollar penalty, after Elections BC weighed a number of factors related to the donation.
The fine was reduced after the BC Liberals took a number of corrective measures to their fundraising process to work towards ensuring that the situation does not re-occur.
The new election campaign donation rules were introduced by the BC NDP government is September of 2017, with the revisions to existing legislation designed to bring more transparency to the provincial party fundraising efforts, as well as to reduce the impact of large business and union donations to political campaigns.
September 2017 -- UBCM seeks larger discussion on campaign finance reform; but the taxpayers can keep their cash
September 2017 -- Plant to get big union and corporate money out of politics means taking a bit more from taxpayers
The background to the theme of electoral financing in British Columbia can be explored here.
For more items of note related to provincial politics see our archive page here, as well as our political blog D'arcy McGee.
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