Mayor George Harvie and his Achieving for Delta slate by far received the most in contributions, including sizable donations prior to new campaign finance rules coming into effect, according to 2018 civic election data released by Elections B.C. this week.
According to disclosure statements now available for public viewing, the Achieving for Delta slate received $291,860 in total campaign contributions. It listed total expenses at $272,450.
Harvie, the former city manager, took the mayor’s seat with almost 40 per cent of the vote, helped largely by a powerful showing in North Delta. Four members of his slate were also elected to Delta council and another three as school trustees. Only two of his slate’s council candidates and one school board candidate didn’t get elected.
The 2018 civic election saw new spending and contribution limits, legislation passed by the province that had the aim of creating a more level playing field. Corporate and union donations are now a thing of the past, while individual contributions are limited to $1,200 per year for council and school board.
The new rules went into effect Oct. 31, 2017, which meant electoral organizations could have received larger donations prior to that date as long as those totals were declared.
Achieving for Delta managed to get the jump on its opponents by collecting several sizable donations totaling $65,000 just days prior to the deadline: Kebet Holdings Ltd., whose sole director is Ryan Beedie ($25,000); Kenny Kyan ($10,000); Shato Holdings, whose directors are Ron and Peter Toigo ($10,000); Smart Accounting Services Ltd., whose director is Hema Sharma ($10,000); and Sachi Ventures Inc., whose director is Anjali Sharma, ($10,000).
Harvie was still Delta’s city manager during that period but left abruptly following a closed-door meeting with council in December of that year. He was still employed by the city but not at city hall, using up several months’ of unused vacation time, until May 2018. He then officially retired and formally announced his candidacy for mayor.
According to the disclosure documents, the slate also received a $5,000 contribution, dated Oct. 31, 2017, which was listed as prohibited and returned as well as one for $10,000 also contributed by cheque on the same date. Both would-be donations came from numbered companies. There was also a prohibited contribution of $10,000 from West Coast Farms on 72nd Street in East Ladner that had to be returned as well as a $5,000 cheque from Alpha Aviation, both also dated Oct. 31, 2017.
Robert Campbell (left), previously with the DIVA slate, ran with Team Delta but lost his seat, while Bruce McDonald was re-elected again with Independents Working For You
Meanwhile, the Independents Working For You slate with former police chief Jim Cessford as its mayoral candidate had total contributions of $124,865 combined for its council and school board candidates. A total of $2,000 is listed as contributions made prior to Oct. 31, 2017.
Much of the total came from leftover contributions not used by the slate in the 2014 civic election, such as Westshore Terminals ($4,000), Century Lands Group ($5,000) and Daryl Goodwin’s Willow Bay Aviation ($4,000). Kenny Kyan, whose 2014 donation of $3,000 for the slate was still available, also donated a combined $2,400 for the slate’s school board and council candidates this time around.
Other donations in 2018 came from the likes of Ryan Beedie ($1,200) and Peter Toigo ($2,400 combined for school board and council candidates). The slate in total spent $110,801. Only incumbents Bruce McDonald and Jeannie Kanakos got back on council while Laura Dixon and Nick Kanakos were re-elected to school board.
Team Delta, headed by former councillor Sylvia Bishop, had a total $167,801 listed for contributions.
She also received the $1,200 individual maximum this election from the likes of Peter and Ron Toigo as well as Daryl Goodwin and others.
Bishop also received just over $6,000 as reimbursement from unspent campaign contributions in 2014 when she ran as an independent for council. The Team Delta campaign also got almost $15,000 from a reimbursement of unspent donations for Robert Campbell for his share of the Delta Independent Voters Association money collected in 2014 when he was a candidate for that slate.
As far as the lowest amount spent among successful candidates, the Kids Matter slate for school board collected just over $5,000 and spent the same amount. Trustee Bruce Reid was re-elected, but his two running mates didn’t make it.
Independent Val Windsor collected the least in donations among successful candidates, getting re-elected to school board while collecting just $1,000, although she spent $7,158.
