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Hey, big spenders!
Local politicians and those who aspired to be one on the North Shore collectively spent more on civic election campaigns in the 2022 municipal elections than they did in 2018, despite rules intended to take big money out of local politics.
Local political candidates on the North Shore collectively spent $739,547 on the 2022 civic campaign – up from $693,901 in 2018.
While City of North Vancouver mayor Linda Buchanan spent the most individually, the 22 candidates in the District of West Vancouver spent the most in one North Shore jurisdiction on the 2022 election campaign – a collective $364,690.
Mayor Mark Sager was the biggest spender in West Vancouver, putting out over $92,000 on his successful bid to get elected. Sager also raised just shy of $87,000 in campaign donations.
Sager outspent former mayor Mary-Ann Booth – who dished out just over $50,880 in an effort to hold on to her seat – almost two-to-one.
Sager also raised and spent over double the amount – $41,700 – that he did in his previous faceoff with Booth, in 2018.
Campaign finance disclosure documents filed with Elections B.C. were recently made public, detailing where candidates raised their money and how they spent it.
Corporate and union donations were banned before the 2018 municipal elections, but Sager’s campaign nonetheless garnered sizable contributions from individuals who work in the development and real estate sectors, along with their spouses and other family members.
Among the donors were Chris Barbati of Mosaic Homes, Ryan and Cindy Beedie of Beedie group of companies, members of the executive team and several members of the Bosa family of Bosa Developments, Jim Szabo of CBRE Capital Markets, real estate developer Nevin Sangha, Eric Carlson, founder of Anthem Properties, Neil Chrystal, president of Polygon Homes, Scott Cressey of Cressey Developments, Greg Nielsen of GD Nielsen Homes, several members of the Hasman family of Angell, Hasman & Associates, and a number of other real estate agents.
Other donors included venture capitalists and financial industry executives.
Maximum individual donations are capped by law at $1,250 per year.
On the spending side of the ledger, Elections BC capped expenses for West Vancouver mayoral candidates for the campaign period between Sept. 17 and Oct. 15 at just over $34,000, but there is no limit on how much they can spend in the run-up to the election.
Sager recorded expenses of $33,000 during the campaign period, including just over $12,800 for promotional materials, including newsletters and flyers, and just under $7,500 on newspaper advertising. He also recorded $5,400 on signs, $4,300 on postage, $1,700 on professional services and $550 on office expenses.
Sager’s biggest expenses, however, were recorded in the run-up prior to the official start of the campaign, including almost $16,400 on research, surveys and polls and almost $16,000 on professional services. Sager also spent $7,300 on brochures and $2,000 on signs in the pre-campaign period.
According to Elections BC, expenses used in both time periods (like lawn signs) must be officially counted in both periods. That means some goods and services purchased for the election are double counted.
Donated property or services, including in-kind contributions, must also be counted at full market value.
Sager’s expenses also included his $4,900 share of $26,000 in election expenses split with members of his slate, including Scott Snider, Sharon Thompson, Linda Watt and Peter Lambur.
Sager’s forms also recorded spending on items officially defined as election expenses paid for after the election was over. Notably, that included $3,800 on “post election communications services” paid to Samantha Falk Communications at the beginning of November, and a further almost $8,000 paid to the same company in the middle of January.
Former mayor Mary-Ann Booth spent $50,882 on her attempt to get re-elected, including just over $30,000 during the election campaign and $15,800 during the pre-election run-up.
Booth’s biggest expenses were for professional services (including $8,385 recorded for the campaign and $5,159 during the pre-campaign run-up), over $8,200 in newspaper ads during the campaign, $6,800 on brochures and $4,100 on signs. Booth also spent just under $1,400 on “other advertising” in the campaign and $6,700 on “other campaign administrative expenses” prior to the official campaign getting underway. Her post-election expenses included $2,900 in thank-you cards and gift certificates.
Booth raised just under $50,000 in campaign contributions, much of that from family, and people from the local arts and business community. Booth also received donations from people connected with the real estate business, including Neil Chrystal of Polygon, Karim and Alyssa Virani of Virani Real Estate Advisors, Gary Mathiesen of Quay Property Management Corp., David Sander of Hollyburn Properties, Greg Nielsen of GD Nielsen Homes, Naomi Chard of Chard Development and several real estate agents. Booth also received small donations from Dana Athony and John Millar, founding members of the political group Positive Voices that has advocated on housing and environmental issues, and from former West Van MLA Ralph Sultan, former mayor Ron Wood, former Port Coquitlam mayor Greg Moore and former president of the BC Liberal Party Sonja Sanguinetti. Former track star Valerie Jerome also donated.
Third place finisher in the mayor’s race, former councillor Marcus Wong, spent $39,000, with donors to his campaign mainly family and friends. His biggest expenses were newspaper ads and elections signs.
Teresa DeCotiis spent $2,500 on election signs.
On the council side of things, those who spent the most on their campaigns tended to get elected.
Of the 18 council candidates, Scott Snider, Sharon Thompson, Linda Watt, Peter Lambur and Christine Cassidy were all among the biggest spenders and all were elected.
Snider raised and spent the most, raising $39,000 and spending just shy of $28,000.
Thompson raised over $20,000 in donations and spent over $22,400 on her campaign.
Watt raised and spent over $19,000, while Lambur raised over $13,000 and spent over $14,000 on his campaign.
Christine Cassidy raised and spent over $13,000 on her campaign.
Nora Gambioli ran the thriftiest successful election campaign, raising just over $5,000 in campaign contributions and spending $3,600.
Both the Amalgamated Transit Union, representing Blue Bus drivers, and Positive Voices registered as third-party sponsors for the West Vancouver civic elections. Both groups spent less than $500 according to their disclosure forms.
