A special prosecutor has ruled out criminal charges against West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager following an investigation into campaign finance irregularities and Elections BC has closed its own investigation on the matter.
The B.C. Prosecution Service announced on Friday that the evidence collected through a Port Moody Police investigation into potential fraud did not meet the Crown’s standards for charge approval.
At issue was $14,622 spent on furniture for the mayor’s office and $11,754 in “post-election communications” that appeared in Sager’s campaign finance disclosure documents.
Under the law, candidates may only claim expenses “incidental to the candidate’s campaign,” which Elections BC says would not include office furniture and PR bills after the election.
But after reviewing the evidence, special prosecutor John M. Gordon said there was not a substantial likelihood of conviction.
When it came to the “post-campaign communications,” the first payment of $3,761 was made for a period of work that straddled the election, meaning the amount spent on impermissible services was “not determinable,” Gordon found. The second payment of $7,993 was billed to Sager’s law firm and was not paid out of the campaign’s account. It should not have been included in his campaign finance disclosures, the report found.
“There was no apparent attempt to conceal the fact that these expenses were incurred after the campaign had ended or what they were for. The evidence in this regard provides fruitful ground for the defence to argue that the campaign did not act with an intent to deceive,” the special prosecutor’s statement explained.
When it came to spending campaign funds on furniture for the mayor’s office, Sager claimed he sought and permission from Elections BC officials before making the purchase, which, the Crown notes, Elections BC denied.
“Regardless of its merits, a defence of officially induced error would likely be advanced. Regarding the furniture expenses, Mr. Sager stated that the furniture was intended for the mayor's office at municipal hall, and that such a use represented a savings to the taxpayer. In short, the essential element of an intention to deceive in relation to the impugned expenses would therefore be an arguable issue at trial,” Gordon’s statement read.
Under the law, any surplus funds left over after a campaign must be remitted to the municipality, where it is held in trust until the next election when the candidate may use it for another run for office.
Beyond the lack of substantial likelihood of conviction, the prosecutor also found the “public interest did not require a criminal prosecution to protect the regulatory scheme.”
“The special prosecutor concluded that the available evidence is equivocal regarding the essential question as to whether Mr. Sager acted dishonestly or was simply careless or mistaken in his efforts to comply with (Local Election Campaign Finance Act),” the statement read.
Mayor Mark Sager reacts
Speaking to the North Shore News after the release of the report, Sager said he was greatly relieved and that he was eager to move on.
“It's been a really tough year for me, personally. I haven't had a good sleep in a year. I hope tonight I have a really good sleep. Having something like this over your head is horrible,” he said. “It's been brutal, absolutely brutal.”
The decision to not pursue charges was actually made in June 2024, according to the release, and the investigation was sent back to Elections BC at that time. The Crown, however, did not make that decision public until now “so as to not compromise the integrity of Elections BC’s regulatory investigation and charge assessment.”
Elections BC released a statement soon after the special prosecutor’s findings were released, stating that the agency would be taking no further action on the campaign finance irregularities.
Elections BC did, however, find that Sager accepted one prohibited campaign contribution for which he still may face an administrative fine. The donation was a $1,000 discount on political services offered by a high school friend named John Noonan. The Act prohibits candidates from accepting discounts on goods and services, and Sager said he paid Noonan an additional $1,000 to negate the discount.
“Mark Sager’s campaign has been co-operative with requests from Elections BC, and has not accepted prohibited contributions in the past,” the statement read.
Sager said he doesn’t know why the matter couldn’t have been concluded months ago.
“I was never contacted by anyone,” he said. “I would love to have known last June, but I'm just happy to know today and happy to just get back and do what I like doing, and that's serving our community.”
Sager said expenses at the centre of the investigation were mistakes and that Elections BC needs to provide more clarity in the rules for candidates to follow.
“My biggest concern looking into the future is ensuring that people aren't discouraged from running for public office. If mistakes can be made, people have to know how to fix them,” he said.
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