Candidates in the three North Shore ridings were among the biggest spenders in last fall’s federal election, with candidates in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country topping the list of big spenders in B.C.
Information recently posted by Elections Canada revealed the election battle in the riding with the longest name in the country also involved very large amounts of cash.
Candidates collectively spent $506,286 on their 11-week campaigns in the riding. Conservative candidate John Weston spent the most - $199,351- only to lose the election. Winning Liberal candidate Pam Goldsmith-Jones wasn’t far behind – her campaign spent $177,992. Even the Green Party dropped some serious coin on the election in the riding, with candidate Ken Melamed’s campaign spending $129,042. NDP candidate Larry Koopman has not yet filed election campaign expenses. Elections Canada has granted extensions to a number of candidates.
The official cap on election spending – determined separately for each riding based mainly on population – was over $241,000.
The numbers indicate that money continues to play a pivotal role in politics, said Max Cameron, a professor of political science at the University of British Columbia. “Without money you don’t have access to the media. ... If you can’t get your candidate’s face out there, you’re dead in the water.”
North Vancouver candidates didn’t spend much less – shelling out a collective $462,082 in their federal election campaigns.
Losing Conservative candidate Andrew Saxton spent the most at $153,108 while winning candidate Liberal Jonathan Wilkinson spent just under $150,000. Green candidate Claire Martin also spent a significant sum of $135,108, while NDP candidate Carleen Thomas spent far less – only about $21,414.
In the new riding of North Burnaby-Seymour, candidates collectively spent $447,502 to duke it out on the federal stage. There, the NDP’s Carol Baird Ellan was the biggest loser. Her campaign shelled out $151,832 in its unsuccessful bid for a federal seat. Liberal winner Terry Beech’s campaign spent $113,963. Green candidate Lynne Quarmby’s campaign spent $104,104 on her losing bid, while the campaign of Conservative candidate Mike Little shelled out a comparatively modest $77,490.
Newspaper ads, election signs and flyers were among the biggest expenses, as were payments for campaign workers. A number of the candidates also paid for professional phone banks.
Cameron said the longer than usual campaign likely contributed to high spending, as did the hotly contested battles in a number of ridings.
