As it turns out, it was the NDP that were the big spenders in the hotly contested Burnaby North-Seymour riding during last fall’s federal election.
The NDP’s Carol Baird Ellan spent $151,831 on her campaign, netting $35,984 in donations and another $113,500 in party transfers, according to Elections Canada’s campaign finance summary.
It was the most spent by any of the candidates in the riding.
She finished second behind Liberal Terry Beech, collecting 15,537 votes, or 29 per cent of the vote.
The cost of running a campaign in the riding proved high, as Baird Ellan, Beech and Green candidate Lynne Quarmby all spent over $100,000.
Beech spent $129,730 on his winning campaign, while Quarmby spent $104,104 on her fourth-place finish.
The Green candidate told the NOW despite the results, the money spent on her campaign wasn’t a waste, arguing other ridings with less funding had benefitted from the profile given to her campaign.
Conservative candidate Mike Little spent $77,490 on his campaign, receiving $121,000 from the party in transfers. Little finished in third with 14,612 votes.
The list of contributors to Baird Ellan campaign also has some familiar names in political circles.
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan donated $600, prominent Trans Mountain Pipeline opponent David Huntley donated $1,500, BC Federation of Labour president Irene Lanzinger donated $500, former B.C. NDP candidate for Burnaby North Janet Routledge donated $250, and Burnaby school trustee Gary Wong donated $600 to Baird Ellan’s campaign. Crawford Kilian donated $250 to the campaign. Kilian also covered the Burnaby North-Seymour riding for the Tyee, an online news publication.
The election expense limits for all candidates in the riding was $206,738.
While the Liberals were spending big on Beech, across town, the Liberal candidate for Burnaby South was running a more frugal campaign.
Adam Pankratz spent $33,902 on his campaign, getting $6,850 in campaign contributions and receiving another $38,774 in party transfers.
He finished a close second on election night, netting 15,547 votes, fewer than 600 votes short of the winner, the NDP’s Kennedy Stewart.
Stewart won his re-election campaign, spending $180,599 on his victory.
Conservative candidate Grace Seear, who finished third in the race, has yet to file her expenses.
The election expense limits for all the candidates in the riding was $207,659.
