The incumbent Burnaby Citizens Association spent nearly half a million dollars for its 2014 sweep of seats on Burnaby’s city council and the school board.
On Monday, Elections B.C. released disclosure statements from this past November’s local elections, including those of the incumbent Burnaby Citizens Association and the opposing Burnaby First Coalition. The BCA went into the 2014 election with a staggering $484,649 in contributions – up by more than $200,000 from their 2011 donations.
Unsurprisingly, their largest contributors were trade unions, making up almost half of the party’s donations with $161,325. The city workers’ union, CUPE Local 23, gave the most at $91,125, followed by its parent group CUPE BC at $24,625 and the B.C. Government Employees’ Union at $10,000.
The Burnaby Schools non-teaching staff union gave $11,125 while the Canadian Office & Professional Employees Union Local 378 gave $6,125. The Hospital Employees Union gave $8,375, Burnaby firefighters gave $4,000 and Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. gave $1,000.
Corporations accounted for $144,100 of the BCA’s funds, with Thind Properties Ltd. leading the way with $20,000, followed by McAllister Developments ($10,000) and Amacon Management Services Corp. ($7500). Anthem Properties, Appia Developments, Blue Sky Properties, Bosa and Cressley Development each gave $5,000, and Gateway Casinos & Entertainment chipped in $2,500.
The remaining donations came from individuals ($18,110) and unincorporated business and commercial organizations ($2,550). The BCA did not receive any money from non-profit organizations.
Additionally, the BCA transferred $156,148 from the party’s own accounts to help cover election expenses, such as advertising ($219,701), salaries and wages ($110,074), couriers and postage ($45,316), and research and polling ($34,072).
The BCA collected $2,415 from raffles at two fundraisers. However, the cost of putting on the fundraisers outweighed the money brought in from ticket sales.
A reception at the Metrotown Hilton cost $23,849, with ticket sales only totalling $22,000. Likewise, a reception at the Riverway Golf Course cost $6,450 when tickets only drew in $6,930.
The BCA also had one prohibited donation from an organization called People Who Love Jesus Management Ltd., presumably because the donation – worth $250 for two tickets at one of their fundraisers – was filed without a name. The Local Elections Campaign Financing Act prohibits anonymous contributions over $50.
On the opposition’s side, the BFC’s contributions topped out at $28,344, about half of which was donations from its own candidates.
Mayoral candidate Daren Hancott put up more than $1,100 of his own money, as did his wife Linda. Council hopefuls Jason Chan, Matthew Hartney and Ray Power – as well as school board candidates Maria Parente, Ben Seebaran, Keith Tong and Francesca Zumpano – each gave $1,000 to the coalition, followed by Nick Kvenich ($983), Helen Ward ($900), Janice Beecroft ($700) and Heather Leung ($487).
Unlike the BCA, Burnaby First’s donations primarily came from individuals (including candidate contributions), totalling $19,506. The BFC received $2,585 from non-profits, $2,150 from corporations and $250 from unincorporated business and commercial organizations, but nothing from trade unions.
Contributions were split up 60-40 between the expenses of the BFC’s council and school board slates. Council expenses totalled $17,003, including advertising ($13,270), conventions and meetings ($1,373) and rent, insurance and utilities ($1,383).
With no salaries or wages, the coalition’s campaign was evidently run pro bono by volunteers.
Independent mayoral candidate Helen Chang funded her own campaign with $7,673, most of which went to advertising. Likewise, council candidate Jeff Kuah put up $1,860 of his own money as the sole contributor to his campaign.
On the flipside, mayoral hopefuls Sylvia Gung and Allen Hutton, aspiring councillor Tom Tao and first-time school board candidate Elias Ishak didn’t spend a dime on their campaigns – and neither did anyone else.
Mayoral hopeful Raj Gupta had no contributions, but did have $510 in advertising and administrative expenses.
