SASK. PARTY LEADERSHIP
Handful of people, firms donate most money
A small group of individuals and associated companies are responsible for one-quarter of the money donated so far in the race to decide Saskatchewan’s next premier.
The ongoing Saskatchewan Party leadership race, according to financial disclosures, has seen $557,179 donated to candidates (not including in-kind donations).
Twenty-five per cent of that money — or $141,625 — is coming from a just handful of people and companies.
Thirteen of the 29 corporations listed as donors to Alanna Koch’s campaign are companies with which Paul Hill or the Hill Group of Companies are affiliated.
Those 13 companies have donated a total of $21,625, or 43 per cent of the $50,500 Koch’s campaign has received from businesses.
On top of the corporate funding she received, 61 individuals contributed $66,550 (57 per cent of the total $117,050) to Koch’s campaign.
Kelly Gallagher, a spokesperson for Koch’s campaign, confirmed Hill donated.
“As you know, he runs many companies and he invests in a lot of things and its basically his prerogative to donate to whoever he wants to, and his donations fall within the rules of the leadership race and we’ve been quite transparent about it, we’ve disclosed all our donors,” said Gallagher. “It’s just a donation from Mr. Hill.”
The largest single donation to Koch’s campaign came from a company owned by Trevor Boquist, a Regina businessman. One of his companies donated $10,000 to Koch’s campaign.
Between them, Boquist and Hill-affiliated companies are responsible for 27 per cent cent of the money raised by Koch’s team.
Scott Moe’s donor list includes 27 companies contributing between $250 and $5,000, but his largest sum came from an individual.
Kelly Panteluk owns one of Saskatchewan’s largest privately owned heavy equipment companies, Kelly Panteluk Construction Ltd (KPCL).
According to the company’s website, it has been involved in a number of government-funded projects.
This includes the Trans-Canada twinning project in the Broadview-Whitewood area from 200306, the recent Highway 39 twinning project and work around the Global Transportation Hub.
Panteluk is listed with his wife as giving $25,000 to Moe’s campaign.
In total, Moe raised $128,950, meaning almost 20 per cent of that money comes from the Panteluks.
Moe’s campaign manager is Jason Wall, who has served as the chief of staff to the minister of highways.
Asked about Panteluk’s donation, Moe said “that one is significant in its size, but we appreciate all of the donations” and that he understood the construction company “did some work for the province and highways” as well as in the private sector.
He said he wasn’t aware of any relationship between Wall or Panteluk.
Ken Cheveldayoff raised the most money overall, with 30 per cent of his $165,150 in donations coming from five companies that donated $10,000 each to his campaign.
Those companies include Millennium III Capital Corporation, which is affiliated with a Saskatoon-based commercial real estate investment firm.
An Ontario-based lawyer also gave Cheveldayoff $10,000 through a numbered company. A Calgary-based investment and real estate company owns Kalmacoff Holdings Ltd., another $10,000 donor to Cheveldayoff. Dutchak Holdings, run by Walt Dutchak, also gave Cheveldayoff $10,000. Dutchak owns and operates ambulance services in North Battleford and elsewhere. Thunder Ridge Farms, based in Leask, rounds out the group of $10,000 donors for Cheveldayoff.
Gary Redhead’s company, Redhead Equipment, offered up nearly 20 per cent of Gord Wyant’s total corporate donors (Wyant received $74,216 from businesses and $106,516 overall).
The company gave Wyant $20,000, double the amount of the next highest total. Regina-based Pow City Mechanical, owned by the Schuler family, gave him $10,000.
Tina Beaudry-Mellor, who raised the least of all candidates, received the bulk of her funding from one source: Her husband, David Mellor, a Regina-based lawyer. He donated $15,000, or 46 per cent, of the $32,512.66 raised by Beaudry-Mellor.
A sixth candidate, Rob Clarke, is now in the race but he entered after the deadline for filing preliminary disclosures and so none of his campaign’s financial details are available.