Candidates can increase spending in fall election

Kelowna mayoral candidates can spend $95,000 on their campaigns

People running to become mayor of Kelowna this fall can spend a lot more on their campaigns than candidates were allowed to do in 2018.

The spending limit for Kelowna mayoral candidates has been bumped from about $77,000 to $95,665, according to information released Thursday by Elections B.C.

Those running for one of the eight city councillor positions can spend a maximum of $48,500.

Here are the spending limits for mayor and council candidates in other local municipalities:

West Kelowna — $29,953, $15,093

Lake Country — $16,930, $5,398 for ward councillors, $8,471 for councillor-at-large Peachland — $10,797, $5,398

The limits devised on the basis of population. Greater Kelowna, a category which includes the entire Central Okanagan, was the fastest-growing city in Canada between 2015 and 2021, with a population increase of 14%, from 195,000 to 222,000.

As a practical matter, most municipal candidates don’t spend anywhere near the election limit.

A notable exception has been Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran. In 2014, when he first ran for mayor, his campaign raised $75,791. At the time, there were no limits on campaign spending for those seeking municipal office in B.C.

“I’m quite proud of the money we raised,” Basran said after the 2014 election. “It shows people wanted me to win.”

In 2018, after campaign limits had been introduced at the municipal level by the NDP government, Basran initially filed a report with Elections B.C. that showed his campaign cost was $76,585, just a couple hundred dollars below the maximum.

“We were tracking the donations and we knew we were getting darn close, and in fact we actually had to return one or two contributions because we certainly didn’t want to be in violation of the limit,” Basran said after the 2018 election.

But it later emerged that Basran had not declared, as he was required to, an additional sum of $31,200 in campaign donations he received in 2016 and 2017. He said he wasn’t aware that money had to be declared.

Last July, he amended his report to Elections B.C. showing those additional donations. Basran has not said yet if he intends to run for a third term as mayor in the fall’s civic election, which is set for Oct. 15.