Elaine McMurray, a candidate who ran for council in the 2022 Kelowna Municipal Election (finishing 15th with 6,292 votes, or 2.93% of votes), was fined $100 by Elections BC for sponsoring election advertising without an authorization statement.
Photo Credit: NowMedia
According to a statement by the non-partisan office of the legislature, Elections BC became aware of a complaint regarding a lawn sign that promoted Elaine McMurray for Kelowna City Council on September 12, which was five days prior to the campaigning window opening on September 17.
The Elections BC compliance team then reminded McMurray to include all information required in an authorization statement.
That information states that any political sponsored advertising must: Identify the financial agent, indicate it was authorized by the financial agent, gives a BC phone number and an email address or mailing address at which the financial agent may be contacted regarding the advertising.
As a result, the investigation found that two election signs contravened section 44(1) of the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act (LECFA) as they were erected prior to the campaign period and did not contain the requisite information that pertains to the filing of an authorization statement.
A fine of up to $5,000 was required, although Elections BC ended up charging her just $100 based on a myriad of factors that included:
- The nature of this contravention was not egregious – the lack of an authorization statement would not likely have misled a reader to conclude another party besides your campaign sponsored the ads. The transparency purpose of the act had been substantially met.
- McMurray indicated that the publication of the advertisements without an authorization statement was inadvertent.
- McMurray indicated that this was her first time as a candidate for public office.
- Once contacted by Elections BC, McMurray quickly and cooperatively amended advertisements where possible.
- McMurray had not previously been the subject of a monetary penalty under the LECFA.
McMurray was recognized as Kelowna's Citizen of the Year in 2020 for her work with Kelowna's Journey Home Strategy and had been a decisive figure in launching a national action plan to end homelessness.
For the full enforcement notice, click here.
