Joan McIntyre came out of the B.C. election this year with a spot in the Legislative Assembly, but it wasn't cheap to get the seat in Victoria.
The B.C. Liberal candidate for the riding of West Vancouver-Garibaldi had the full support of the B.C. Liberal party to the tune of $92,456.
Documents released by Elections B.C. indicate McIntyre, who filed all her documents under her married name of Joan Pottinger, raised a total of $94,982 for her election campaign. Her report indicates $2,843 of her campaign funds remained as a surplus after the election.
The election expense report filed by former MLA Ted Nebbeling in 2001 shows his election expenses reached $113,898.Nebbeling said he relied on his trusted financial agent during the election campaigns and didn't pay close attention to the financial component of his campaigns.
"I just liked to spend it," he said.
Dennis Perry, the Green Party candidate in the riding, had a total income of $44,897.08 for the most recent election and the report he filed with Elections B.C. indicates his bank account had a $5,000 deficit as of the report-filing deadline.
Perry's campaign was fueled by $19,500 from the Green party constituency association and numerous $500 donations from private citizens.
NDP candidate Lyle Fenton fought the election campaign with $11,587 at his disposal. Fenton's election expenses report indicates his bank account contained $3,108 at the filing date.
Fenton's largest supporter was the B.C. New Democratic Party. His party contributed more than $5,000 to Fenton's effort. The next biggest donation for Fenton's cause came from the local NDP constituency association at $4,300.
Fenton's only organized labour contribution was a $1,200 donation from the Hospital Employees Union.
Once the counting was finished, Fenton had the support of 21 per cent of the voters. Perry's much larger investment resulted in 26.58 per cent support. McIntyre's higher spending led to 50.58 per cent support on Election Day.
The fourth candidate in the race, Barbara Ann Reid of the B.C. Conservative Party, only picked up 464 votes and her expense report indicates she spent $158.91 on her campaign.
The election expense reports can be viewed on the internet by visiting [email protected]
