Considerably less money was involved in the 2018 Squamish councillors’ election race in comparison with the mayoral candidates, with successful candidates raising between $600 to about $4,200 each.
By contrast, the mayoral candidates raised between $7,800 and $25,948.
Corporate and union donations for elections are banned, so council candidates can only seek cash from individuals.
Donors can only make a contribution of up to $1,200 per independent campaign. Only B.C. residents who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents can give money.
Also, names listed here are presented exactly as they are written in campaign disclosure forms.
Whenever a contributor donated several times to the same campaign, The Chief added up all those contributions and listed them in a single entry.
For instance, if a “John Doe” donated $100 and $200 on two separate occasions, they would appear combined on The Chief’s chart as a single $300 entry.
Finally, Elections BC requires only that contributions over $100 be listed.
As a result, the grand total for all contributions may be greater than the sum of all the donors listed in each chart presented.
Below are several findings The Chief uncovered when looking at election campaign disclosures.
Three councillors paid either mostly or entirely out of pocket
Councillors Chris Pettingill, Doug Race and Eric Andersen were mainly self-funded.
All the contributions Pettingill received for his campaign were from his own pocket, making him the only candidate to foot the bill entirely for his candidacy.
Andersen self-supported, with some forestry help
Andersen was almost entirely self-funded, with $1,260 of the $1,760 in his campaign coming out of his own wallet.
Aside from that, some names that may be familiar to those involved in local forestry can be found on Andersen’s donor list.
Green For Life staffer supports Race
Race’s own funds made up more than half of the election contributions he declared. He spent $2,400 on his campaign.
Overall $4,000 was raised for his war chest.
Denise Imbeau, who is identified on LinkedIn as a sales manager for Green For Life, donated $800.
Green For Life operates garbage trucks throughout Squamish.
Hurford has most efficient dollar-per-vote ratio
Among successful candidates, Coun. Armand Hurford got the most bang for the buck.
Hurford raised the least cash among those elected — only $600 — yet managed to place third in the vote count with 2,728.
Assuming candidates used all the donations they were given, that means Hurford spent about 22 cents for every vote that he received.
Also of note — the owner of 99 North Medical Cannabis Dispensary appears to be a fan of Hurford’s. Bryan Raiser donated $100 to his cause.
Bringing it back to efficiency, Coun. Jenna Stoner was the next best, at about 66 cents per vote.
In the middle of the pack were councillors Chris Pettingill and Eric Andersen, who spent about 76 cents and 85 cents per vote, respectively.
Councillors Doug Race and John French were the least efficient, winding up at about $1.06 per vote and $2.09 per vote, respectively.
Ex-councillor and environmentalists support Stoner
Locals may notice a familiar name from last council on Stoner’s donor list.
Former councillor Ted Prior chipped in $340 to her campaign.
As far as environmentalists go, Michalina Hunter of the Squamish Climate Action Network pitched in $250.
Elijah Dann, known for his work with the No to LNG campaign, gave Stoner $200.
French had the most financial support
The councillor raised the most funds out of all the successful candidates with $4,219 in his war chest.
Notable contributors include a Naresh Madaan and local developer Doug Day.
They contributed $1,000 and $600, respectively.
A Geoff Baker contributed $500.
A well-known real-estate agent, Marianne Wilson, gave $200. Avtar Gidda, secretary of the Squamish Sikh Temple, was another high-profile donor, chipping in $100.
