BC Liberals Under-Report Donations by a Half Million Dollars: Chief Electoral Officer Asked To Investigate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VICTORIA, BC—In the course of building a database of political donations in British Columbia, the Dogwood Initiative discovered that the BC Liberal Party failed to disclose in its 2001 report 478 donations totaling $ 510,140.49, thereby under-reporting the total for the year by a significant margin.

These donations were collected by candidates, but were not added to the Party’s filing as is required by law. An initial look at the BC Liberal’s 2005 report found similar instances of under-reporting, although the scale is yet to be determined.

“The BC Liberals defend taking corporate donations by saying all amounts are disclosed properly, but this is far from the case,” said Will Horter, a lawyer and Executive Director of Dogwood Initiative.

Dogwood Initiative has filed a formal request asking Harry Neufeld, BC’s Chief Electoral Officer, to investigate possible breaches of the Elections Act in 2001 and 2005. Reporting failures can trigger fines of up to $10,000, jail terms and the de-registering of parties.

Dogwood Initiative created the contribution database and began this investigation as part of its efforts to track the influence of big donations from logging, coal, and oil and gas companies on government policy.

Last week, the Harper government introduced legislation to ban corporate and union donations on the federal level, and to cap individual donations to $1,000. Quebec and Manitoba already have similar bans and caps on donations; However, BC allows unlimited corporate, union, and individual donations.

The Dogwood Initiative is a Victoria-based non-profit group that promotes democracy and sustainability by helping British Columbians exercise control over their communities.

Supporting documents:

Complaint letter to Elections BC (pdf)
Spreadsheet of missing or incorrect donations (pdf)

For more information, please contact:

Will Horter, Executive Director
Office: 250-370-9930 ext.23
Mobile: 250-882-9930
whorter@dogwoodinitiative.org

You can help Dogwood Initiative create an online database of political contributions available to the public by making a donation.