Campaign finance report: A blue wave, and an ex-Green backs orange

Photo supplied/Courtesy Andrew Weaver

Elections BC released its full 2024 campaign finance reports this week, showing a surging BC Conservative Party and some surprising donations from former BC Green leader Andrew Weaver.

Weaver donated to the NDP to support the campaigns of three candidates — including Grace Lore, who defeated his successor, Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau.

Though the NDP outraised and outspent other political parties, the BC Conservatives still went from an afterthought to almost equaling the incumbent party in political contributions.

“I’m incredibly proud to lead an organization that has scaled at such a rapid pace, especially in contrast to how little the party had to work with even just a year ago,” BC Conservative executive director Angelo Isidorou told BC Today in a written comment.

Former Green leader puts his green on orange candidates

Weaver confirmed yesterday that he shelled out $650 for the NDP, despite media reports that he was supporting the BC Conservatives.

He intended his donations to support Ravi Parmar, Sheila Malcolmson and Lore, but the money went to the party instead of to those individual candidates.

Weaver caused a stir during the campaign when he said he was considering supporting Conservative Leader John Rustad over Premier David Eby. The former Green leader told BC Today this was misconstrued in the media as him throwing his support behind the Conservatives as a party.

“I support individual candidates because I believe the legislature serves B.C. better to have people who are independent, who are willing to work across party lines,” he said.

He also endorsed Conservative candidate Stephen Andrew in Oak Bay—Gordon Head — Weaver’s former riding — although he didn’t donate to Andrew’s campaign.

The Elections BC database shows that until the 2024 election, Weaver had only donated to the BC Greens.

Conservative fundraising surge

Overall, the NDP raised $10.2 million and spent almost $13.5 million, while the BC Conservatives raised almost $8.7 million and spent $9.34 million.

The BC Greens missed the filing deadline and now have until Feb. 18 to comply, with a $500 late fee. Several individual candidates were also late, and some were granted extensions. The latter category includes Rustad.

These fundraising totals include transfers and election reimbursements from the province, but they do not include contributions and expenses of individual candidates. Overall party contributions minus these add-ons were roughly $7.65 million for the NDP and about $6.13 million for the Conservatives.

“Individual donors, giving what they can, have always powered our party,” NDP provincial director Heather Stoutenburg said via email. “In 2024, their support helped us raise more than $7 million — our largest annual amount ever — and helped us send our BC NDP government back to the legislature for a record third mandate.”

These are the highest contribution amounts for the post-Elections Amendment Act era. Rules that limit contributions to B.C. residents were introduced with that act in 2017. The limit for 2024 was $1,450.82 per person.

The Conservatives raised almost double the contributions brought in by the BC Liberals in 2020.

“Our work is just beginning,” Isidorou said. “My goal is to have the strongest fundraising machine in the entire province by the next election.”

Political communications professor David Black, of Royal Roads University, told BC Today that populist parties such as the BC Conservatives have the added ability to get more out of every dollar spent.

“Populism can campaign on the cheap and extract a lot of emotional resonance, political resonance, for the dollar,” he said.

He also called the BC Conservatives’ ability to come from nowhere an “extraordinary instance of political athleticism and organizing prowess.”

Third-party advertisers a big grey area

While political parties have strict contribution limits, the rules are a bit looser for third-party advertisers. Black called it the “weak link” in B.C.’s campaign finance regulations — which he noted are fairly strict for political parties and candidates.

This is especially true in the context of the recent federal foreign interference inquiry by commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue.

“The Election Act is not really adjusted yet for the prospect of foreign interference in third-party advertiser organizations,” Black said.

Third-party advertisers are meant to report spending during the campaign and pre-campaign periods. Most of these are major organizations, with the biggest spender in 2024 being the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU), which shelled out more than $470,000.

Lynn Bueckert, secretary-business manager for the HEU, told BC Today in a written statement that it was combating a “reckless blueprint” for public health from Rustad’s Conservatives.

“HEU has a long tradition of activism during and between elections,” Bueckert said. “And once again we were exercising our democratic rights to advocate for public health care, British Columbians in care, and the tens of thousands of workers who care for them.”

Black explained that it is easy to track some of the money spent by organizations like the HEU during the campaign and pre-campaign period, but it gets more challenging in the months prior when rules are less stringent. He gave the example of the Chip Wilson-linked Pacific Prosperity Network.

And some types of spending on social media are difficult to track entirely.

“One could get messages out and disappear with the press of a button,” he said.