Steve Milani admits to distributing advertising which appears to have violated campaign financing rules.
After the Tri-City Chamber of Commerce Candidates debate on Wednesday evening, a little bit of controversy broke-out at Inlet Theatre.
Since Mr. Milani has confirmed the flyers were distributed by “volunteers helping with my campaign“, this raises questions on whether he followed election advertising and finance rules. In reading the Guide to Local Elections Campaign Financing in B.C. for Candidates produced by Elections BC, we have some questions that may need to be forwarded to the Chief Electoral Officer as a potential violation of the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act.
Since the flyers directly named and smeared some candidates while promoting Milani, the flyers almost certainly count as election advertising. Elections BC requires that Sponsorship Information, also known as an authorization statement, is required on most election advertising and must include: the name of the financial agent, the words “authorized by” in front of the financial agent’s name, and a B.C. phone number / mailing address / email address at which the agent can be contacted (p. 42 of the guide).
None of the legally required information was included on the flyer distributed by Milani’s campaign. The candidate is still responsible even if the advertising is provided to the candidate as a campaign contribution, or another individual or organization conducts advertising on behalf of the candidate. If the BC Chief Electoral Officer makes the determination that a candidate or third party sponsor failed to include sponsorship information when required, the individuals or organizations involved will face monetary penalties up to $10,000.
Voters have had to deal with enough misinformation and fear-mongering this campaign. As if that wasn’t enough, we may have to also sift through violations of campaign finance law.
Port Moody Fact Check 
Wow. This needs to go to Elections BC right away.
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