Candidates for a council seat in a Summerland should be able to spend no more than $11,280 to run for mayor and $5,640 for a council or school board seat, says a legislature committee on local election financing.
With a population of 11,280, according to the 2011 census, Summerland is just over the limit defining small communities.
In communities with a population over 10,000, mayoral candidates would be limited to $1 per capita for the first 15,000 people, 55 cents per capita up to 150,000, 60 cents per capita for 150,000 to 200,000 and only 15 cents for communities larger than that. Councillors are limited to half those amounts.
The formula would limit a candidate for mayor of Victoria, population 80,000, to about $50,000, while Surrey’s population of 470,000 would mean a cap of $180,000 to run for mayor.
In communities of up to 10,000 residents, a mayoral candidate would have a $10,000 campaign spending limit, and councillors would be limited to $5,000.
Looking at the amounts spent in Summerland during the last municipal election, the new spending limits would not have affected Mayor Peter Waterman’s campaign. He was well below the spending limit with a total of $6,043 spent on his campaign.
Likewise, mayoral contender David Gregory only spent $2,911, and Orv Robson, $3,051. Roch Fortin might have had his wings clipped a little after spending $11,401 on his mayoral campaign. Mayoral candidate Christopher Boisvert-Gilman spent $1,310.74 on his campaign.
None of the Summerland councillor candidate would have exceeded the new spending limits.
Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart, who chaired the committee as it toured the province, said the limits are aimed to make running for local government “accessible and affordable,” while recognizing the vast difference between political campaigns in large cities and those in small communities.
The spending limits still have to be endorsed by the legislature, but the B.C. Liberal and NDP members of the committee endorsed them unanimously. They are part of a series of local election reforms that included extending terms to four years.
The committee wants third-party advertisers limited to five per cent of what a mayoral candidate is allowed to spend. The spending limits would be in effect starting on Jan. 1 of each election year.
B.C. is joining Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador in placing spending limits on at least some of their local elections.