By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

City releases campaign expenses from 2017 civic election

Apr 17, 2018 | 3:46 PM

Dollar figures are now out from the 2017 municipal and school board elections showing how much each candidate spent on their campaign.

Re-elected Mayor Tara Veer spent $10,515, whereas her opponent Sean Burke self-funded his campaign, so numbers are not disclosed.

As far as the 29 candidates for councillor positions, the re-elected Dianne Wyntjes spent the most at $13,532. Conversely, of the candidates who were elected, Frank Wong only spent $257, while Buck Buchanan racked up just $500.

New councillors Michael Dawe and Vesna Higham spent $8,363 and $8,839, respectively.

Re-elected councillors Ken Johnston expended $6,741, Lawrence Lee $10,543 and Tanya Handley’s campaign was self-funded.

Individuals aged 55 and over

Central Alberta Older Adult Employment Strategy Assessment Project full report released

2h ago

UPDATE

Red Deer Polytechnic confirms student death on-campus

6h ago

retrofitting building

Carnival Cinemas applies to rezone for residential development

7h ago

Incumbent Lynne Mulder’s campaign was also self-funded, though she was unsuccessful. 

The highest amounts spent by candidates who did not receive enough votes were Jonathan Wieler at $8,145 and Rick More at $7,427.

One candidate, Robert Friss, did not report his expenses and could face fines of up to $5000 under the Local Authorities Election Act.

Only two candidates, Mayor Tara Veer and council candidate Rick More wound up with surpluses — of $34.35 and $572.83, respectively — which goes into a City of Red Deer trust until next election. If the candidate files papers to run in that election, those monies are returned to them. If they don’t, The City will donate the money to a registered charity.

As for school board candidates, Laurette Woodward (elected) spent the most on her campaign at $4,767. On the opposite end, current Red Deer Public Schools board chair Bev Manning spent $0 towards her sucessful re-election.

Eight of nine candidates for Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools were self-funded, while one, Liam McNiff, did not report. McNiff is not subject to penalties however as the school division does not have a bylaw stipulating that candidates must report campaign expenses.