If there is any solace for the group that was unsuccessful in recalling Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake, the effort didn’t break the bank.
According to financial statements released by Elections BC, the recall campaign led by proponent Chad Moats spent $9,550 on its failed bid.
The campaign received $7,700 in individual contributions, most notably $4,400 from the FightHST group, $3,000 from Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) BC and $500 from federal NDP candidate Michael Crawford.
The recall, which was in response to the introduction of the harmonized sales tax, raised another $631 through individual donations at various meetings.
The recall campaign against Lake, which ran for eight weeks between February and April, managed to get 10,087 signatures, but the number was well short of the total needed for Lake to become the first MLA in the province’s history to be recalled.
In Kamloops-North Thompson, registered canvassers had 60 days to obtain the signatures of at least 15,299 registered voters, 40 per cent of the 38,246 voters registered to vote in the last provincial election.
The group needed to collect about 2,000 signatures a week to have been successful.
A good portion of the campaign’s expenses – $2,888 – went to media advertising and, ironically, another $889 went to paying HST.
In the meantime, according to the statements, Lake spent nothing in the defense of his seat.
The recall-spending limits begin with a base amount of $25,000, which is adjusted for the number of registered voters in the electoral district as of general voting day for the last election.
The failure in Kamloops-North Thompson followed other failed recall bids of Liberal MLAs Ida Chong in Oak Bay, Don McRae in Comox Valley and Marc Dalton in Maple Ridge-Mission.
– from Kamloops This Week
