B.C. United has been fined $4,500 for false statements after it was revealed the party was behind a website calling for John Rustad to be fired and a mailout that included unverified allegations against an MLA.
Elections BC announced the fine against the B.C. United Party on Wednesday (April 8) for transmitting a false statement to affect election results through the website, www.firejohnrustad.ca, and a mailout containing false information about Richmond MLA Teresa Wat, according to a letter to the party from deputy chief electoral officer Kerry Pridmore. B.C. United ultimately suspended its campaign just under two months before the provincial election, with many candidates choosing to run under the Conservative Party B.C. banner, led by then-leader John Rustad.
It was revealed through an Elections BC investigation that employees of B.C. United were behind the www.firejohnrustad.ca advertising campaign, which included false statements that Richmond MLA Teresa Wat had committed an offence.
Pridmore said it was created with the intention of affecting the election results and was released with “reckless disregard for whether it was false.”
The fine was a result of several reasons, Pridmore added, including that B.C. United “did not take any steps” to verify the allegations in the campaign, which “caused significant media discussion at the time” and “lacked transparency, which is a key principle in the Election Act.”
Pridmore added that the distribution of false information can undermine public confidence in democratic institutions and the security of elections, and the “dissemination of deliberately false statements obstructs the public’s ability to ascertain the truth.”
The chief electoral officer added that B.C. United was cooperative with the investigation and hadn’t previously received a monetary penalty for section 234.1 of the Election Act.
It was during the pre-campaign period for the 2024 provincial election that Elections BC was made aware of concerns about the www.firejohnrustad.ca website and a physical mailout that was sent to select addresses in B.C. and directed readers to the website.
The mailout also included false statements about Wat, a B.C. Conservative candidate, who had left B.C. United to join the Conservatives in late July 2024.
Wat later gave Elections BC a signed statement that confirmed the statements about her in the mailout were false.
Pridmore said it was initially unclear who the creator of the website or mailout was, but the communication appeared to be sponsored election advertising as defined by the Election Act.
Elections BC also investigated whether the advertisements involved an unregistered third-party advertising sponsor.
Investigators ultimately discovered that both the mailout and website had been commissioned by Sovereign North Strategies Inc., a Canadian political strategies and communications company. Elections BC issued Sovereign North a notice to produce records of payment information or invoices related to the advertising campaign, as well as identifying the individual or organization who sponsored it.
Sovereign North said the campaign had been commissioned by B.C. United through the campaign manager and the deputy campaign manager/director of communications, who were both employed by the party at that time. The two have since left the party.
Sovereign North gave Elections BC its retainer, showing funds from B.C. United was used for the website www.firejohnrustad.ca. Sovereign North also noted that it didn’t develop the text for the advertising, but it was instead provided to the company by the deputy campaign manager.
Pridmore said that investigators spoke with the deputy campaign manager, who indicated that they and the campaign manager had commissioned the advertisements during a meeting with Sovereign North.
The deputy campaign manager also provided Elections BC with a copy of the retainer, adding that the campaign manager had approved the advertising and had not instructed them to “take any steps to verify the accuracy of the statements in the advertisements.”
Elections BC investigators attempted to reach out to the campaign manager “through several methods of contact,” but they did not reply.
Pridmore said that because it appeared the advertising campaign was sponsored by B.C. United, instead of a third party, the focus of the investigation moved to whether or not B.C. United contravened a section of the Election Act since it included false statements about Wat.
Section 234.1(a) states that during the pre-campaign or campaign period, an individual or organization must not, with the intention of affecting the results of an election, transmit a false statement that a candidate has committed an offence if the individual or organization knows the statement is false or has reckless disregard as to whether it is false.
The Election Act states that non-compliance with Section 234.1 can come with a penalty of up to $20,000.
In response to Elections BC’s report, B.C. United said the website and mailout were not authorized by the party’s executive director or financial agent, and the party had “no knowledge” of who arranged or authorized the advertising.
B.C. United also said that on Aug. 9, 2024, the party’s executive passed a resolution that required the treasurer’s direct authorization for any further expenses. There was reportedly no authorization given for this advertising.
The party also claimed it did not pay for the advertising, and while it received seven invoices from Sovereign North during that period, none referenced the website, mailout, or any advertising work.
However, Elections BC provided a copy of the retainer to B.C. United, which then the party acknowledged, appeared the invoice “drew down on the retainer from the consulting services agreement.” But B.C. United maintained that the party hadn’t seen the retainer.
B.C. United said the consulting services agreement with Sovereign North only allowed for the retainer to be used for campaign strategy, communications counsel, and get out the vote management for the 2024 provincial election on behalf of the party.
Pridmore, in the letter, accepted B.C. United’s claim that neither the party’s executive nor the financial agent was aware of the advertising campaign, but that employees appeared to have contravened a section of the Election Act.
“As an organization, sufficient protocols are required to prevent transmissions that contain false statements and ensure communications do not contravene the Act,” the letter reads.
Pridmore added that evidence confirmed the website and mailout were organized by the party’s campaign manager, deputy campaign manager/director of communications, and the party’s campaign strategy contractor, Sovereign North Strategies Inc.