Former Kelowna BC Conservative candidate allegedly told to falsify fundraising report

Former BC Conservative candidate Alexandra Wright alleges the party told her to break campaign fundraising law, but she didn’t report it to Elections BC at the time. Wright filed a civil claim against the Conservative Party of BC, Sept. 11, which included allegations she was told to doctor a campaign fundraising report. Wright emailed party treasurer Sacha Peter to ask how to properly fundraise and sell tickets to a horse jumping show at her barn for her campaign, according to the claim. In the claim Wright said she received a text from Peter saying, “I have a verbal answer to your email,” and he later told her his answers were, “not in accordance with Elections BC laws.” Peter allegedly told her to sell burgers and drinks at the event rather than tickets. She claims she was told to deduct the cost of supplies and then deposit the money as cash donations. “Ms. Wright was confused by this approach, and questioned this process several times. As a member of two bar associations, Ms. Wright was extremely uncomfortable at being directed to do anything that could appear irregular in relation to campaign fundraising,” the claim said. Elections BC confirmed it never received a report from Wright about these allegations. READ MORE: Ousted Kelowna BC Conservative candidate takes former party to court https://infotel.ca/newsitem/ousted-kelowna-bc-conservative-candidate-takes-former-party-to-court/it106482 Political parties and candidates are required to disclose details about how they raise campaign funds, and reports on political fundraising events are posted online for the public. https://elections.bc.ca/candidates-parties/specified-fundraising-functions/ “Under the Election Act, any candidate or political party that's hosting a fundraising function is required to report to us the details of that fundraising function,” Elections BC executive director of electoral finance Jodi Cooke said.  Candidates and parties have 60 days after an event to submit fundraising event reports and 90 days after election day to submit all their fundraising reports. If a politician is caught submitting a false or incorrect report they have an opportunity to submit a corrected report.  “Failure to file an amended report may result in disqualification or other penalties depending on the nature of noncompliance,” Cooke said. Elections BC would investigate if they received a report about something like falsifying fundraising reports. “If it's noncompliance with the Election Act, that definitely is something that Elections BC would investigate,” she said. The outcome of these allegations, along with the rest of Wright’s claim, is in the hands of the BC Supreme Court. Wright did not respond to a request for comment, and the Conservative Party of BC's treasurer did not respond to email or phone calls. To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas mailto:jtomas@infonews.ca  or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .