TEAM CALLS FOR TOUGHER PENALTIES IN LIGHT OF ELECTIONS BC DETERMINATION OF ABC CAMPAIGN FINANCING VIOLATION
- salrobinson6
- Jun 25
- 2 min read
Parties, Candidates and Donors who Violate Campaign Financing Rules Should Face Bans on Participating in the Next Election, says TEAM for a Livable Vancouver
VANCOUVER (June 25, 2025) – TEAM for a Livable Vancouver says the provincial government needs to create stricter penalties – including bans on participating in the following election – for parties, candidates and donors who violate campaign financing rules.
TEAM’s call for tougher rules comes after Elections BC today posted its finding that ABC Financial Agent Corey Sue accepted prohibited campaign contributions on behalf of Ken Sim and of ABC and failed to return prohibited contributions. Elections BC imposed fines totalling $11,888 on Sue – a slap on the wrist.
In December 2023, ABC refunded some $116,000 in prohibited contributions to its donors, money it had use of through the 2022 civic campaign.
TEAM president Chris Johnson said ABC’s disregard of the rules, and the sheer scale of prohibited contributions it collected and kept for long periods, gave it a clear advantage over parties like TEAM that followed the rules. The result has been that ABC benefitted from prohibited contributions for years before being required to return them to donors, some of whom meanwhile donated again in 2023 – potentially financing their own refunds!
“ABC has clearly shown that monetary penalties are insufficient; they have become a manageable cost of campaigning,” said Johnson.
“A real deterrent maximum penalty would be parties and candidates being prohibited from running in the next election and a prohibition on the over-generous supporters donating in the following election period.”
Under the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act (LECFA), donors who make prohibited contributions can receive financial penalties of up to double their contribution. TEAM believes such donors should be barred from making contributions until after the next civic election year.
TEAM has long been suspicious of ABC’s donation patterns and brought its concerns to EBC’s attention over the past 24 months. “We’re not surprised that our research showing ABC’s unfair practices has now been validated,” Johnson said. “The light penalties and slow enforcement almost incentivize parties to break the rules.”
TEAM has done extensive research into Sim’s and ABC’s handling of campaign financing. Details of some of the issues uncovered can be found here: