A group of councillors and candidates from municipalities across the province met on Sunday, September 25, 2022, to discuss issues related to development-industry donations for campaigns.
Read in Global News: https://apple.news/AN-3GueEPT5C6aXhftHtGpA
This has been a concern for many years, directly related to municipalities and their major role in land use decisions. While the province has brought in legislation in recent years to provide tighter rules and limits on financial campaign spending and donation sources for municipal campaigns and candidates, this story reveals that there are still concerns about the ability of developers to influence potential local election outcomes.
For your information, I have always declined campaign donations from the development community, both here in Oak Bay and while serving as a Councillor in North Saanich. I have only ever accepted donations from individuals who are either residents, friends or acquaintances. However, it’s always a pertinent question for all candidates running and I encourage voters to conduct research about candidates they do not know.