By most accounts, the lead-up to Squamish’s 2022 municipal election was tense.
The anonymous Squamish Voices page ran attack ads and posted accusations against some candidates.
And then there was the Squamish Now page, run by a third-party sponsor Dikran Bedirian that ran attack ads.
Elections officials forced that page to change its name to make it consistent with the name Elections BC had in its third-party registry.
Bedirian was also responsible for a flyer campaign that filled locals’ mailboxes during the run-up to the election on Oct. 15, 2022.
The campaign's primary target was now-Mayor Armand Hurford, who was then running for the top job.
In Bedirian's financial statements submitted to ElectionsBC, it states he lives on Commercial Drive in Vancouver.
His connection to or interest in the Squamish election is unclear.
Melanie Hull, senior communications advisor with Elections BC, told The Squamish Chief that Squamish Voices did not sponsor election advertising during the regulated period for the 2022 General Local Elections, so there was no need to investigate.
“While Squamish Voices did sponsor social media advertising, this took place before the start of the pre-campaign period — July 18, 2022 — and so did not constitute election advertising.”
Though not being "investigated," Bedirian’s third-party sponsor disclosure statement, available here, is being looked at again.
In a written statement in February, Elections BC told The Squamish Chief that it was reviewing Dikran Bedirian's disclosure statements.
Hull said last week that now the statement is being audited.
“This report has been selected for a compliance audit by our office,” Hull said.
The audit process is a more in-depth look at what was submitted than a review.
"An audit involves a more in-depth analysis of the financial report, including reviewing supporting documentation and conducting interviews with political participants to gain a better understanding of their processes and controls to safeguard compliance."
The financial statement says that Bedirian spent a total of $5,280.55 on election expenses.
In the pre-campaign period, $3,161.55 was spent on promotional materials, including brochures, among other things, the filing said. There was also $1,266.62 spent on social media advertising in this time frame.
However, during the campaign period, the statement said that the only expense was $852.38 on social media ads.
The campaign period expense limit was $1,023.96 during the 2022 election and applied from Sept. 17 to Oct. 15 last year.
The filing states that $2,750 of Bedirian's funds were the result of 55 anonymous contributions. Contributors can remain anonymous if they spend less than $100.
For contributions over $100, Bedirian was the sole person who contributed an amount at that level. They contributed a total of $2,530.55 to their election spending. The first donation was $1,250 on Sept. 13, 2022.
The second was $1,280.55, paid on Jan. 2, 2023. It's possible to contribute money after an election and one of the more common reasons is to pay off debts.
“If the audit identifies a potential contravention, an investigation may result. If an investigation results in an administrative monetary penalty or other enforcement action, we will publish information about the penalty on our website,” Hull said.
After an audit, the person or group may:
- receive recommendations on how to improve internal processes and enhance compliance;
- be required to file a supplementary financing report to correct reporting deficiencies; and/or
- if non-compliance is identified, may be subject to further investigation and possible penalties depending on the nature of the non-compliance.
As we have several times in the past, The Squamish Chief reached out to Bedirian for his comment on this story using the email in the filings but did not hear back. We also reached out via the phone number, but could not reach him.
~With files from Steven Chua/The Squamish Chief.
