A candidate in Richmond-Steveston has been hit with a $150 fine from Elections BC after not including her financial agent in a sponsored article.
Michelle Mollineaux, who ran as the BC Conservative candidate in the October 2024 provincial election, had a sponsored article on the Richmond News’ website.
Elections BC received a complaint saying it didn’t include the financial agent.
Within 24 hours of being published, the financial agent was added to the sponsored article.
Elections BC said Mollineaux’s campaign has been cooperative with their investigation, and the mistake was corrected as soon as she was contacted by Elections BC.
Furthermore, Elections BC said their investigation didn’t show any “deliberate attempt to circumvent the legislation.”
The maximum penalty for this type of infraction is $10,000.
“Sponsoring election advertising without the required authorization statement reduces the transparency of campaign spending and messaging during the campaign period,” Elections BC said in its decision.
The advertisement was authorized by Mollineaux herself due to the “small campaign team structure,” however, Elections BC noted all “future advertising would go through additional vetting by both (Mollineaux’s) financial agent and the Conservative Party of BC’s communications team.”
📣 Got an opinion on this story or any others in Richmond? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected].
📲 To stay updated on Richmond news, sign up for our daily headline newsletter.
💬 Words missing in article? Your adblocker might be preventing hyperlinked text from appearing.
