(Photo: Facebook)
In an effort to provide transparency, Moncton’s 2021 mayoral candidates have offered insight into the costs of running in an election.
Both Erik Gingles and Moncton’s re-elected Mayor Dawn Arnold have willingly publicized certain financial figures from their campaigns.
In New Brunswick, there are no regulations that obligate the candidates of municipal elections to reveal their expenses, nor are there limitations surrounding donations.
Expenses
Arnold’s spending exceeded that of Gingles as the former councillor-at-large spent over $35,600 on her campaign. In an email to the Bend News Team, Arnold detailed her expenses that primarily covered media and communication items such as billboard and bus ads, media ads, and software subscriptions.
In addition, a significant amount of money was allocated towards printing and signage.
On the other side of the race, Erik Gingles released a breakdown of how he spent $15,381 (plus HST).
A post on Gingles’s Facebook page indicates that $7680 was paid to Cansel Printing with a notable amount of funds also put towards Pattison Digital and Cube Tube.
Gingles cut costs by borrowing wood for his signs and managing many services himself such as website creation, graphic design for posters, photography, videos, social media, and communications.
Donations
While there are no regulations to limit who can donate and the amount they can provide, Arnold opted to maintain a contribution limit of $500 per person or company. She stated that all contributions between $100 and $500 would be made public knowledge.
According to Arnold, a limit of $500 will minimize the risk for undue influence by large individual donors.
“I am looking forward to the day when municipal political financing laws are more transparent and make disclosure a requirement. But in the meantime, I believe it is my duty to set the tone on this issue, and I encourage all other candidates in the upcoming municipal election to disclose their list of donors as well,” said Arnold in an email.
Based on a list of Arnold’s donors, at least $13,200 was contributed via individuals, while another $9000 came from corporations.
Several notable names can be found on the list of donors.
Robert and Jill Irving contributed $500 to Arnold’s campaign. Robert is co-CEO of J.D. Irving Limited and owner of the Moncton Wildcats.
Beauséjour MP Dominic LeBlanc donated $200, as did Brian Murphy who has served as Mayor of Moncton and MP for Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe.
Arnold’s Husband Paul Goobie made a $500 contribution to her campaign
A full list of the Mayor’s donors can be found on her website.
Erik Gingles will not be releasing a list of donors stating that he only would have taken the measure if he won. Gingles did admit that most of his donations came in the range of $25 to $200 with $4000 worth of campaign expenses coming from his pocket.
One notable contribution towards Gingles’s campaign was a $500 donation from the Lounsbury group. An identical donation can also be found on Dawn Arnold’s list of donors.
