The list of contributors for mayor and council candidates for the 2017 municipal election campaign is now public.
Campaign financial disclosure statements, required under the Local Authorities Election Act, are now available at www.banff.ca.
Documents show Mayor Karen Sorensen received $10,500 in outside contributions, well ahead of competitor Hugh Pettigrew, who raised about $3,500.
The biggest contributors to Sorensen’s campaign were Adam and Jan Waterous with $2,000, followed by Rimrock Resort and Caribou Properties at $1,000 each.
Sorensen was elected to a third mayoralty term, defeating Pettigrew 1,223 to 958 votes and said her campaign team had aggressive fundraising goals from the get-go.
“My campaign team did all that work and my campaign had aggressive fundraising goals and ran a robust campaign,” said Sorensen, who contributed $357 of her own money.
“The campaign tried to target several audiences in different ways, and certainly financially that’s where that helped.”
Pettigrew, who spent about $63 of his own money, said it’s important to disclose information to be transparent, noting he wanted to be fiscally responsible.
Pettigrew’s supporters included Dave Morrison, Vito Giannandrea, Linda Charlton, Randy Ward and Mountain View BBQ. Two thousand dollars was from Ward.
“I was happy to be able to get 44 per cent of the vote with only one-third of what my competitor spent,” he said. “I don’t believe spending money is the way to win a campaign; however, it is what it is.”
Other donors to Sorensen’s campaign were Linda Charlton, Eric Harvie, Neil Tanner, Banff Inn, Maple Leaf Grille and Spirits, Banff Hospitality Collective, Mountain View BBQ, Canada House Gallery, Marilyn Bell and Dak Kerr, Julie Canning and Dave McKenna, Connie and Tom MacDonald.
Candidates with contributions from others included Corrie DiManno ($1,280), Allan Buckingham ($140) Douglas Macnamara ($1,350) and Jon Whelan ($700).
Tony Bumbaco, Grant Canning, Ted Christensen, David Dickson, Barry Ferguson, Lorraine Harder, Chip Olver, Peter Poole, Brian Standish, and Christopher Wong informed the municipality that their campaign was self-funded. If a campaign is funded entirely out of the candidate’s own pocket, up to $10,000, they don’t have to file a disclosure statement to the municipality.
Rob Lillington and Wade Rettie did not submit documents.
