Vancouver/Fraser Valley – Election BC finance reports that were released on Monday had the NDP up in arms.
They claim that the numbers show the BC Liberal Party continued to finance Laurie Throness after he resigned over his comments comparing contraception to eugenics. Throness then ran in Chilliwack-Kent as an Independent and lost to the NDP’s Kelli Paddon.
Following Throness’ resignation on October 15, the BC Liberals sent 7 transfers totalling $18,804.20 to Throness’ campaign. (Elections BC)
For months, the BC Liberals rejected calls to fire Throness for his history of homophobic and transphobic comments.
In the detailed report, it shows election campaign expenses.
for Chilliwack and Chilliwack-Kent:
Jason Lum (Ind) brought in $22.5K, spent $18K and reimbursed $7K
Diane Janzen brought in $33.4K, spent $23.2K and reimbursed $11K
Kelli Paddon (who won the riding of Chilliwack-Kent for the NDP) brought in $4K, spent $2.7K and reimbursed $980
Dan Coulter ( who won the riding of Chilliwack for the NDP) brought in $9900, spent $6200, reimbursed $2990
John Martin brought in $56.9K , spent same and reimbursed 0$
Due to extenuating circumstances, extensions to the filing deadline were granted to the five candidates including Laurie Throness. That deadline is February 28.
The full report and original FVN story is here.
Chilliwack-Kent MLA Kelli Paddon commented: “It’s troubling that the BC Liberals gave Laurie Throness more than $18,000 even after he quit as a candidate. His discriminatory beliefs are harmful to people and have no place in our politics. If the BC Liberals wanted to prove there’s no room for homophobia and sexism in their party, they shouldn’t have continued to quietly fund Laurie Throness’ campaign.”
