A financial agent who worked for West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager’s 2022 election campaign has been penalized for accepting a prohibited donation.
On Wednesday, Elections BC released an enforcement notice that agent Ron Nairne is being fined $500 for accepting a campaign contribution from an organization deemed not eligible to contribute.
But Sager characterized Nairne’s conduct in question as a “simple mistake,” and said it was ridiculous that he’s being punished for it.
According to the enforcement notice, Nairne filed a disclosure statement with Elections BC in January 2023.
In May of that year, he was sent an information request to address “various issues” with the report related to campaign finances. Later that month, Nairne submitted bank statements and expense documents related to the information request.
“Upon reviewing the bank statements and expense documents, EBC’s audit and assessment team identified a possible prohibited contribution from John Moonen and Associates Ltd. The invoice read as $1,087.50 ‘F&F Discount,’” reads the enforcement notice.
That September, Elections BC’s audit team requested an amended disclosure statement after becoming aware of the potential prohibited contribution, and advised Nairne and Sager to return the discounted cost to the organization.
The amended disclosure statement was submitted, showing a discount of professional services from John Moonen and Associates, received in March and refunded in September 2023 for $1,087.50.
Accepting discount gives candidates an advantage, investigations director says
In the enforcement notice, investigations director Adam Barnes said that he agreed that the discount was prohibited and that he could issue an administrative penalty up to double the prohibited contribution.
“Accepting a discount gives a candidate an advantage that other candidates may have not been offered,” Barnes said.
But Barnes also noted that Nairne brought himself into compliance after being contacted by Elections BC, and had been co-operative with the investigation.
Nairne hadn’t been the subject of related fines in the past, Barnes added.
Sager disagreed with the penalty.
“This is absolutely ridiculous,” he said.
John Moonen is one of the most experienced campaign consultants in B.C., and has worked with politicians of every stripe, Sager said.
“Because I went to high school with him, he put on his invoice ‘friends and family discount.’ Who would even pay attention to that?” he said. “So Ron [Nairne] paid the bill, and then Elections BC said, ‘You can’t do that.’ So we immediately paid the discounted amount.”
Sager said he wasn’t sure yet if he was going to review the decision, but that the issue requires further discussion.
“It was a simple, simple mistake,” he said.
“Most of the people who work on these municipal campaigns are volunteers,” Sager said. “Things like this just discourage people to run for public office.”
In January 2025, Elections BC mentioned the potential campaign disclosure issue, right as Sager was absolved of any criminal wrongdoing related to campaign finance irregularities – following an investigation by Port Moody Police.
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