3 mayoral candidates sanctioned for overspending in 2021 Edmonton election

Three candidates who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in Edmonton's last municipal election were sanctioned by Alberta's election commissioner this year for spending too much of their own money on their campaigns.

Michael Oshry, Kim Krushell and Cheryll Watson were issued violations in May for exceeding the self-contribution limit during the 2021 municipal election. The election commissioner's findings were published on Elections Alberta's website.

The Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA), which governs municipal elections in Alberta, says candidates may spend up to $10,000 of their own money on their campaigns.

The legislation also says any amount paid by a candidate's own funds for campaign expenses that is not reimbursed from their campaign account by the end of the campaign period is considered a campaign contribution.

CBC News reported in 2022 that Oshry reported spending $223,250 of his own money on his campaign, according to his campaign disclosure document.

Krushell and Watson's disclosure documents listed self-contributions of $10,000. Both of their campaigns, as well as Oshry's, ran deficits. Krushell's deficit was $161,535, Watson's was $77,104 and Oshry's was $9,967.

Watson and Krushell told CBC News their campaign deficits were unintentional, they have since cleared their debts and they don't intend to run for office again. Oshry has not responded to a request for comment but told CBC News in 2022 that his campaign followed all the rules and accounted for all funds.

Oshry and Krushell paid administrative penalties of $1,500 and $1,000, respectively, in late May and Watson received a letter of reprimand in mid-May.

How are fines determined?

The election commissioner uses a framework when issuing administrative penalties. Exceeding contribution or expense limits comes with a baseline penalty of 10 per cent of the maximum penalty.

Penalties may be adjusted, depending on mitigating or aggravating factors, according to the framework.

"The reason for the difference in penalty amounts, and a reprimand vs. administrative penalty is the result of the unique factors and circumstances relating to each contravention," an Elections Alberta spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

A penalty less than or equal to zero likely results in a letter of reprimand, the spokesperson said.

Citing disclosure provisions in the legislation, the spokesperson declined to comment on the specific cases.

Are the penalties too weak?

Duff Conacher, co-founder of the non-profit Democracy Watch, said the penalties are too weak to discourage violations.

"If these candidates had won, I assume they would have kept their seat and just paid a fine, so that's not going to discourage anyone from overspending," he said.

Conacher said a Toronto city councillor lost his seat over a campaign spending violation in the 2018 municipal election.

Lisa Young, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, said the violations raise questions about whether the legislation is difficult to interpret or whether the penalties are not steep enough to prevent violations.

"It's very difficult to judge that, but certainly it does speak to the need for really clear legislation around these really important matters," she said.

Candidates respond

Krushell, a former city councillor and the co-founder of a digital identity company, told CBC News in an interview that miscommunication within her volunteer campaign team, confusion about the rules, and pandemic-related fundraising challenges led to her unintentional campaign deficit.

She said the death of her father, in the United States, near the end of the election, also affected her at the time.

Krushell said she took responsibility for the deficit and chose to pay the marketing firm that was owed money.

"I wasn't trying to self-fund my campaign," she said.

Krushell said she does not intend to run for public office again but not because of the deficit — and she encourages others to run.

Watson, who is the president of a not-for-profit organization, told CBC News in a statement that her campaign had an unexpected and large financial toll on her family.

She said first-time candidates face roadblocks to raising money and that she and her volunteer team — most of whom were also first-timers — realized expenses had exceeded fundraising late in the campaign but failed to make up the difference.

Watson said her family has since cleared the campaign debt.

She said she told Elections Alberta she does not intend to run for public office in the future.

"Instead, I am committed to using the learnings from my campaign experience to help other first-time candidates ensure they don't make similar mistakes," she told CBC.

Oshry, a businessman and former city councillor, did not respond to a request for comment. He told CBC News in 2022 that his campaign followed the rules, accounted for all funds, and "our reading of the legislation is that all campaign deficits had to be recorded as a personal donation."

All three of the candidates lost the election to Amarjeet Sohi, who did not spend any of his own money on his campaign, according to his candidate disclosure statement.