THE FREE PRESS NEWS SEPTEMBER 8, 1996 A7 Big spending failed to guarantee Liberal victory Ubanls: $123,886 for 13.827 votes SI.M/vst* HOP: 149 for 15,183 votes $8.51/vole Helomf 185 for 4.355 votes tSJS/Ml •Ron Ray hod not fUed expense reports so his expenses and votes are not included in Reform total _________________________________________________________ Source candidate expense reports As this graph shows, big money in politics doesn't always guarantee big wins. Illustration by Cam McAlpine By DAVID PLUG Free Press staff writer The Liberals spent some big money in their failed bid to unseat cabinet ministers Paul Ramsey and Lois Boone during the last election. Local Liberal candidates spent nearly 25 per cent more than their NDP counterparts, $123,886 to $98,849, but only managed to elect one MLA, Paul Nettleton, who beat out NDPer Chuck Fraser by the slim margin of 363 votes. Mr. Nettleton says the Liberals spent just as much as the NDP once you subtract how much the Opposition party spent on researching and polling. The Liberals spent $27, 418 in the three ridings on research and polling, over half of that in Bob Viergever’s riding. “We’re a new party here and we didn’t have any polling information and contact numbers,” says Mr. Nettleton. “Each household had to be phoned and their commitment identified. The NDP had a body of volunteers from the last election. It was a big push because the NDP had a big head-star! using taxpayer’s money to make big announcements before the writ was dropped.” The disclosure of campaign expenses and contributions by Elections B.C. reveals that corporations mostly supported the Liberals financially, while their unionized employees funded the NDP. Provincially, forest compa- nies were large supporters of the Liberal party. Canfor donated $27,500, Northwood gave $20,000, The Pas Lumber donated $2,500 although the contributions by local companies paled next to Mac-Blo’s $70,250 donation. The provincial NDP coffers were filled mostly by unions like the Hospital Employees’ Union ($69,710), the IWA (over $31,000), the Canadian Auto Workers ($25,000) and the United Food and Commercial Workers ($66,000) who were being locked out by Safeway and Overwaitea at the time of the election. But by far the largest union contributor was the B.C. Federation of Labour which donated $243,152 to the NDP cause. Donations to the Reform Party of B.C. were of a much smaller scale than the two major parties. Jack Weisger- ber s party attracted only $546,500 in total contributions. That’s just one-third of what the NDP spent on advertising. Northwood’s $20,000 donation to Reform was twice as big as the next largest donation by Skeena Cellulose. Imperial Oil’s $6,000 and McDonald’s Restaurants’ $5,000 donations were among the larger of Reform’s short list of corporate contributions. Local industries Dunkley Lumber ($4,000) and Carrier Lumber ($2,500) gave to Reform rather than the Liberal party. The banks, investment companies, doctors and media conglomerates threw their support behind the Liberals. The Royal Bank ($12,000), C1BC Wood Gundy ($25,100), Toronto Dominion Bank - Pacific Division ($25,000) joined with the B.C. Medical Association ($18,150) to support Gordon Campbell. WIC Communications, owners of BCTV and CKNW, gave $10,000 to the Liberals, the same amount as the Sterling newspaper chain but less than Conrad Black’s Hollinger Inc. ($12,500), owners of Southam papers, The Province, The Vancouver Sun and the Prince George Citizen. The financial disclosures of local candidates show some trends that buck the stereotypes. For instance, NDPer Chuck Fraser raised more money from corporations ($12,350) than Liberal businessman Bob Viergever ($12,200) and more than NDP Paul Ramsey (who won) raised from trade unions ($12,104). Some corporations continued to cover all the bases. After donating provincially to Reform, Dunkley Lumber gave $500 to Chuck Fraser and $2,000 to Bob Viergever. Local law firm Ramsay Nose Traxler supported opponents in the same riding by giving $2,500 to Lois Boone and $500 to Lorna Dittmar. NOW OPEN Highway Qp Storage Special Winter Discount Rates RV or Boat Storage Areas, available in 6-month or 1-year packages. Our individual 1 2' x 34' R.V. Shelter stalls are fully accessible at all times. 4422 Kimball Road (5 km west of Costco) Please call us at 964-3395 Opening Tomorrow J.J. Springer & Company An ever changing collection of seasonal de lights, gifts, collectables and pine furniture. Open Monday - Saturday, 9:30 - 5:30 Located downtown on the corner of Fourth Avenue at 421 Dominion Street, Prince George, SC Phone: 562-4747 Sound That Keeps Things Rolling Along... A Because you know what you want to hear.. cancKPG Prince George's Adult Favourites