With just over three weeks to go before the election, the race in Penticton is heating up, but not about policy or locals but with accusations of breaking the Elections Act sent from one candidate to another.
Signs for former BC United turned Unaffiliated candidate Tracy St. Claire went up around the riding alongside the other candidates, and one of her opponents in particular took notice.
In a post to social media on Sept. 26, St. Claire shared a signed letter from a lawyer on behalf of BC Conservative candidate Amelia Boutlbee that accuses St. Claire of breaching the Elections Act.
The letter claims that St. Claire's reuse of signs she already had made prior to Kevin Falcon killing BC United's campaign for the BC Conservatives by modifying them solely to remove the BC United name would lead people to believe she was still a candidate for the party.
"My client gives this opportunity before taking further action with the chief electoral officer," reads a part of the letter. In another, it reads: "It is also very concerning for my client as she understands that these signs are the physical property of BC United Party [sic]."
St. Claire stated in her post that she had received written documentation from Elections BC on re-purposing signs already prepared before Falcon's deal with the BC Conservatives.
Elections BC confirmed via email that instructions had been provided to all former BC United candidates regarding what happens when a candidate goes from being affiliated with a party to unaffiliated.
"Signs can be repurposed in this circumstance, though if the party paid for the signs, the unaffiliated candidate must purchase them from the party at market value," said Elections BC communications advisor Wesley MacInnis.
In a follow-up post in response to St. Claire going public with the letter, Boultbee stated that St. Claire could have re-used the signs by recycling the stakes and backing them with new vinyl on top. Instead, she had continued to use colours that echoed BC United and that St. Claire's response to her letter had been a "smear campaign."
"Branding is important because it is a form of communication, especially for those who don’t have English as a first language," wrote Boutlbee."The reason parties spend so much money on branding is because it greatly influences voters and identifies who is who."
Boultbee has also shared repeated messages on social media on both her personal account and on the account for her candidacy stating that a vote for St. Claire or any other candidate is effectively a vote for the BC NDP and shared a letter printed in a local newspaper that said much the same.
