Almost 40% of Better Edmonton’s campaign contributions came from 8 connected companies

By Brett McKay, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Investigative Journalism Foundation

Registered parties were able to field candidates for the first time in this week’s Edmonton municipal elections, and the Better Edmonton party elected four of the city’s 12 councillors, according to unofficial results.

About two-thirds of the party’s campaign contributions came from 15 corporations, several of which share common directors and controlling shareholders. The party took in $108,785 in donations and declared an additional $105,000 from other revenue sources.

By contrast, the other registered party, PACE, reported $49,301 total revenue, all of which came from individual or corporate donations.

Almost 40 per cent of Better Edmonton’s campaign contributions came from eight connected companies.

Land development companies HV Corner, Secord Kennedy Lands, Solaris JV, HV Nine, CM Land Developments, NH2 Land Company, Marquis JV and NAC Management each donated $5,000 to Better Edmonton, the maximum amount a single corporation is allowed to give to a political party during a campaign period.

Corporate registrations show developer Chris Nicholas is a director of all eight companies. Ashish Khulbe is named as a director of seven of these companies, excluding Secord Kennedy Lands.

Along with the overlapping directors of these companies, registry documents list MLC Land Company as a voting shareholder for six of the eight companies.

Provincial campaign financing rules allow corporations, unions and associations to give up to $5,000 to political parties during a civic election, but the law also considers associated companies as a single corporation when it comes to making campaign contributions.

Uncertainty around contribution limits from connected companies has already led to candidates returning thousands of dollars to corporate donors to avoid running afoul of financing regulations. Better Edmonton’s interim disclosure also reveals the party returned $10,000 in contributions between Jan. 1 and July 31.