Financial statements for St. Albert MLA candidates show that during the recent provincial election campaign, UCP candidates spent significantly more on advertising than their NDP counterparts.
Released last month, the financial statements detail how candidates received funding for their campaigns and where the money was spent.
They cover the period May 1 to July 29. The province dropped the writ for the election May 1.
MLA for St. Albert Marie Renaud spent $8,515.13 on posters, pamphlets and promotional materials, while her opponent Angela Wood, dished out $17,188.01. Dale Nally, MLA for Morinville - St. Albert spent $19,713.67 on advertising whereas his opponent, Karen Shaw, spent nearly $9,422.24.
“Our strategy is very grassroots; it always has been. I chose not to spend money on big billboards," said Renaud, who instead focused on lawn signs.
Renaud said the UCP also had the advantage of being in government before the election and could make pre-election funding announcements to entice Albertans to vote for them.
Renaud also spent more on polling than either Nally, who spent nothing, or Wood who spent around $3,885.
The provincial government can poll through the public service.
“That’s their responsibility, but they do have a distinct advantage … they’re constantly getting updated data on what Albertans think is important, whereas we do not,” she said, adding her office's polling focused on issues specific to St. Albert.
All candidates have a campaign spending cap of around $53,100. A cap of $50,000 was put in place by Rachel Notley’s NDP government, but the amount was raised for this year’s election.
Contributions
The documents also show how candidates received money.
Renaud and Shaw received a total of zero small (under $250) or large (over $250) donations, according to the documents. The largest contributions for both NDP candidates came directly from the party.
But Renaud said this is simply due to the way the NDP tracks contributions and doles out campaign money.
“We fundraise quite a bit, but all of it goes through the central party, and then they transfer enough back to us to manage a campaign,” she said.
However, without a record of who donated to either of the NDP candidate’s campaigns, it’s not clear how much money their fundraising efforts truly garnered.
Of the four candidates, documents show Nally received the greatest number of large donations, with 12 donations over $250 and a single donation of $2,000.
None of the other candidates either received contributions or spent more than the $500 candidate deposit on their campaigns.
Nally was not available for an interview.
