A pair of Facebook ads the city of Kelowna ran Monday featuring a podcast featuring Mayor Colin Basran may not be allowed under election law starting Saturday. The City of Kelowna’s Facebook ads featuring Mayor Colin Basran, which have drawn the ire of his primary opponent, do not violate election law. But that could change on Saturday. The official campaign period for municipal elections in BC begins on September 17th, just under a month before polling day on October 15th, bringing with it rules and regulations regarding local government communications. Mayoral candidate Tom Dias has criticized the city of Kelowna and Mayor Colin Bashran for Facebook ads this summer, with the mayor touting council’s accomplishments. Basran, meanwhile, dismissed the criticism as pre-election. On Monday, the city launched a new Facebook ad campaign promoting its podcast, with two of those episodes featuring question-and-answer sessions with Basran. Elections BC tells Castanet that they are in the process of “reviewing” the City of Kelowna ad campaign, but that the current ads running on Facebook “do not appear to be election advertising as they do not directly or indirectly promote or oppose a candidate who seeks election.” “We will be contacting the City of Kelowna to discuss other messages that were sponsored on Facebook during the run-up to the election campaign and will advise them that some of these messages may be considered election advertising at the start of the election campaign on Saturday,” he said. . Andrew Watson ElectionsBC director of communications. BC has been on its “pre-campaign” since July 18, a period during which local government advertising promoting a particular candidate or attacking another is prohibited. From September 17th until Election Day, the definition of campaign advertising is expanded to also include “any communication that takes a position on an issue related to a candidate or election organization.” At the beginning of the pre-election period, spending limits also come into play. In Kelowna, mayoral candidates can spend $95,000 on their election efforts, while councilor candidates can spend $48,000. In West Kelowna, mayoral candidates can spend just under $30,000 while councilor candidates can spend $15,000.
