Elections B.C. investigating as donor list found on sidewalk possibly linked to Kennedy Stewart

A spreadsheet found on the ground outside No Frills on West Broadway in Vancouver is now being investigated by Elections B.C.

Stanley Woodvine picked up a crisply folded piece of paper on the ground, thinking it was a piece of litter. What he found is now being closely scrutinized.

“The names absolutely jumped off the page at me because they were developers that everyone in Vancouver knows,” he told CityNews.

Someone dropped a two-page spreadsheet printout on the south sidewalk of 300 block W Broadway. Appears to be a list of donors and donations. Who knows if it’s legit? The donors names are eye-catching! #Vancouver #Vanpoli pic.twitter.com/9i9yQ28FYU

— Stanley Q Woodvine (@sqwabb) September 13, 2022

The document shows a column of names — from the owner of the Vancouver Canucks to the city’s biggest developers, the document shows their donations, some of which are in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Woodvine’s Twitter connections helped him decipher what he was looking at.

“I thought that it was maybe something to do with political donations,” he explained. “I tweeted it, and they unravelled it very quickly. … They identified that it was certainly, probably Kennedy Stewart’s Forward Together Party.”

Elections B.C. says people can only donate up to $1,250 per political party or candidate in 2022, however, one donation is 50 times that amount.

“Francesco Aquilini’s donation behind his name was, I believe, $64,000,” Woodvine said.

CityNews reached out to Kennedy Stewart and Forward Together, however, they would not confirm details of the spreadsheet.

“Like all campaigns, Forward Together is actively fundraising. We follow all Elections B.C. rules. In August, we were the first campaign to publicly disclose our donor list and will do so again before election day,” party manager Mark Hosak wrote in a statement.

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Elections B.C. says it is actively investigating the possible breach of electoral donation rules.

“We certainly haven’t come to any conclusions around any potential noncompliance with the rules under the local elections campaign financing act. But as I said, we review any complaint we receive and we’ll review this one as well,” Andrew Watson told CityNews.

Challenger Ken Sim of ABC Vancouver party says the document suggests a “serious ethical line was crossed.”

Bill Tielman with TEAM party says he has called on the Vancouver integrity commissioner to investigate the document.

“We shouldn’t have Vancouver voters going to the polls not knowing exactly what happened and whether the fundraising rules have been met in every way, shape and form,” he said.

Woodvine however says voters should look at what parties say rather than who they take donations from.

“You have to compare the two. And voters should be able to see these donor lists before they have to vote,” he said.

ABC Vancouver has released its full donor list, while TEAM told CityNews it will reveal its list in the next two weeks.