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Elections B.C. fines man over anonymous mail-out during 2022 local elections

David Scott Piercy fined $1,000 for anonymous flyers targeting Cowichan Valley Regional District Area B candidate Sierra Acton

An image of Shawnigan Lake.
An image of Shawnigan Lake. Photo by David Stanley /Flickr

Elections B.C. has issued a $1,000 fine to a man who attempted to mail out 2,700 anonymous flyers during last year’s local elections that were highly critical of Cowichan Valley Regional District Area B candidate Sierra Acton.

According to a letter sent to David Scott Piercy, on Aug. 14, 2022 Elections B.C. received a complaint that flyers were being distributed through Canada Post in Cowichan Valley which opposed the election of Acton.

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The flyers stated they were paid for by “an INFORMED Shawnigan Taxpayer!” and contained the words “anti-environment,” “anti-housing” and “lies and deceit.”

By that time, 600 flyers had been mailed out and 2,100 were being held at the Shawnigan Lake post office.

“The Shawnigan Lake post office had put a hold on distributing the flyers, as they were concerned that they might not comply with the local election advertising rules. Canada Post confirmed that they would not distribute the remaining 2,100 flyers,” the letter to Piercy read.

Local election advertising rules prohibit a person or group from sponsoring third-party advertising unless they are registered with Elections B.C. and once registered the must identify themselves on any promotional material with a contact.

The letter stated that an Elections B.C. investigator got Piercy’s contact from the post office and contacted him that day.

“The Elections B.C. investigator reached out to you and you confirmed that you had sponsored the flyers. You indicated that you were not aware of the election advertising rules related to local elections, and that Canada Post had not informed you of them when you ordered the advertising. You confirmed that you had no other advertising scheduled,” the letter read.

“The advertisements were clearly opposed to Sierra Acton as a candidate for Area B Director in the Cowichan Valley Regional District. The flyers suggested that she was anti-environment, anti-housing, and accused her of deceit and lying. The ads did not identify you, or provide a means of contacting you. You paid for the ads to be printed and distributed during the pre-campaign period, and you were not a registered third party advertiser prior to distribution as required by section 37(1) of LECFA.”

Piercy was fined $1,000 and has the right to appeal.

Acton was elected representative for Area B in the Oct. 15, 2022 municipal election with 1,048 votes, compared to 490 votes garnered by her opponent Kathy Code.

dcarrigg@postmedia.com

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