Elections B.C. rules on Kelowna MLA’s campaign contribution concern

KELOWNA – Elections B.C. has cleared Kelowna-West Liberal MLA Ben Steward of any violation of the Election Act.

Stewart wrote to chief electoral officer Anton Boegman in August about a political contribution made to the Liberal Party of B.C. that was paid back to the contributor by the party.

“The review found no evidence that the political contribution and reimbursement were made in contravention of the Election Act,” a release issued by Elections B.C. today, Oct. 1, states.

At the time, Stewart resigned from caucus.

B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson said in a media release he is happy to welcome Stewart back to caucus and "we thank him for taking the appropriate actions to ensure full cooperation with Elections B.C.”

“I’m looking forward to returning to the legislature this fall with the rest of my B.C. Liberal colleagues and I thank Elections B.C. for their thorough and timely review of this issue,” Stewart said in the release.

The matter is now considered closed by Elections B.C. and no further comment will be made by the organization.

— This story was updated at 2:34 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019, with new information from the B.C. Liberal party and Ben Stewart.

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