Penticton-Summerland BC Conservative candidate Amelia Boultbee (right) claims former BC United and now Independent candidate Tracy St. Claire is confusing voters because her campaign material uses the BC United colours.
Image Credit: South Okanagan Similkameen Division of Family Practice/City of Penticton
September 28, 2024 - 6:00 PM
The BC Conservative candidate in Penticton has a problem with the colours of her competitor's campaign material and has even retained a lawyer in the dispute.
BC Conservative candidate Amelia Boultbee's opponent repurposed her former party's signage, using the same colours but without the BC United name. Through her lawyer she proposed now-independent candidate Tracy St. Claire should "immediately take corrective action."
"My client gives this opportunity before taking any further action with the chief electoral officer," lawyer Michael Welsh wrote on Boultbee's behalf, calling the signs "intentionally misleading."
Despite Boultbee's call to take "corrective action," there's no issue with campaign colours that needs correcting.
A spokesperson for Elections BC confirmed to iNFOnews.ca that it's not looking into the dispute.
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"We have provided guidance to campaigns that the Election Act does not place restrictions on using specific colours in advertising materials," Elections BC spokesperson Andrew Watson said in an emailed response.
Although Watson didn't specifically say St. Claire was given such guidance, she said she cleared her repurposed signs with Elections BC.
In a social media post, she claimed Boultbee was attempting to silence her campaign and that she has has no plans to replace the campaign material.
Boultbee, however, called it a "smear campaign."
In her online statement Boultbee said St. Claire had weeks to re-brand the campaign as an independent, adding that the dispute over sign colours is "about fairness and transparency" for voters.
Despite that, she also took issue with St. Claire's decision to post the Sept. 25 letter from her lawyer publicly to social media.
"My letter was written privately and confidentiality to alert her to a particular issue of concern before taking further steps and raising the issue officially with Elections BC. I gave her the respect to deal with it privately and she responded with a public smear campaign," Boultbee said in a social media post.
As her letter suggests St. Claire change her campaign material or risk a complaint to BC's chief elections officer. It appears Boultbee didn't check with Elections BC to clarify whether there are rules around what colours can be used.
St. Claire said she "would encourage" Boultbee to take action through Elections BC, appearing unconcerned about what she said was an effort to intimidate her.
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"I will not abandon the people of Penticton, Summerland and Naramata who have encouraged me to run. Not even with Amelia Boultbee’s latest legal tactics," St. Claire said in her social media post.
St. Claire, who's the executive director of the South Okanagan Similkameen Division of Family Practice, was endorsed by current MLA Dan Ashton upon her selection as the BC United candidate earlier this year.
She announced she would stay on the Penticton-Summerland campaign as an Independent after her party dropped out of the election. She's in a race with Boultbee, who is a Penticton city councillor, along with Tina Lee for the BC NDP and Bradley Bartsch, the BC Green Party candidate.
BC election day is Oct. 19.
Tracy St. Claire responded to Boultbee's letter with a statement to social media, seen in this screenshot.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK
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