Former RCMP Cpl. Chris Williams unsuccessfully ran for a seat on Kelowna city council in 2022.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED: Chris Williams
February 19, 2025 - 11:25 AM
During the 2022 local elections in Kelowna an organization emerged supporting right-wing candidates behind a veil of inaccessibility, now they are being fined for breaking campaign financing laws.
Spirit Alliance is being fined $750 for accepting an illegal campaign contribution and the group’s financial agent Michael Dudenhoeffer is being fined $1,250 for failing to return a prohibited contribution following an investigation by Elections BC.
Spirit Alliance backed former RCMP Cpl. Chris Williams and Sacheen Collecutt for Kelowna city council during the race in 2022, neither candidate made it to the council chamber but the group’s trouble began before the election results came in.
Spirit Alliance accepted a $1,250 donation from Kevin Knight Management Ltd., even though B.C.’s local election campaign financing laws prohibit donations from organizations. Local election donations in B.C. have to be made by individuals.
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Elections BC told Dudenhoeffer and Spirit Alliance’s principal official Mitchell Berard that the donation had to be returned in January 2023, shortly after the election.
Dudenhoeffer told Elections BC’s investigator that he shouldn’t be fined since he has nothing to do with the illegal donation, despite the fact that under the law it is his responsibility as the financial agent to make sure all donations are legal.
Berard told Elections BC he was in control of all the campaign donations. Elections BC told Spirit Alliance it had to pay back the $1,250 given to them by Kevin Knight Management Ltd. in January 2023, but the contribution wasn’t rectified until May 2024.
After a lot of back and forth between Elections BC investigators and Spirit Alliance, Elections BC has fined the group and Dudenhoeffer a total of $2,000.
Spirit Alliance has no phone numbers and no one behind the organization has identified themselves. It contains no specifics about why it exists or what its intentions were. The group's social media channels contained right-wing and anti-vaccination posts.
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