Steven Rice, TNRD director, Electoral Area "I" (Blue Sky Country)

Image Credit: SUBMITTED

A former politician near Kamloops has been fined for breaching one of many election rules.

Steven Rice was up for re-election in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District Area I in the Fall of 2022 but received a complaint from Elections BC on Sept. 17, 2022.

Nearly a year later, on Sep. 26, 2023, an enforcement notice from Elections BC showed that Steven Rice must pay $200 to the Chief Electoral Officer of BC after omitting an authorization statement on his campaign signs.

“I have carefully reviewed the Investigator’s report, and I concur with their preliminary conclusions. The signs did not provide an authorization statement as required in section 44(1) of LECFA,” reads the notice.

Candidates are required to show specific information on their sign: the name of the financial agent of their political campaign, the approval from the agent, as well as the contact information of the agent. The agent is the person responsible for the finances of the campaign.

This type of breach can result in fines of up to $5,000, but because of Rice’s experience and compliance with the investigation, the investigator was lenient.

The notice says as soon as Rice was informed of his breach, he updated his signs to ensure their legibility, Rice was found to be compliant with the investigation, and he had previously run for office without breaching the rules.

Rice did not respond to requests for comment.

— This story was corrected at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 3. A previous version incorrectly stated the candidate was elected when he was defeated in his bid for re-election.

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