New legislation has prompted some fresh insights into where campaign money is spent during elections.
Bill C-76, the Elections Modernization Act, allows for online companies to report who pays for the advertisements that pop up in our social media feeds.
In response, Facebook created the Ad Library Report — which does exactly that.
The report shows candidates in the two Central Okanagan electoral districts are making vastly different choices when it comes to their marketing budget.
According to Facebook, six of the 13 candidates in Kelowna-Lake Country and Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola have purchased ads on the platform.
From June through Oct. 13, Kelowna-Lake Country Liberal candidate Stephen Fuhr took the lead in ad spending by quite a large margin.
Through the campaign thus far, Fuhr’s campaign has spent $15,064 on the circulation of 63 ads.
Trailing Fuhr is his Conservative competitor Tracy Gray at $2,936 (26 ads) and Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola Liberal Mary Ann Murphy at $2,371 (27 ads).
On the other end of the spectrum, the Green Party’s candidate for Kelowna-Lake Country Travis Ashley has spent less than $100 on two ads since June and has not spent a dime in the past month.
Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola candidates Joan Phillip (NDP) and Dan Albas (Conservative) are also on the lower end of spending, with just $200 (three ads) and $184 (nine ads) spent respectively.
Kelowna-Lake Country candidates Justin Kulik (NDP), John Barr (People’s Party of Canada), Daniel Joseph (independent) and Silverado Socrates (independent), as well as Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola candidates Allan Duncan (PPC), Robert Mellalieu (Green Party) and Jesse Regier (Libertarian Party), were not recorded in the report as they did not purchase any advertising through their Facebook pages.
Nationwide, ads about social issues, elections and politics have topped $11 million since June.
READ MORE: Meet your Kelowna-Lake Country candidates
READ MORE: Meet your Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola candidates
@michaelrdrguez
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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