Lethbridge voters donated over $96,000 to NDP during 2019 election

Earlier this week, I published two stories about campaign finances in the Lethbridge-East and Lethbridge-West ridings.

Both stories showed the NDP candidates having received no donations. None of the documentation filed by the candidates or the constituency association showed donations.

This created a bit of a stir: with NDP supporters thinking I wasn’t reporting the facts correctly and UCP supporters thinking there was something nefarious going on.

From what I can tell, all donations to the NDP seem to go directly to the party, then the party distributes money to the constituency associations. For example, during the election campaign the party received $3,670,425.92 in donations, $96,079.50 of which came from Lethbridge residents. In their annual financial statements, both Lethbridge constituency associations showed no donations for all of 2019 (including the campaign period), but showed revenue in the form of transfers: $11,500 for Lethbridge-East and $13,500 for Lethbridge-West.

So, I decided to go through the party donations and create a list of donors from Lethbridge, which I’ve presented below.

Keep in mind a couple of things. First, just because someone donated to the party doesn’t mean the intended to donate to the local candidates. Second, this method will exclude any donors who live outside of Lethbridge but who had intended on donating to the Lethbridge candidates. Third, the list doesn’t include donations under $250. Finally, the report doesn’t delineate by riding, so neither will this story, which means the list is going to be huge.

All that being said, here’s the list.

Naturally, Shannon Phillips donated to the party; she was the candidate in Lethbridge-West. She donated $3,000. Maria Fitzpatrick, the Lethbridge-East candidate donated $2,205.

Kristin Ailsby is a provincial judge and the chair of the Lethbridge College board of governors. She donated $3,950.

Inventor James Spenceley donated $3,500.

Richard Butt, an education professor at the University of Lethbridge, donated $2,600.

Jonathan Wyman donated $2,500.

William Shields, a urologist, donated $2,200. Full disclosure: he performed my vasectomy.

Local potter Elaine Harrison donated $2,050.

U of L professor Bruce McKay donated $2,000. McKay’s spouse, Flora, donated $1,975.

Joy Morris, a math professor at the U of L, donated $1,775.

Leona Jacobs, a university librarian, donated $1717.50. Jacobs’ late partner, Mark Sandilands, ran as the NDP candidate in the Lethbridge-West riding in 2001 and 2004, as well as in the federal Lethbridge riding in 2008 and 2011.

Local retired boxer Max Gibb donated $1,700.

Veronica Horn, a psychologist, also donated $1,700.

Maureen Ebel donated $1,650.

John Warren, former vice-president of Dying With Dignity, donated $1,500.

Dennis Connolly, another math professor at the U of L, donated $1,340.

Local retired lawyer Michael Dimnik donated $1,250. Dimnik’s spouse, Michelle, a learning support teacher with the Lethbridge School District, donated $900.

Jacqueline Preyde, academic research project officer at the U of L, donated $1,245.

U of L social work professor Peter Gabor donated $1,200.

Harald Bettger, an anesthesiologist, donated $1,065.

Marion S. Wright donated $1,050.

U of L management professor John Usher donated $1,015. Usher’s spouse, Wendy Faith Usher, an English professor, donated $525.

The following individuals all donated $1,000.

Rose Rossi, general manager of Rocky Mountain Turf Club, donated $900.

U of L art professor Dagmar Dahle donated $850.

Wolf Holzmann, a retired U of L computer science professor, donated $800.

Ashlea Golding, who works in immigrant services with Lethbridge Family Services, donated $780. Golding’s partner, Keith McLaughlin, was Phillip’s chief financial officer during the election.

Toby Boulet is the team manager for the U of L rugby team and donated $775.

Betty Boreham donated $697.50

U of L chemistry professor Peter Dibble donated $680.

Aaron Fitchett, vice-principal at Winston Churchill High School, as well as board chair of ARCHES Lethbridge, donated $678.50.

Robert MacKinnon donated $675.

U of L Art Gallery administrative manager Jon Oxley donated $650.

Darcy Bendig donated $645.

Marshall Jaremco donated $625.

Phillips mother, Barb Phillips, donated $625. Barb’s spouse, Mike McCague, donated $500.

Phil Williams, a member of the local executive for the Alberta Teachers Association and a teacher at Mike Mountain Horse School, donated $600.

Retired entomologist Bob Byers donated $595.

Norm Leclaire, former business agent for UFCW, donated $575.

Robert Campbell donated $570.

Larry Conley, maintenance manager at Lucerne Foods, donated $552.50

Cheryl Bradley, secretary for Southern Alberta Group for Environment, donated $540.

Geography professor Jim Byrne donated $540.

Judy Sheppard donated $525.

Principal of Dr. Probe School, Heather Hadford, donated $507.

The following people each donated $500.

Leslie Lavers, retired registrar for the U of L, donated $450.

Retired U of L history professor James Tagg donated $450.

Rosemary Shannon, massage therapy instructor at Lethbridge College, donated $440.

Tad Mitsui donated $437.

Management professor Debra Basil donated $425.

Theatre professor Lisa Doolittle also donated $425.

Nancy Grigg, associate dean with the U of L Faculty of Education, donated $425.

Mary Shillington donated $422.50. Mary’s spouse, Terry, donated $375.

Tony Pargeter donated $410.

The following individuals donated $400:

Colleen Quintal, staff representative with CUPE, donated $385.

Political science professor at the U of L, Alan Siaroff, donated $375.

Patrick Lenon also donated $375.

Andre Royer, a senior design technologist with Stantec, donated $350. Royer’s partner Jeff Carlson is a member of Lethbridge City Council.

Kim Farrell donated $335.

Susan MacLean, a registered physiotherapist at Chinook Rehabilitation Program, donated $335.

U of L health researcher Susan Yanicki donated $325.

Lori Olson, founder of WNDX School, donated $307.

The following individuals each donated $300.

Former 1971 Lethbridge-East NDP candidate Douglas Poile donated $295.

Melanie Decillia, an employee of Alberta Health Services, donated $280.

Christy Bates, speech language pathologist with Lethbridge School Division, donated $$275.

Jacqueline Mckay donated $275.

Carol Sekiya donated $275.

Realtor Kimberly Campbell donated $270.

Jim Thibault donated $260.

Originally published at kimsiever.ca on 30 April 2020.