{"id":8420,"date":"2025-03-06T18:06:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T22:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=8420"},"modified":"2025-03-07T13:29:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T17:29:28","slug":"christian-tops-in-campaign-contributions-in-october-municipal-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/03\/06\/christian-tops-in-campaign-contributions-in-october-municipal-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Scott Christian tops in campaign donations; some candidates&#8217; disclosures missing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_8423\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8423\" class=\"size-large wp-image-8423\" src=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_5095-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_5095-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_5095-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_5095-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_5095-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8423\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Campaign contribution disclosure forms are missing from the Region of Queens website for some candidates in October&#8217;s municipal election. (Rick Conrad)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mayor Scott Christian got the most campaign contributions of any candidate in October\u2019s municipal election in Queens County.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He received just under $10,000 ($9976.44) from 49 declared donors, some of whom are local small business owners and landlords.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The biggest donation to Christian\u2019s campaign was $1,000 from Chad Clothier, who co-owns Rumclo Developments. They\u2019re behind the already approved housing development The Point on the Mersey. They plan to build up to 146 detached houses and townhouses, as well as 82 rental apartments just outside Liverpool.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2024-Campaign-Contributions_Redacted.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Use this link to view breakdown by candidate<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Christian told QCCR he believes his campaign raised just over $10,000 in total, including small donations that don\u2019t have to be declared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI\u2019m really proud of the amount of money that my team was able to fundraise and it did come from a pretty diverse swath of people. There were a lot of dribs and drabs contributions as well. I think my biggest contribution was $1,000 and my smallest contribution I think was a toonie.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Christian said Clothier is a friend. He said he and his team began fundraising early, seeking donations first from the people they know, including personal and business connections.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt shouldn&#8217;t come as a suprise to anyone who knows me that a lot of my social network includes a lot of people who are members of the business community. &#8230; I didn&#8217;t shy away from the notion that I was a &#8216;grow Queens&#8217; candidate.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Former Queens MLA Kerry Morash and former Region of Queens mayor Chris Clarke also contributed to Christian\u2019s run.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Clarke gave $250 to Christian and to his opponent Terry Doucette.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Doucette declared $2,550 in donations from seven donors. The largest were $1,000 each from J. M. Reynolds Pharmacy, the company that owns Reynolds Pharmasave in Liverpool, and Mitchell Nauss of construction and consulting company MC Nauss Holdings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Under Nova Scotia\u2019s Municipal Elections Act, candidates had 60 days after the Oct. 19 election to file their contribution disclosure statements, even if they accepted no donations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everybody who runs must declare any donations over $50, or check a box confirming that they received no contributions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Failure to do that can result in a fine of up to $2,500 or six months in jail.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Also, if candidates don\u2019t submit a disclosure form, they forfeit their $200 deposit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Disclosure statements from only 11 of the 19 candidates are posted on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.regionofqueens.com\/~documents\/route%3A\/download\/3920\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Region of Queens website<\/a>. Christian and Doucette were among the candidates who filed their disclosures on time. All other councillors except Jack Fancy met the deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When QCCR recently asked Fancy about it, his disclosure form was posted the next week. He had no contributions over $50 to declare.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The region says all forms that were submitted have been posted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">QCCR reached out to the candidates whose forms are missing. Those who could be contacted said they had no contributions to declare, but said they filed the necessary paperwork with returning officer Ian Kent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kent is an employee with Elections Nova Scotia, who was seconded to the municipality for the election. He could not be reached for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul Deveau, who ran against Fancy in October\u2019s election, said he filed the necessary paperwork and got his deposit back. But his disclosure form is not on the site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThat\u2019s kind of weird because I found it very professional and I found that Ian took his job quite seriously,&#8221; Deveau said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe had an exit meeting. And with the exit meeting, we had to return the voter list &#8230; and sign a declaration that we were going to remove all of our signs and we had to fill out that contribution sheet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Most candidates contacted said they were told they had to submit a campaign contribution disclosure form.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But some said they either couldn\u2019t remember what forms they signed after the election or they didn\u2019t submit a form because they had no donations to declare.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Candidate Gil Johnson said he got his deposit back, so he thought he did everything that was required.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThe reason I didn\u2019t file was because I didn\u2019t receive any contributions and didn\u2019t know I needed to check the box.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coun. Stewart Jenkins, who was acclaimed in his district, said returning officer Kent had a checklist of the things he was required to submit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI was told to file a form, which I did, even though I didn\u2019t have any contributions to claim,\u201d Jenkins said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A spokesman for the Department of Municipal Affairs said in an email that it\u2019s up to the municipality to make sure candidates comply.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt is the municipality\u2019s responsibility to address situations where an elected municipal official is not in compliance with requirements surrounding disclosure statements, and the province expects candidates to comply.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Under the Municipal Elections Act, the municipal clerk is supposed to keep track of all documents related to the election.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR he asked about the missing documentation and was told by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/03\/05\/pam-lovelace-out-as-region-of-queens-municipal-clerk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">now former municipal clerk Pam Lovelace<\/a> that everything that was submitted to the region has been posted to their website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He said he was unsure why not all forms are posted, though he added that the region\u2019s deputy returning officer has been on leave for some time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Here is a list of the candidates whose campaign contribution disclosure forms aren&#8217;t posted yet to the Region of Queens website:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Candice Weagle<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Douglas Bent<\/li>\n<li>Susan MacLeod<\/li>\n<li>Star Donovan<\/li>\n<li>Paul Deveau<\/li>\n<li>Alex Gallagher<\/li>\n<li>Tina Brown<\/li>\n<li>Gil Johnson<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Email: <a href=\"mailto:rickconradqccr@gmail.com\">rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-8420-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/newcampaigndisclosuremar625.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/newcampaigndisclosuremar625.mp3\">https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/newcampaigndisclosuremar625.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mayor Scott Christian got the most campaign contributions of any candidate in October\u2019s municipal election in Queens County. He received just under $10,000 ($9976.44) from 49 declared donors, some of whom are local small business owners and landlords. The biggest donation to Christian\u2019s campaign was $1,000 from Chad Clothier, who co-owns Rumclo Developments. They\u2019re behind [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[2951,2950,1785,354,2947,1786,27,2949,2948,24,1071,226,2597,2441],"class_list":["post-8420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-campaign-contribution-disclosure","tag-campaign-contributions","tag-elections","tag-elections-nova-scotia","tag-gil-johnson","tag-ian-kent","tag-municipal-election","tag-municipal-elections-act","tag-paul-deveau","tag-region-of-queens","tag-rumclo-developments-ltd","tag-scott-christian","tag-stewart-jenkins","tag-terry-doucette"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8420"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8426,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8420\/revisions\/8426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}