Firefighters supported three city Liberals

By Dan Hilborn
Published Aug. 27, 2005


Burnaby firefighters were the lone labour organization to donate money to the city's B.C. Liberal candidates during the recent provincial election.

According to financial disclosure statements recently made public by Elections B.C., city firefighters gave $1,000 donations to the three Liberal candidates who they believe pushed the hardest to enact legislation that ensures firefighters can qualify for workers' compensation benefits when they develop certain job-related cancers.

"It is a policy of our international that we are bipartisan. That's how we do business," said Mike Hurley, president of the International Association of Firefighters, local 323. "That means it doesn't matter which party a politician belongs to - if they support firefighter issues, we support them.

"We're not tied to any party, we're tied to individuals who listen to our concerns and try to help us," he said. "If they do that, we show our support for them and it doesn't matter what party they're in.

Hurley said that the previous NDP government stripped B.C. firefighters of their heart and lung legislation and "that didn't make us very happy." He noted that no politician should automatically assume that they are going to receive the firefighters' support.

"We're looking for people who will give you an ear and listen to your concerns and come back with an honest answer - even if it's a 'no,'" he said. "It's a matter of having people you can talk to and relate to. You know you're not going to get 'yes' all the time."

The financial disclosure forms also indicate there was some kind of reluctance on the part of the Liberals to admit that they received support from a labour organization. Of the three Liberal candidates who received the $1,000 donations, only one, defeated MLA Patty Sahota, listed the donation as having come from a labour union.

Burquitlam MLA Harry Bloy listed his $1,000 donation as coming from an "other identifiable contributor" while the only comparable donation on Willingdon MLA John Nuraney's disclosure form was listed as coming from an 'non profit organization.'

"We are a trade union," said Hurley.

Meanwhile, the financial disclosure forms also show that the B.C. Liberals outspent their NDP counterparts by significant margins in all four city ridings.

In Willingdon, the Liberal's Nuraney spent the most of any candidate in the city - $107,128, compared to NDP candidate Gabriel Yiu's $54,222. Nuraney eked out a 400-vote victory.

In Burnaby North, reelected B.C. Liberal MLA Richard Lee spent $90,190 compared to his three-timer rival Pietro Calendino of the NDP who spent $47,655. Lee won by a 65-vote margin.

In Edmonds, the Liberal's Sahota spent $85,566 compared to the NDP Raj Chouhan's $69,924. The NDP won the seat by the widest margin of any of the city's ridings - a 738-vote difference. Sahota also finished the campaign with surplus of $29,676.

In Burquitlam, Bloy spent $101,928, which was more than double the $44,856 spent by his nearest rival, NDP counterpart Bart Healey, who lost by 372 votes.

The most expensive campaign per vote in the city was for Tony Kuo, the deputy leader of Democratic Reform, who forked out $19,050 and received 947 ballots, for cost of $20.11 per vote in the Willingdon riding.

The most frugal campaigners in the city were the four Green Party candidates, who each spent less than $1 per vote.