In the 2022 election, candidate and current city councillor Haven Lurbiecki made a commitment not to accept developer-tied donations. Although corporate and union donations were banned in 2017, taking individual donations from development industry executives, their employees, and spouses is still fully allowed. Haven has been clear that she chose not to accept these donations because residents deserve complete confidence that decisions at City Hall are being made solely in the public interest.

Choosing a higher standard than the law requires is the same approach every Port Moody Voice candidate is taking in this upcoming election. Port Moody Voice accepts no developer-tied donations because the public interest is our top priority.

The current Mayor and council majority have often argued that because they were elected, residents must not really care about campaign financing. That’s not what our candidates have been hearing from the community. Many residents have told us they are uncomfortable with elected officials accepting donations from people connected to developments seeking Council approval.

Campaign financing isn’t disclosed until after an election, and most residents don’t have time to dig through donation records, voting histories, and candidate connections before they cast a ballot. That makes it difficult to evaluate campaign financing during an election, but we can evaluate it now.

The Tri-Cities Dispatch reported that Port Moody candidates received nearly $70,000 from development industry donors during the 2022 election, the highest amount per capita in the Tri-Cities. The current Mayor, Meghan Lahti, received $27,574 from development industry donors, representing 66% of her campaign funding and more money from development industry donors than any other candidate in the Tri-Cities, while three other current councillors also received a majority of their campaign funding from development industry donors.

In summary, a majority of Port Moody Council accepted a majority of their campaign funding from development industry donors.

None of this suggests anyone broke the law. What it does show is that several successful candidates relied heavily on donations from people connected to the development industry.

That may concern residents, but it isn’t the most surprising part of the story.

What happened after the election is.

Shortly after the election, Mayor Lahti and her council majority voted to rescind a policy that would have required councillors to publicly disclose campaign contributions they had received from people associated with a development application before voting on that application, and to consider whether recusal was appropriate.

Councillor Lurbiecki was the only councillor who voted to keep those transparency measures.

Interestingly, since the majority of councillors received a majority of campaign financing from development industry donors, a quorum of council might not have been present during some votes if they upheld the policy recommendation of recusal.

More than three years have passed since that vote.

So has anything changed?

Despite years of public concern over development decisions that many residents believe are out of step with the community, this election appears to be heading down the same path, with certain campaigns again relying heavily on developer-tied donations.

As recently as last month, Mayor Lahti again defended accepting developer-tied donations by telling The Tyee, “Elections are expensive. It’s not illegal to accept donations from people… I felt no obligation to vote in favour of any application that comes forward.”

Obligation or not, the Mayor has voted in favour of every major development proposal this term.

Port Moody Voice mayoral candidate Haven Lurbiecki has supported developments that met community needs and pushed back on those that didn’t. She still believes accepting developer-tied donations is not the right thing to do, even if it’s legal.

Throughout this term, Haven has consistently stood up for Port Moody residents, whether on housing, growth and development, transparency, protecting employment lands, expanding Rocky Point Park, or giving residents a stronger voice at City Hall.

This election is an opportunity to bring transparency back to City Hall.

A Port Moody Voice council team will strengthen transparency, not weaken it. That includes proactive disclosure policies, a lobbyist registry, no more closed meetings unless legally required, and public reporting on the progress of our entire platform. You can read our Transparency and Accountability Platform here.

The best predictor of what candidates will do in the future isn’t what they promise during an election, it’s what they’ve already done.

Councillor Lurbiecki has a record residents can examine: years of community advocacy before being elected, and nearly four years of consistent votes at Council. You can read more about Haven’s record here.

As Mayor, she will bring that same commitment to openness, accountability, and putting residents first.

Trust isn’t built through campaign promises. It’s built through actions. That’s what Port Moody Voice is all about.