REGINA - For the 2024 mayoral election, Chad Bachynski spent a lot less on his campaign compared to other major candidates.
On Wednesday, at Regina’s city council meeting, the city disclosed all the financial expenditures of each mayoral and council candidate for the recent election.
Under their Regina Municipal Election Expenses Bylaw, all candidates must disclose their spending within 90 days of the election, which was Feb. 11.
For mayoral candidates, they can spend up to $73,859, while councillors have a $12,236 limit.
The by-law states, "this ensures political neutrality and the integrity of the election system and avoids any perception that the prosecution of non-compliant candidates is politically motivated."
Bachynski himself poured in over $12,000 for the election, with around $7,500 of that amount coming from donations.
It’s worth noting a donation of $500 or more must be disclosed in each mayoral candidate's spending, while a council candidate has to disclose donations of at least $200.
Regarding his campaigning for the election, Bachynski said, "it's just [about taking advantage of every opportunity to try and get in front of people and, you know, talk about my platform."
Around half of the money Bachynski spent went towards signs, which he noted can add up in costs.
Despite only spending around $12,000, Bachynski received over 31 per cent of the votes, beating out former Ward 4 Coun. Lori Bresciani and previous mayor Sandra Masters.
Bresciani, who placed second in the election, spent over $24,000. A majority of her spending went towards rallies and signs.
Donations Bresciani received covered all her spending for the election.
As for Masters, she poured in nearly $62,000, with about $20,000 going towards advertising.
Like Bresciani, Masters' campaign was fully funded through donations.
Even with all that spending, Masters only received over 23 per cent of the vote, placing third in the election.
Other mayoral candidates spending include Bill Pratt ($43,100), Bevan Fox (over $12,250), Shawn Sparvier (under $800), Rod Williams (under $1,850), and Melina Bushenlonga (under $1,100)
As for Nathaniel Hewton, Kevin Kardash and Bob Pearce, they spent $0 on the election.
Council spending
The highest spending for councillors was Dan Rashovich (Ward 1), spending close to $12,000, and Shobna Radons (Ward 7), putting in $12,000.
Rashovich won Ward 1 by only around 35 votes over Joanne Crofford, while Radons beat out former councillor Terina Nelson.
As for the least amount of spending among the 10 councillors, Jason Mancinelli (Ward 9) spent under $4,700, while Victoria Flores (Ward 6) invested nearly $5,000.
Other councillors spending include George Tsiklis (Ward 2), spending nearly $10,900, David Froh (Ward 3), putting in just over $11,000. Mark Burton (Ward 4) invested under $10,400, Sarah Turnbull (Ward 5) spent approximately $11,400, while Clark Bezo (Ward 10) inputted nearly $12,000.
Legal issues
Two of the 63 candidates have not returned their election expenses to the city by the deadline.
Because of this, the candidates could face a potential prosecution and conviction, which includes fines of up to $10,000, as noted by city clerk Jim Nicol.
However, Nicol noted that previous councillors had some desires not to aggressively pursue suing people.
The city plans to reach out to the candidates again as a last reminder to return the forms.
