By Jill Sperling

Candidates get creative to compete with big money during campaign

Apr 18, 2017 | 6:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Political parties spend tens of thousands of dollars on marketing themselves during an election, but not every party has the same access to campaign cash.

WATCH: Full report by Jill Sperling

“We know that we’re up against a huge marketing machine, but the majority of our donors come from individuals and working people, and that’s how we will resonate with the regular folk,” said Kamloops North-Thompson NDP candidate Barb Nederpel. 

Nederpel says unlike the BC Liberals her party is opposed to accepting corporate donations. 

Sound Off

SOUND OFF: The NDP's mishandling of drug use in B.C. hospitals

7h ago

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Who would survive if we had a recall law for City councils?

17h ago

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Strengthening our wildfire training

Apr 17, 2024

She says it’s entirely possible to run an inexpensive campaign.

“Because it’s about relationships,” Nederpel said. “We build relationships with people wherever we go, it doesn’t matter if it’s in a coffee shop, or on the door step. We are talking about the things that really matter to regular British Columbians.”

Social media helps spread the message. 

“There’s very creative, innovative ways to do that with social media,” said Kamloops-North Thompson Green Party candidate Dan Hines. “So that’s been helping movements like ours that don’t take big corporate money, and we don’t take money from big unions, and we don’t have the access to sort of this big pot of money that we get our little piece from as a riding.”

Candidates are responsible for fundraising within their ridings, often asking for donations on their campaign websites. 

Kamloops-North Thompson Liberal candidate Peter Milobar has had plenty of experience with campaign fundraising. 

“To run a proper mayor’s campaign in Kamloops you need around $50,000 … to make a proper campaign run. In this case our cap is around that $75,000 limit provincially and so it’s in the same order of magnitude, but still within reason I think of what it takes to properly advertise and properly get your name out there.”

Milobar also acknowledges that social media is a useful tool, but he prefers another method that also costs very little.

“At the end of the day the number one way is still working the phones, and on the doorsteps, and talking to people, and having those one on one conversations with people.”