BARRHEAD –Campaign expense reports from the 2023 provincial election’s Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock riding, where UCP incumbent Glenn van Dijken defeated his NDP challenger Landen Tischer, show the two were financially on a more even playing field than one might expect.
The expense reports were received by Elections Alberta in August and September, and show where candidates spent their funds, and how much they received.
van Dijken, who won the riding with nearly 75 per cent of the vote, spent $28,200 on his election expenses, to the $25,143 of NDP candidate Landen Tischer. Campaign expenses, which are not limited by Elections Alberta, saw a bit more of a gap — van Dijken spent a further $8,342, while Tischer only spent $1,908.56.
van Dijken didn’t respond to an Oct. 31 request for comment before the print deadline.
While the reports include general expenses — how much each candidate spent on office space, honoraria and salaries —it also spells out how much was spent on advertising, and signs/structural support.
The ‘sign battle’ was neck and neck, with van Dijken spending $7,132 to Tischer’s $7,032.
“We had a pretty even split of signs throughout all three communities,” said Tischer during an Oct. 31 interview. “We ended up implementing a ‘hydra’ policy when it came to our signs — every time one got vandalized, we put up two more in its place.”
Tischer said roughly one out of every five houses were willing to put up an NDP sign, which mostly aligned with the support they got at the poles.
“I wanted to run on a shoestring budget because I know that we can,” said Tischer. “We can win with less money, and then we don’t have to waste a bunch. It’s part of me trying to portray my values in running for the NDP.”
While Tischer did run on the smaller budget, van Dijken and the UCP got more bang for their buck — van Dijken spent $1.80 per vote he received, while Tischer spent $4.65 per vote.
Fundraising differences
One major difference was who paid for what — the UCP didn’t pay for any of van Dijken’s expenses, whereas the NDP party covered $14,093 of Tischer’s.
“The (NDP) take a pretty large percentage off the top when we receive a donation,” said Tischer. “Part of that is that they keep it in a high-interest bank account, so it works for all of the ridings.”
Tischer equated it to revenue sharing — urban ridings tend to receive more donations than their rural counterparts, so the system helps out candidates like himself.
“We were a pretty decently funded riding, for a rural one. We had some pretty good fundraisers, and some people on the team that we’re still building,” said Tischer.
