Kinder Morgan has had to pull its advertisements for its future Trans Mountain pipeline expansion during the federal election campaign.
The complaint
This came about after Kennedy Stewart 黑料社 a British Columbian New Democrat who wishes to be re-elected 黑料社 complained about numerous adverts being printed within local papers.
The reason?
Deeming it an unfair playing field, Stewart wrote to Canada黑料社檚 Elections Commissioner stating if companies wish to promote a position on an election issue then it is required to register with Elections Canada as a third-party adviser subject to spending limits.
Though a decision has not been made yet, Stewart has been assured that the Deputy Commissioner is looking into it.
Actions taken by Kinder Morgan
A spokeswoman for the Trans Mountain expansion has stated that Elections Canada has not contacted the company. Nevertheless, the company has decided not to run advertising 黑料社 in any format or community 黑料社 until after the vote has finished.
However, Stewart believes it is too late for Kinder Morgan to pull its adverts; 黑料社渢he law says that if they黑料社檝e spent over US$500 they have to register as a third-party spender, and indeed they have. It sounds like they weren黑料社檛 aware, but ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.黑料社
Edited from various sources , , by