No criminal charges for West Vancouver mayor; Elections BC assessing administrative penalty

An investigation into Mayor Mark Sager’s campaign finance irregularities hasn’t found sufficient evidence to warrant charges, say the BC Prosecution Service.

The B.C. Prosecution Service will not pursue charges against West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager over alleged campaign finance irregularities dating back to the 2022 municipal election.

The BCPS announced the decision of special prosecutor John M. Gordon and issued a so-called “clear statement” explaining the rationale behind it Friday.

Gordon was appointed in March 2024 and quickly determined that the charge assessment standard for possible offences under the Criminal Code had not been met, informing the province’s acting assistant deputy attorney general of his decision in June 2024, according to the BCPS.

The reason for the delay between Gordon reaching his decision and the BCPS announcing it publicly, the service said, was the ongoing parallel investigation by Elections BC.

That investigation has now concluded, according to the BCPS, though Elections BC said in its own statement Friday that it was still “assessing” a prohibited contribution reported by Sager for an administrative monetary penalty. The amount Sager will owe has not yet been determined.

Office furniture and post-election communications

The underlying allegations in the case deal with furniture purchases and post-election communications services paid for using Sager’s campaign funds.

According to the BCPS’s statement, the Sager campaign produced receipts for $14,622.52 worth of office furniture, some of which were labelled “mayor’s office.” Investigators were only able to determine that $7,301.52 of the total had been paid from the mayor’s campaign account.

Additionally, the investigation determined that “some portion” of a $3,761.87 payment to a public relations and communications consultant for work done both before and after the October 2022 election, would not be a permissible expense.

The exact amount that went toward work completed after the election – which was therefore impermissible – was “not determinable,” according to the BCPS statement.

The Local Elections Campaign Financing Act allows candidates to claim only expenses that are “incidental to the candidate’s campaign,” which the furniture and the post-election communications were not, the prosecution service said.

“In addition to a potential contravention of LECFA (the enforcement of which is within the purview of Elections BC), the act of claiming these expenditures as legitimate campaign expenses could also serve as the foundation for a criminal prosecution for fraud over $5,000,” the statement reads.

Conviction deemed unlikely

When determining whether to lay criminal charges, the BC Prosecution Service uses a two-part test. First, there must be a “substantial likelihood of conviction,” and second, the public interest must require a prosecution of the case.

Gordon determined that neither part of the test was met in Sager’s case.

To convict Sager of fraud over $5,000, Crown prosecutors would have had to prove that he engaged in “an act of deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means,” and that this act caused a potential economic loss, according to the BCPS.

Prosecutors would also have had to show that the accused had acted “knowingly,” with “an intent to deceive” and knowledge that his act could cause economic risk to others.

“The Sager campaign openly declared many of the impugned expenditures in its post-campaign filings,” the statement reads.

“When (Elections BC) questioned these expenditures and requested further information and supporting documents, these requests were, in the main, complied with. There was no apparent attempt to conceal the fact that these expenses were incurred after the campaign had ended or what they were for. The evidence in this regard provides fruitful ground for the defence to argue that the campaign did not act with an intent to deceive.”

Sager also claimed that he had obtained permission from an Elections BC official to use the campaign funds for the furniture purchases, something Elections BC denied, but that served to further undermine the Crown’s potential case that Sager acted knowingly.

“The special prosecutor concluded that the available evidence is equivocal regarding the essential question as to whether Mr. Sager acted dishonestly or was simply careless or mistaken in his efforts to comply with LECFA,” the statement reads.

Beyond that, the special prosecutor also concluded that the public interest “did not require a criminal prosecution to protect the regulatory scheme,” noting that the penalties available to Elections BC under the regulations are “more significant than what would be likely under a criminal prosecution in this particular case.”

‘Maybe I will sleep better’

While speaking to CTV News on an unrelated matter Friday morning, Sager also commented on the investigation, saying he had received a call from the BCPS earlier in the day informing him that no charges would be filed.

The mayor said was “quite happy” to be done with the ordeal, which he admitted had been weighing on him.

“It’s been a really tough year,” Sager said.

He added that he was not asked to sit down for an interview with investigators at any point during the process.

“I never spoke to anyone,” he said. “They never called me, but I am thrilled today to hear that this is finally closed and put to bed. Maybe I will sleep better now and continue to focus on the job I was elected to do, and that’s to work for the people in my community.”

Elections BC says it is “taking no further action” against Sager for the issues investigated by the BCPS, and it “considers this matter closed.”

The agency’s administrative monetary penalty against Sager is related to a prohibited contribution in the form of “services provided to (his) campaign by an organization at a discount.”

Notice of the penalty will be published on its website once the amount is determined.