Running for Barrie mayor comes with a price, but does it pay off to spend?
Recently released figures show Alex Nuttall led the pack in campaign expenses for last year’s city election, while winning the race for mayor, too.
Nuttall was followed in spending by Barry Ward, who came second, then fourth-place finisher Mike McCann, and Gerry Marshall, who was third.
But Geoffrey Booth, a political science teacher at Georgian College’s Orillia campus, says presuming money will win you an election isn’t an absolute.
“The more money you have, the greater the options that are open to your campaign to get your message out,” he told BarrieToday. “But it’s not that simple. At the municipal level, candidates are often ‘known quantities’. That is, they’re recognized in their communities and have a level of contact with constituents that provincial and federal representatives often do not.
“And, of course, there are fundamentals of any campaign – solid organization, a clear message and the people power to move the message out at a grassroots level, neighbourhood to neighbourhood,” Booth added. “Whether ever-increasing campaign budgets eventually supplant this formula remains an open question.”
Barry Woods, a retired political science professor at Georgian College, says money also affects elections another way.
“Do people run or not run based on what it’s going to cost them?” he asked. “And so there’s a question about whether or not good, quality people choose not to run because it’s going to be too expensive. But the one who spends the most money doesn’t necessarily win.”
Those running for Barrie mayor each had a spending limit of $94,875 and could also spend as much as $9,487 on parties and other expressions of appreciation. Candidates and their spouses had a combined spending limit of $25,000.
“Certainly Ontario, and municipalities, have some pretty tight regulations about who can contribute, how much they can contribute, that corporations can’t contribute,” Woods said.
The maximum contribution to each candidate is $1,200 with a maximum $5,000 contribution total if contributing to more than one candidate.
In the 2022 election, Nuttall had total campaign expenses of $95,020, although $4,770 — which included his $4,520 accounting and auditing bill — were not subject to election spending limits.
Nuttall had total contributions of $93,422 from 85 people, not only Barrie residents but from people residing in Toronto, North York, King City, Midhurst, Wasaga Beach, Innisfil, Oro-Medonte, Brampton, Guelph, Ottawa, Woodbridge, Maple, Bolton, Vaughan, Severn, Etobicoke, Ayr, Greater Sudbury, and Mississauga.
The majority of the donations to Nuttall's campaign were for $1,200 and he returned $1,075 to contributors past the maximums.
Nuttall spent $40,074 on brochures and flyers, $23,278 on signs, $9,945 on advertising, and $9,631 on salaries and benefits for his staff, plus professional fees. His victory party carried a price tag of $2,970.
Nuttall defeated Ward by 777 votes — 13,401 to 12,624 — on Oct. 24, 2022, along with five other candidates, including Marshall, McCann, Andrew Gordon, Weldon Hachey, and Rob Haverson. Marshall had 2,745 votes, followed by McCann with 1,700, Gordon with 449, Hachey with 315, and Haverson with 134.
Ward had election campaign expenses of $54,456 subject to the spending limit, plus $5,441 for accounting and auditing fees. He spent $19,443 on brochures and flyers, $11,173 on advertising, $8,780 on signs, $5,000 on salaries and benefits for staff, along with professional fees, $4,586 on phone and internet services and $3,828 on office expenses.
His contributions totalled $58,256, including those from 92 people who live in Barrie, Elmvale, Oro-Medonte, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Woodbridge, Springwater, Markham, Midland, Innisfil, Vaughan, Toronto, Wasaga Beach, Kitchener, Ayr, Thunder Bay, and Ottawa.
Ward, who served for 22 years as Barrie's Ward 4 councillor, contributed $1,050 to his own election campaign for mayor.
Marshall had total campaign expenses of $19,596. He spent $11,427 on advertising, $2,882 on signs, $2,081 on brochures and flyers and $499 on office expenses, along with $1,695 on accounting and auditing fees.
Contributions totalled $4,397 for money and goods or services, such as video clips, campaign shirts and an unspecified advertisement.
Marshall’s campaign expenses show a contribution of $15,149 from Marshall and his spouse.
Two-term former Ward 10 councillor Mike McCann had total election expenses of $43,919 and raised $25,630 from 24 contributors who live in Toronto, Springwater, Tiny, Wasaga Beach, Whitby, Aurora, Concord, Innisfil, and Barrie. McCann donated $15,000 to his own election campaign.
McCann's financial statement shows he also got $6,000 from one person, Jeffrey Roher of Toronto, a partner in HIP Developments, the company behind the large residential project at the former Barrie Central Collegiate site.
However, Roher told BarrieToday that the $6,000 was really five $1,200 donations — from himself, his wife and three children.
“I’ve got the verification and the proof of the five donations,” he said. “So if someone comes asking, I got it.”
Reached by text Tuesday to ask about the overage in his financial statement, McCann declined comment to BarrieToday.
McCann spent $16,438 on office expenses, $9,235 on advertising, $7,826 on brochures and flyers, $5,500 on signs, and $4,130 on phone and internet expenses.
Barrie city clerk Wendy Cooke said she's required to file a report to the compliance audit committee, which is mandated by Ontario’s Municipal Elections Act (MEA), to advise of any contributors that exceeded their contribution limit. The committee will then make a decision on whether or not to proceed further based on information.
“The report will be submitted to the committee in May as per the MEA,” Cooke said. “There will be a public agenda for the meeting, with the report included.”
Campaign financial statements are filed with the clerk, but they are not approved by the clerk or the province. If a candidate realized an error on their form, they had until March 31 at 2 p.m. to submit a corrected form.
Woods said it’s also important how candidates spend their money.
“It’s about how people target their spending,” he said. “Certainly every candidate needs to do a direct mail, in which you outline your qualifications, you outline your experience and perhaps something about why they should elect you. You need to put one of those in every mailbox.”
But old-school campaigning still works, too.
“That direct contact, I think, is significant … but the best one is to knock on the door, when you speak to someone,” Woods said.
“Signs on people’s front lawns, do they mean anything? The jury is still out on that,” he added. “Does it register in people’s minds when they see a lot of signs, how their neighbour is voting? It’s hard to know what makes people vote certain ways.”
Running for Barrie mayor wasn’t expensive for all of the candidates.
Former Ward 6 councillor Natalie Harris, who dropped out of the race May 24, had no election expenses or contributions.
Rob Haverson, who stayed in the race, also had no election expenses or contributions.
Andrew Gordon had total expenses of $71.19, for his website, which he paid himself.
Weldon Hachey had contributions of $300, including $100 from three individuals, but had $800 in sign expenses. So his campaign ran a deficit of $500.
Barrie had approximately 103,000 eligible voters in the 2022 city election. Voter turnout was 31,604 — or 30.45 per cent.
Numbers on election expenses statements come from the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs financial statement auditor’s report for candidates, according to the Municipal Elections Act. All figures are rounded to the nearest dollar.
