Coquitlam’s mayor, Richard Stewart, and mayoral candidate, Adel Gamar, ran against each other during the 2018 election. The two are running against each other again now, in the 2022 municipal election.

There was much talk of influential developer donations in the 2018 election, as there is in this election, however, Mayor Richard Stewart also raised concerns about union donations. For that reason, let’s look into Richard and Adel’s 2018 financial disclosures, to see where their campaign donations were coming from, and if any might be indicative of undue influence.

Richard Stewart states that he refuses union donations, while Adel Gamar states that he refuses developer donations.

In looking through their 2018 financial disclosures, Richard Stewart had the support of BC Liberal-aligned individuals, while Adel Gamar had the support of NDP-aligned individuals. Adel and his family donated heavily to his campaign, while Richard Stewart did not donate to his own campaign, or appear to have family contributing. We also see that at least 64.3% of Richard Stewart’s donations came from individuals associated with local developers, while Adel Gamar’s only developer-affiliated donation was from a local resident who owns a restaurant and restores heritage homes.

Some donations could not be traced, as the individuals making donations have a limited online presence. Those donations fall into the “Individual/Unknown” category, accounting for 14.7% of Richard Stewart’s donations and 19.5% of Adel Gamar’s.

A developer-affiliated donor to Richard Stewart’s campaign recently criticized Nicola Spurling for giving media attention to the issue of developer donations, claiming it’s “BS,” and not “a legitimate issue,” though he admits to expecting that candidates should behave in accordance with his wishes or return his donations. This indicates that he, as a developer, expects his donations to buy influence, and lends legitimacy to the concerns being raised, by residents and candidates, that developer-affiliated donations may be influencing political decisions within local governments.

Hunter Madsen, a candidate for Port Moody City Council, and Benjamin Perry, a candidate for Coquitlam City Council, researched the issue of developer donations, in their respective cities, and spoke with Nicola Spurling about their findings, in an interview for Tri-Cities Community TV. Nicola also researched this issue, in 2018.

Hunter and Benjamin are calling for elected officials to publicly disclose when they have received developer donations, and to recuse themselves from voting on projects related to developers who have donated to their campaigns, as it creates a perceived conflict of interest:

Coquitlam Council candidates who have pledged not to accept developer donations:
– Philip Buchan
– Mohammad Darwish
– Paul Lambert
– Robert Mazzarolo
– Brian Misera
– Benjamin Perry
– Ali Tootian
– Carl Trepanier

Hunter Madsen’s research
Benjamin Perry’s research

Election Date: October 15th, 2022

– Nicola Spurling –