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 鈥� a British Columbian New Democrat who wishes to be re-elected 鈥� complained about numerous adverts being printed within local papers.
The reason?
Deeming it an unfair playing field, Stewart wrote to Canada鈥檚 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 鈥� in any format or community 鈥� until after the vote has finished.
However, Stewart believes it is too late for Kinder Morgan to pull its adverts; 鈥渢he law says that if they鈥檝e spent over US$500 they have to register as a third-party spender, and indeed they have. It sounds like they weren鈥檛 aware, but ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.鈥�
Edited from various sources , , by