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Liberal outspent Conservative to win Kelowna-Lake Country seat

Liberal Stephen Fuhr spent $130,220 to oust Conservative incumbent Ron Cannan in last October's federal election.

Kelowna-Lake Country MP Stephen Fuhr's election win last October did not come cheap.

The rookie Liberal, who upset long-time Conservative incumbent Ron Cannan, outspent his more experienced Tory opponent by nearly $55,000.

Fuhr spent $130,220 on his campaign, compared to Cannan's $75,299.

But Cannan could have spent more. He raised a total of $111,387 for his campaign.

The biggest single area of campaign spending where Fuhr outpaced Cannan was in advertising.

While Fuhr, a political newcomer running in his first campaign spent $114,397 on advertising, the much better known Cannan, first elected here in 2006, spent just $42,646.

In total, Fuhr raised $148,397 for his campaign, with virtually all of it transferred from his party.

Cannan's campaign raised a total of $111,387, with $76,970 coming from registered associations and another $34,416 from what Election's Canada called "cash inflows."

The one area where Cannan did outspend Fuhr was in salaries and wages for his campaign workers. There he spent $4,810 while Fuhr spent nothing, relying solely on volunteer to run his camapign.

Cannan also claimed $12,229 in expenses, compared to Fuhr's $1,710.

Figures for the other candidate in the race, the NDP's Norah Bowman were not posted on the Elections Canada website as of Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, only figures for victorious Conservative incumbent Dan Albas and Green Party candidate Robert Mellalieu were available as of Wednesday.

Albas spent $92,277 of the $135,881 he raised to retain his seat, while Mellalieu spent $4,769 of the $5,263 he raised for his camapign.

The largest single expense for Albas was $46,212 on advertising, with another $28,665 spent on "voter contact."

The majority of the money Albas raised—$100,000—came from registered associations.

No information for Liberal candidate Karley Scott or the NDP's Angelique Wood was listed on the Election's Canada website  as of Wednesday.

Candidates who ran in the October 19, 2015 federal election had until Feb. 19 to file their campaign finance information.