Mark Marissen, fellow Progress Vancouver members banned from elections for 3 years over financing breach

Elections B.C. has banned longtime political organizer Mark Marissen from running in local elections for three years after it deregistered his Progress Vancouver party for breaking campaign finance rules.

A news release from the elections body says the party and six of its eight candidates in last year's municipal vote failed to meet the filing deadline for finance reports in January this year.

Elections B.C. says they filed a month later to meet a late filing deadline, but their reports didn't meet legislated requirements. All eight candidates are now barred until after the 2026 elections.

The agency says the party's campaign finance report also disclosed violations, including an improper $50,000 loan and prohibited donations.

Elections B.C. says it told the party in March that its filings were deficient, but Progress Vancouver failed to correct them and an investigation into its finances has now been opened.

"Depending on the outcome of the investigation, administrative monetary penalties may apply," Elections B.C. spokesperson Andrew Watson said in an interview on Tuesday.

"The maximum fine for a prohibited contribution is up to double the amount of the prohibited contribution — but it would be at the discretion of the chief electoral officer weighing the results of the investigation in terms of what the penalty would be."

Marissen, the ex-husband of former premier Christy Clark, led the party and ran for mayor in Vancouver but finished a distant fourth with 3.4 per cent of the vote, while none of Progress Vancouver's other candidates were elected.

Marissen posts statement

In a statement posted to Twitter, Marissen blamed faulty legal advice for the loan highlighted by Elections B.C.

In his statement, he said legal counsel told the party there was no limit on amount, jurisdiction or corporate or individual status on the acceptability of the loan if it was being used for day-to-day operations outside of campaign and election periods.

He said the party did not notice a December 2021 rule change that put limits on loans. By the time it did, it had already used the money to pay bills like permanent staff salaries and wages.

Progress Vancouver has also disclosed "issues with a handful of donations" that came from outside B.C., Marissen added, with some contributors' data missing. He says the party has addressed those issues "as best as it could."

He concluded by saying the party is trying to raise money to pay back the loan and "any other obligations" and will co-operate with Elections B.C.

The party's campaign finance disclosures show that the $50,000 loan came from Jason McLean, president and CEO of the McLean Group of Companies.

He declined to comment, deferring to the party for a response.

"I would like to thank all of our candidates who ran under the Progress Vancouver banner," Marissen said in the statement.

"None of them had anything to do with causing these issues. I am very grateful for their support and their contribution to our democracy."

Progress Vancouver ran chiefly on a campaign of dramatically increasing housing and growth in Vancouver.

Elections B.C. said it will provide updates when the investigation is complete, but could not provide a timeline.