The cost of democracy: Who spent what in northeastern Ontario's municipal elections

The bill for last fall's municipal elections in northeastern Ontario is in, and those who ran for mayor and councillor jobs spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawn signs and pamphlets. 

In Greater Sudbury, Paul Lefebvre raised $70,609 on his way to winning the mayor's race in Greater Sudbury.

But he came second in spending to former city councillor Evelyn Dutrisac, who outspent all the would-be mayors with $84,050.

In total, the Greater Sudbury mayoral candidates spent $218,068 on their campaigns, topping the $210,022 spent on the 2018 election, and no candidates came close to the record $111,000 spent by Marianne Matichuk when she won the mayor's seat in 2010.

Brian Bigger spent $34,266.10 on his attempt to win a third term as Greater Sudbury mayor before dropping out of the race three weeks before election day.

His contribution list includes the maximum donation of $1,200 from Sudbury Wolves owner and Kingsway arena proponent Dario Zulich, $1,000 from well-known local businessman Gerry Lougheed and $1,000 from Steve Vaccaro, vice-president of Interpaving Limited.

Lefebvre also got $1,200 from Zulich and Lougheed, plus $1,200 from retired local hockey star Mike Foligno, $1,200 each from four members of the Arnold family, which owns Sudbury construction giant Dalron, and $1,200 from Fred Slade, who faced off against Lefebvre in the 2015 federal election. 

Most candidates for Sudbury city council spent their own money on their campaigns and didn't collect donations, with few coming close to the spending limit.

Bill Leduc, who was re-elected in Ward 11, was an exception, spending $14,017, just under the limit of $14,159.60.

Pauline Fortin unseated Geoff McCausland by just 106 votes in Ward 4, but he outspent her $8,793.10 to $5,806.17.

Robert Kirwan lost his seat in Ward 5 by over 2,000 votes to Mike Parent, who spent $9,483.57, compared to a meagre $16.95 from the two-term city councillor.

In Sault Ste. Marie, Matthew Shoemaker came close to the spending limit on his way to winning the mayor's race, raising $55,520.

In North Bay, Peter Chirico also came close to the spending limit. The former city councillor and city manager spent $41,545.15 on his campaign, nearly double the budget of his closest rival, Johanne Brousseau, at $24,202.

In Elliot Lake, former city councillor Chris Patrie defeated two-term incumbent Dan Marchisella by 461 votes, but he outspent him by nearly $5,000 — $7,276 to $2,329. 

Patrie was removed from office shortly after being sworn in, after a court ruled that he violated municipal conflict of interest rules during his time as a councillor.