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BC Greens missed deadline for filing financial report

An ill auditor prevented the Green Party of British Columbia from filing its 2012 financial report on time, said party leader Jane Sterk.

Without providing details, Sterk said the party's auditor Stephen Rothwell with the Victoria firm Klompas and Rothwell has spent days unable to get out of bed.

"It's not a happy situation for me," Sterk said of the late filing. "I'm not at all comfortable."

Chief Electoral Officer Keith Archer has given the party until April 22 to get the report in, something he can do when he's told ahead of time a report is likely to be late and an extension is requested. Two Conservative constituency associations also received extensions.

There were also nine organizations in the province, out of 181 that needed to file, that missed the deadline and may file their reports by June 28 with a $100 late filing fee. They included the Green's constituency association in Oak Bay-Gordon Head, five Conservative constituency associations, the Reform Party of BC, the Helping Hand Party and the BC Patriot Party.

A spokesperson for Andrew Weaver's Green campaign in Oak Bay-Gordon Head said the report was filed in time, but Elections BC requested further information. They have until June 28 to get it in.

Former NDP MLA David Schreck hammered the Greens on Twitter for the late reports. "If I was in position of any candidate running against Weaver I'd make sure every voter in OBGH knows about this," he wrote.

Schreck pointed out that the Greens have been late filing reports in the past.

Sterk said the party had a similar problem with Rothwell being ill last year. "We're definitely going to be changing auditors," she said. They tried to get a new auditor this year, but couldn't find one to take the job on short notice, she said.

The party will have a new auditor for its election reporting and 2013 financial report, she said.

Sterk expressed frustration with the situation. "In many ways it feels like it's out of my control," she said.

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee's Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Find him on Twitter or reach him here.


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