'It's really quite shocking': West Vancouver mayor under investigation

A West Vancouver politician is under investigation for “potential spending irregularities”, according to Elections BC.

Elections BC confirmed to CTV News that it identified the alleged irregularities during a compliance review of Mayor Mark Sager’s campaign financing disclosure report for the 2022 general local elections.

“When we identify a potential contravention of legislation, we can conduct an investigation ourselves or forward the file to one of our law enforcement partners,” the non-partisan organization said in an email.

In a statement to CTV News, Const. Sam Zacharias, a media relations officer with the Port Moody Police Department said it’s been engaged by Elections BC to conduct the investigation.

“At this time, I am unable to provide details on the nature of the investigation or the people involved in the investigation as it is active and ongoing,” Zacharias said in an email.

Sager told CTV News, Elections BC didn’t contact him to warn him of the impending investigation.

“It’s really quite shocking,” he said.

When asked what the investigation could be about, he said a few months ago, he received a call from Elections BC inquiring about office furniture he purchased online.

“They were concerned because I didn’t have receipts for a couple of things I bought on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for the mayor’s office,” he said.

Sager said he purchased the furniture, which includes two lamps, a table and a couch, with leftover funds from his mayoral campaign. He said he asked Elections BC for permission to do so and that they agreed to it.

“I can’t imagine what else it would be,” he said.

This isn’t the first investigation Sager has been involved in.

In 2022, the BC Law Society issued a citation for professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming a lawyer, alleging he committed five separate acts of professional misconduct related to his handling of a will between 2010 and 2020. The citation claims Sager improperly withdrew funds from the estate, failed to keep proper records, and did not ensure the client got independent legal advice before naming him as a beneficiary.

None of the allegations have been proven and Sager denies them. He applied to have the citation issued anonymously but that application was dismissed.

A hearing is scheduled for March of 2024.