BC Liberal MLA Ben Stewart returning to caucus after being cleared by Elections BC

Kelowna West MLA Ben Stewart has been cleared by Elections BC and will now return to the BC Liberal caucus.

Stewart voluntarily stepped away from the BC Liberals caucus in August after he contacted Elections BC about an allegation of irregular donation under new election financing rules.

In a statement, Election BC says the investigation is complete and the review found no provisions of the Election Act were violated.

“MLA Stewart wrote Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman on August 1, 2019, to advise him of the issue. It involved a political contribution to the BC Liberal Party that was reimbursed to the contributor by the party,” the statement reads.

“The review found no evidence that the political contribution and reimbursement were made in contravention of the Election Act.”

Stewart served as a Liberal MLA from 2009 to 2013. He left after being appointed by then Premier Christy Clark as BC Special Representative in Asia. Clark ran to replace Stewart in the riding and won.

WATCH (aired August 2, 2019): MLA Ben Stewart leaves Liberal caucus

1:33 MLA Ben Stewart leaves Liberal caucus

Stewart returned to politics last year following a byelection victory after Clark resigned as B.C. Liberal leader and left politics.

“I’m looking forward to returning to the Legislature this fall with the rest of my BC Liberal colleagues and I thank Elections BC for their thorough and timely review of this issue,” Stewart said.

“Thank you as well to my constituents for their support and encouragement, I will continue to work hard to represent them in Victoria.”

If the matter was not sorted out this week, Stewart would have sat an Independent in the legislature when it returns for the fall sitting next week.

BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson is welcoming Stewart back into caucus.

“Today we received notice from Elections BC that they have completed their review of the issue brought forward by Ben Stewart earlier this summer,” Wilkinson said.

“We are happy to welcome Ben back to the BC Liberal Caucus and we thank him for taking the appropriate actions to ensure full cooperation with Elections BC.”