B.C. Liberal candidate Kim Chan Logan has asked her party to correct thousands of dollars of political donations listed in her name that came from her employer, telecommunications giant Telus.

It’s illegal to make indirect donations under the B.C. Elections Act, but Logan says a “clerical” error meant money spent with a Telus corporate credit card was filed in her name with the party.

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The amount listed in Logan’s name to the Liberal party — and her maiden name Kim Chan — was $18,238 from 2005-15, according to B.C. Elections data from party filings.

Logan, who would only respond in writing to Postmedia’s requests for an interview, said she personally donated about $200 to $300 a year to the party. The rest of the donations, which she said were largely to buy tickets for Liberal party events for Telus, came from the company credit card. She said she was not reimbursed for the donations, because they were paid for by Telus. In cases where individuals claim the donation made by the company, that can be a violation of the act.

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Logan, a candidate in Vancouver-Kensington, has also asked the NDP to make a correction for a one-time donation of $450 in 2015. Logan, who is on leave as the B.C. government relations director for Telus, and an in-house lobbyist, took action only after being contacted by Postmedia.

“I have contacted the B.C. Liberals and NDP to ask them to correct those errors,” she said.

A similar situation has occurred with K. Grace Howard, a Telus executive assistant in government relations, who made $37,175 in donations to the B.C. Liberals and $750 to the NDP in the past decade. The donations were also made using a corporate credit card, and both political parties have been contacted to make corrections, said Telus spokesman Richard Gilhooley.

He noted all political donations by Telus are approved by the board.

It isn’t clear how widespread the corporate credit-card problem is, but mining-giant Teck Resources Ltd. said that in one case $4,275 in donations made with a corporate credit card were listed under an individual’s name. The company — the Liberals’ largest donor at $2.8 million — wouldn’t comment on whether there were other such instances when asked by Postmedia.

Listing corporate donations under individual names reduces transparency as it under-represents the amount given by companies, one of several political-contribution issues under scrutiny in the run-up to the May 9 provincial election.

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The NDP and Greens have called for an end to corporate and union donations, while the B.C. Liberals, under increasing pressure, have said they would strike a panel after the election.

Telus made donations to the B.C. Liberals of $505,665 between 2005 and 2016. The donations attributed to Logan and Howard of about $55,000 increase the firm’s contributions by 10 per cent.

Dermod Travis, executive director of the political watchdog group Integrity B.C., said company donations incorrectly filed as coming from individuals could easily be $2 million to $3 million for the Liberals, according to a list he sent to the RCMP. He also referred similar concerns over some NDP donations.

Elections B.C. handed over an investigation to the RCMP earlier this month, sparked by a Globe and Mail story about indirect political donations to parties in the name of lobbyists who were later reimbursed, which contravenes the elections act.

In an email, Elections B.C. spokesman Andrew Watson said the agency couldn’t comment on specific cases because of the RCMP probe. He pointed to the act that stipulates incorrectly filed reports, once known, must be reported within 30 days to Elections B.C.

Prohibited indirect donations must be returned to the donor within 30 days. If tax receipts were issued incorrectly, a party financial agent must recover and void them or notify the Commissioner of Income Tax if the receipt can’t be recovered.

Logan said that personal tax receipts were sent to her home while tax receipts from the corporate credit card went to the Telus finance department.

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However, the NDP said Logan and Howard received receipts from them in their names. B.C. NDP deputy director Glen Sanford said Logan assured the party the tax receipts weren’t used. He questioned why, when the tax receipts were received, that didn’t raise concerns that the donations were incorrectly recorded. Sanford said they were returning the money donated by Telus.

B.C. Liberal Party spokesman Emile Scheffel said in an email that they’re not returning money because that isn’t required for “clerical” errors. He said if an individual used their corporate credit card to make a donation online, there was only one space for the person’s name, and none for the company. Scheffel said the party recently revised its online form to ensure the errors don’t occur.