Tamara Goeppel, an ex-Yukon Liberal Party election candidate, was sentenced to pay a $1,000 fine today, after pleading guilty Tuesday to one offence under the Yukon Elections Act of aiding and abetting persons in proxy voting.

The sentence was handed down in territorial court by Judge John Faulkner.

It includes an additional 15 per cent territorial surcharge, after Goeppel was charged with three counts of violating the act in February 2017. They were:

• two counts of “aiding or abetting persons in making proxy applications;” and

• one count of “inducing persons to falsely declare on proxy applications that they would be absent” from the territory during the designated hours for voting.

Goeppel’s sentence comes after she pled not guilty to all three charges last year.

Consequently, it looked like she would be fighting all the charges heading into this week’s trial. On Tuesday, however, she switched courses , instead pleading guilty to one charge.

The other two charges were withdrawn.

After this morning’s sentencing, her lawyer, Richard Fowler, was pressed by reporters on what had changed that led Goeppel to enter the guilty plea after being poised to tackle all three charges for more than a year.

Fowler said it partly involved some of the testimony from an Elections Yukon official.

“When it comes to regulatory offences, an honest mistake is not necessarily a defence,” said the Vancouver-based lawyer.

“Certainly hearing evidence from the (assistant) chief electoral officer about the state of the literature reinforced the point that we wanted to make – that this was a genuine mistake, an honest mistake,” he continued.

That officer was David Wilkie, who testified Monday and Tuesday, in part about some of the “slightly different” language involving proxy applications used in various publications either issued or used by the Elections Yukon.

“Eventually, over time, you get access to some of the evidence, and discussions take place between lawyers and prosecutors,” Fowler continued.

The guilty plea did not detract from his client’s ultimate intention though, Fowler assured.

“Ms. Goeppel was well-motivated and there was not a plan to corrupt the process,” he said.

The judge agreed, with Faulkner noting in his decision that evidence showed “conflicting versions of proxy voting provisions.”

In asking for the fine, Crown Leo Lane referenced a 2007 Alberta court decision in his submissions to the judge.

Though there was not much case law on matters like these, Lane said, the decision “had some parallels.”

That case saw the filling-out of more than 1,000 ballots and various fines handed out, ranging from $4,000 to $1,500.

According to the Yukon Elections Act, those found guilty of an offence could face up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

With Goeppel being fined $1,000, it falls on the lighter side.

Lane commended Goeppel for pleading guilty to the charge.

He said that would save not only time and money, as it would have worked its way through the trial, but the time of those witnesses subpoenaed too.

At least five witnesses were called to testify, with two of them (Wilkie and Earl MacLeod, who was solicited by Goeppel to fill out proxy applications) testifying over the three-day trial. (See related story, p. 3.)

An additional two were scheduled to deliver testimony, but after Tuesday’s withdrawn charges and guilty plea, the trial was effectively called off.

Echoing Lane’s statement, the judge noted that Goeppel’s significant record of public service was taken into consideration.

“It appears she did what she did out of a genuine interest (that) marginalized persons would participate in the electoral process,” Faulkner said.

It’s something Fowler also understood as important to the case.

“Prior to today, she had an utterly unblemished record in many activities, helping people in the Yukon,” Fowler said.

He noted in his submissions that Goeppel, for years a major figure in the local travel agency scene, was remorseful for her actions.

“More care should have been taken,” he said, though based on the testimony given by Elections Yukon, it was unclear what exactly that action could have been, he added.

“She’s paid a price for it.”

The charges date back to activities during the November 2016 territorial election, which saw Goeppel lose the Whitehorse Centre riding to NDP Leader Liz Hanson, who had held it going into the election.

Hanson won 487 votes to Goeppel’s 432, with the Yukon Party’s Doug Graham trailing with 193 votes.

As for his client’s future, Fowler shied away from speculating on Goeppel running for office.

“I have no doubt Ms. Goeppel will continue to contribute to her community and succeed and excel,” he said.

Goeppel will now have about two months to pay the fine.

Goeppel also made an unsuccessful attempt to secure the federal Liberal party nomination in the Yukon riding for the 2015 federal election. She lost the nomination to Larry Bagnell, who went on to a landslide victory over then-Conservative incumbent Ryan Leef in the election.