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speakup

"It's ironic that the party caught up in this scandal is not expressing their confidence in Elections Canada. Let's not forget that the RCMP searched the Conservative party's headquarters in Ottawa last week. It sounds fishy to me. Canadians can trust Elections Canada; it's the Conservatives that they must keep an eye on", he said in a press release.

Jean-Claudes D'Amours

D'Amours says that according to Elections Canada, the Conservative party transferred money into the hands of 67 candidates during the election in January 2006. The money was then used to buy national advertising instead of local advertising.

The money spent should have been paid by the party and not by the candidates, he says. The Tory scheme allowed the party to have ads with a national message, but recorded on the books of local campaigns. So instead of being able to spend only $18.3 million nationally, it could spend much more — as it turned out in this case, $1.3 million more, he says.

"But wait – it gets better. Local candidates were also told they were entitled to claim the expense to get a rebate from Elections Canada. For example, a riding that would otherwise have spent only $30,000 on its local campaign, having received an additional $40,000 from the Conservative party, then given it right back for the TV ads, would be deemed to have spent $70,000, entitling it to receive $42,000 as a rebate instead of $18,000", D'Amours said.

"And, of course, this money would come from Elections Canada – that is, from taxpayers. That is, from you and me", he added.

Elections Canada is continuing to investigate the scheme, which the Conservatives say is completely legal. the courts to decide what they think about Conservative actions. Then, in an election, it will be up to Canadians to decide for themselves