http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060628/tories_donations_060628/20060628?hub=TopStories Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- The Conservative party may have illegally accepted millions in unreported donations last year because it didn't understand political financing laws. That's the startling conclusion drawn from testimony given to a Senate committee by the Harper administration's point man on cleaning up government. Treasury Board President John Baird has told the committee that his party did not consider fees paid to attend its March 2005 policy convention to be political contributions. But the Elections Act stipulates that convention fees do constitute a donation. The Tories' 2005 convention was attended by about 2,900 party members, who paid a regular fee of $600 each, although discounts were available for some. That means the party stood to rake in as much as $1.7 million, all or some of which should have been reported to Elections Canada as donations.
DON QUIXOTE NOTE: Following E-Mail received from Conservative Party
Statement by Conservative Party on Convention Fees
The Party's convention arrangements in 2005 fully respected the law.
The fees we charged our delegates to attend did not exceed the costs of running the convention. The fees covered such things as meals, hall rental, security and the like, and there was no net revenue earned by the Party. Consistent with interpretations of the Elections Act and the Income Tax Act issued by Elections Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency and applied many times in the past concerning the price of admission to political events, receipts for a political contributions were therefore not issued for any part of the delegate fee.
The President of the Treasury Board, the Honourable John Baird, was quoted, correctly, as saying that the Party did not issue tax receipts for the 2005 convention. He made no statement that the Party thereby did anything contrary to political financing legislation.
Michael D. Donison
Executive Director
Conservative Party of Canada
OTTAWA -- The Conservative party may have illegally accepted millions in unreported donations last year because it didn't understand political financing laws. That's the startling conclusion drawn from testimony given to a Senate committee by the Harper administration's point man on cleaning up government. Treasury Board President John Baird has told the committee that his party did not consider fees paid to attend its March 2005 policy convention to be political contributions. But the Elections Act stipulates that convention fees do constitute a donation. The Tories' 2005 convention was attended by about 2,900 party members, who paid a regular fee of $600 each, although discounts were available for some. That means the party stood to rake in as much as $1.7 million, all or some of which should have been reported to Elections Canada as donations.
DON QUIXOTE NOTE: Following E-Mail received from Conservative Party
Statement by Conservative Party on Convention Fees
The Party's convention arrangements in 2005 fully respected the law.
The fees we charged our delegates to attend did not exceed the costs of running the convention. The fees covered such things as meals, hall rental, security and the like, and there was no net revenue earned by the Party. Consistent with interpretations of the Elections Act and the Income Tax Act issued by Elections Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency and applied many times in the past concerning the price of admission to political events, receipts for a political contributions were therefore not issued for any part of the delegate fee.
The President of the Treasury Board, the Honourable John Baird, was quoted, correctly, as saying that the Party did not issue tax receipts for the 2005 convention. He made no statement that the Party thereby did anything contrary to political financing legislation.
Michael D. Donison
Executive Director
Conservative Party of Canada
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