Tories fess up to undisclosed donations ! PM donated more than legal limit !

Edmonton Sun
OTTAWA — After months of heated denials, the federal Conservative party has quietly admitted it failed to publicly disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of donations. And the muddle over the disclosure meant that at least three party members — including Prime Minister Stephen Harper — donated more than the legal limit last year. Last Thursday, the party filed a revised financial report for 2005 with Elections Canada, acknowledging that it did not report delegate fees collected for its national convention that year as donations, contrary to political financing laws. In the revised report, the Conservatives have “reclassified revenue related to the 2005 convention,” disclosing an additional $539,915 in previously unreported donations, an extra $913,710 in “other revenue,” and an additional $1.45 million in “other expenses.” The report does not explain what constitutes other revenue or other expenses. Moreover, the party reports almost $700,000 in previously undisclosed transfers from riding associations, presumably accounting for ridings that helped subsidize the cost of attending the Montreal policy convention for their delegates. Having been forced to count convention fees as donations, the report indicates the Conservative party then discovered three delegates — including Prime Minister Stephen Harper — had exceeded their $5,400 annual limit for political contributions. As a result, the party refunded $456 each to Harper and the other two delegates. The party has also been forced to send belated 2005 tax receipts to the roughly 3,000 delegates who attended the convention, with instructions on the complicated process required to retroactively claim the tax credit.
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Convention Wisdom: Conservatives go to conventions to get drunk, Liberals to get laid and NDPers to get pamphlets.