Ex-Tory hopeful admits to smuggling

By Penticton Herald Staff Tuesday, April 17, 2007 http://www.pentictonherald.ca/stories.php?id=39403

Derek Zeisman, the former Conservative candidate in the B.C. Southern Interior riding, has been fined $5,000 for smuggling 112 bottles of alcohol into Canada in 2004. Zeisman pleaded guilty in Surrey provincial court Monday to a charge under the Customs Act in connection with a July 3, 2004 incident at the Pacific Highway border crossing south of Vancouver. Canada Border Services Agency officials discovered 78 bottles of hard liquor and 34 bottles of wine in the trunk and backseat of his car under some blankets and luggage. Zeisman insisted the alcohol was purchased in Canada, however, border officials found receipts for the most of the items in Zeisman’s pockets confirming it was purchased in the U.S. In addition to the fine, the Trail resident was sentenced to one year‘s probation and 35 hours of community service work.

The car, a 1989 Mercedes Benz, was forfeited to the government along with the seized alcohol. Five other charges, including one of attempting to smuggle the Mercedes into Canada, were stayed by the Crown. Paula Shore, communications manager for the Canada Border Services Agency, said the sentence sends a strong message to those tempted to flaunt Canada’s border laws. "Duties were designed to ensure that Canadian businesses could operate on the same playing field as everybody else," she said. "That’s why we collect duties at the border." The duties on the alcohol seized from Zeisman would have amounted to $3,840.98. Zeisman was working as a trade commissioner for Industry Canada on the Lower Mainland at the time. He later became an assistant to former B.C. Southern Interior MP Jim Gouk, a position he held at the time of his nomination as the Tory candidate for the riding in September 2005.

News of the smuggling charge wasn’t revealed until shortly before the Jan. 23, 2006 federal election, which prompted Conservative leader Stephen Harper to state that Zeisman would not be allowed to a sit in the Commons as a Tory MP until the matter was resolved. Zeisman wound up a distant third in the riding, won by the NDP’s Alex Atamanenko. Meanwhile, Zeisman still faces a charge of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection with a motor vehicle accident south of Castlegar during the election campaign. Both Zeisman and the driver of the second vehicle were injured in the Dec. 20, 2005 crash. He is scheduled to appear in Castlegar provincial court for trial in July.