Colin Mayes said he didn’t know
Elections Canada has listed him as one of 17 sitting MPs involved in the 2006 scheme which saw the party channel more than $1 million to pay for broadcast ads during the election. The Okanagan-Shuswap representative said he was aware of issues around spending by the party, but not of his name being listed as a participant in this case. “We got audited by Elections Canada and everybody was just fine. They randomly audit candidates, and everybody came clean and there were no problems, so quite frankly I’m surprised my name’s mentioned in this thing.”On Wednesday the Ottawa Citizen reported the names of the sitting MPs involved, which included Mayes and other B.C. MPs Ron Cannan, Dick Harris, Jim Abbott and Stockwell Day. The party allegedly used in and out transactions to exceed campaign spending limits on advertising. Sixty-seven Tory candidates received thousands of dollars through a transfer from the party, then used bank transfers to pay the party for the ads. Elections Canada later rejected the candidates’ election expense rebate claims for 60 per cent of the advertising costs.
Mayes said his primary role as a politician is not dealing with spending, but the other responsibilities he is elected to perform. “As a candidate and as an MP, that’s why I have a financial agent. I don’t know where money’s coming from and they take care of all the dollars.” He said his official agent Barry Gordon, who filed his campaign spending report to Elections Canada, knows the details. Gordon said he was unable to discuss the matter. “Right now I believe it’s in the legal system, so we can’t comment on it because there is some kind of legal thing going on between the party and Elections Canada.”
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Prepare for adscam part deux
EDITORIAL Sept. 13 – Managing editor Scott Neufeld
Different government. Same story. After heavily criticizing the Liberals and pushing for an accountability act, it appears the federal Conservatives may not have been playing by the rules in the last election. Elections Canada is investigating the party for alleged impropriety in financing their campaign. The allegations are that the Conservatives transferred money from local coffers to pay for national election campaigns. If the ads are ruled national rather than local, it would push the Conservatives over the legal expense limit by more than $1 million. If true it’s a manoeuvre associated more with the Liberal party than the Tories. In a last gasp, however, the Conservatives made several attempts to block the opposition parties from undertaking an inquiry of their own. The Conservatives first argued that the matter was before the courts and was therefore off limits. The Conservatives took the matter to the courts in order to force Elections Canada to reimburse candidates for the money they spent on election advertising. But the fact that the issue was before the courts did not stop the sponsorship inquiry and it should not stop this inquiry.
The Tories, however, weren’t done yet. Next up they tried the “blame everyone else” game, a move so childish it likely was inspired by a two-year-old constituent. They suggested that all parties have their expenses examined for every election since 1997. This suggestion was merely a ploy to confuse and drag out the issue. The opposition parties were able to block both attempts and the inquiry appears likely to continue. The Conservatives’ reaction, given their indignation over recent Liberal scandals, is somewhat puzzling. It would seem to be in their best interest to have this issue examined and resolved as soon as possible. With an election possible at any moment, any appearance of financial impropriety could sway undecided voters. By delaying the inevitable the Tories appear to be playing into their opponents’ hands. However, the Conservatives may be delaying because they know they’re in trouble.
The local ads in question appear identical to commercials that ran nationally, the sole difference being that the names of local candidates appear in fine print on the locally-run ads. Whether this constitutes a national ad is up to Elections Canada to decide. In the meantime the way the Tories have handled this issue should raise some alarm. Although the alleged infraction involved a relatively small amount of money, if the Tories are so elusive on this issue, it’s worrisome to think what else they might be hiding.While local MPs, including Colin Mayes are being investigated, many including Mayes are pleading ignorance. Deflecting responsibility onto a financial agent is a cowardly move. The elected officials need to take more responsibility for their own involvement and come clean with what really happened. It’s unacceptable to refuse comment simply because the matter is before the courts.
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