If only the former Conservative candidate for Trinity-Spadina hadn’t stormed off before his turn to speak, just imagine what he might have had to say to the Ethics committee. Especially considering what he told the Ottawa Citizen reporters who wrote the very first In-and-Out story ever:
Tories clash with Elections Canada; Candidates got national party cash, applied for federal rebates, Citizen analysis reveals
The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Page: A1 / FRONT
Section: News
Byline: Tim Naumetz and Glen Mcgregor[...]
Lawyer Sam Goldstein, who ran a token campaign for the Tories against
New Democrat Olivia Chow and Liberal Tony Ianno in the Toronto riding
of Trinity Spadina, said the advertising money he paid was not for his
campaign.“It’s national advertising is what it is,” he told the Citizen.
Mr. Goldstein’s campaign received a transfer of $49,989 from the
Conservative Party of Canada on Dec. 28, 2005. Six days later, his
campaign paid $49,999 to the Conservative Fund of Canada — the
party’s national fundraiser — and listed it as a radio-TV expense.The more money candidates spend on a campaign, the more they can get
back from Elections Canada. Candidates who get 10 per cent or more of
the vote are reimbursed for 60 per cent of allowable expenses from the
campaign — up to the maximum spending limit for each riding.The transfer Mr. Goldstein’s campaign received allowed it to increase
reported expenses by almost $50,000.Had he captured 10 per cent of the vote, the top-up from the party
would have netted his riding association nearly $30,000 more for the
next election.As it happened, Mr. Goldstein fell slightly short, finishing a distant
third and taking just under 10 per cent of the vote. But Mr. Halicki
won 17 per cent of the vote in his riding and, should the Tories win
their court case, stands to boost his rebate by nearly $24,000.Mr. Goldstein said the transfers and payments helped candidates with
small budgets and he says all the major parties do the same thing.“The way they try and help out their smaller ridings is by saying,
‘We’ll give you this amount of money and then you give it back to us.’
It counts legitimately as an expense.”He said the process was not exploiting a loophole in the law. “The
rules are what the rules are.”
UPDATE: Somehow, this report on an all-candidates’ debate in Trinity-Spadina during the last election sounds oddly familiar:
The Toronto Star
Monday, January 16, 2006
Page: B3
Section: News
Byline: Rita Daly
Source: Toronto Star… Suddenly, the mood in the room turned dark as Conservative
candidate Sam Goldstein, seething in his seat, took his turn. Pointing
a menacing finger at the crowd, he chastised them for wanting
candidates to control gun crime in their city, while wanting to
legalize a drug that was causing the gang warfare on their streets.“You are supporting gang violence in this city!” he roared. The crowd
erupted in anger, shaking their fists as he continued to vent his
disgust.
ITQ is sure, however, that former Goldstein campaign staffer David Simpson was just being flip when he refers to “wardriv[ing]” opposition polling data from sources with “poor security” on what might be the most unintentionally hilarious election blog ever written: Down and Out in Trinity Spadina.
