Meanwhile, at the Federal Court of Appeal

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 4:23 PM - 62 Comments

A bulletin from Canadian Press.

The Federal Court of Appeal has struck down a ruling which Conservatives say cleared them of any wrongdoing in the so-called in-and-out election financing scheme. The ruling confirms Elections Canada’s interpretation of electoral spending laws

The court says it was reasonable for the elections watchdog to be dissatisfied with the way the Conservative party reported national advertising expenses for the 2006 election.

The full ruling is here.

The Commons: 'A five-year-old accounting dispute'

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 6:04 PM - 141 Comments

The Scene. Imagine, if you will, that it was 2003 and several Liberal party officials, two of them sitting senators, were accused of violating the election laws of this country. Imagine that a department of government created by the prime minister had decided to pursue charges in this regard. And imagine that, in responses to questions about this matter in the House of Commons, the prime minister sent up his parliamentary secretary with something like the following.

“Mr. Speaker, this is, of course, a five-year-old accounting dispute.”

Imagine how incensed Stephen Harper, seated across the way in the opposition leader’s chair, would have been to hear such a response, how angrily he would have condemned this as galling and outrageous and unacceptable. Indeed, imagine how he might have waxed philosophic about democracy and the moral authority to govern.

Good thing then that Mr. Harper was absent this day, away from the House of Commons as his parliamentary secretary, Pierre Poilievre, stood to say this much on the Conservative party’s behalf. Continue…

'Bend the rules, you will be punished'

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, February 25, 2011 at 5:20 PM - 71 Comments

As Bruce Cheadle notes, the in-and-out charges will be pursued by the public prosecutor’s office.

Dan Brien, spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office, said a team reviewed all the evidence gathered by Elections commissioner William Corbett and decided summary charges, rather than criminal indictments, were the way to proceed. “It’s a Crown decision,” said Brien…

The role of the public prosecutor, an innovation brought in by the Harper government as part of the Accountability Act, is to remove any cloud of political interference from the legal system. ”There’s going to be a new code on Parliament Hill,” Harper said as he introduced the public prosecutor model during that hotly contested 2006 election campaign. ”Bend the rules, you will be punished; break the law, you will be charged; abuse the public trust, you will go to prison.”

The charges

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, February 25, 2011 at 9:38 AM - 32 Comments

Elections Canada has now issued a short statement, including the official charges.

The charges were officially laid by the Commissioner of Canada Elections William Corbett. More on previous sentences and compliance agreements here.

Charges laid

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 10:41 PM - 145 Comments

An anonymous Conservative official tells the CBC, Postmedia, CTV and the Star, that four party officials have been charged by Elections Canada in connection with in-and-out campaign financing: Doug Finley, Irving Gerstein, Michael Donison and Susan Kehoe.

More background from Pundits Guide here and here. Kady O’Malley has the official Conservative talking points on this “long-running accounting dispute.”

The In-and-Out election

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, December 13, 2010 at 1:49 PM - 73 Comments

The 2006 election campaign that brought Stephen Harper to power on a promise of new accountability continues to raise questions of accounting.

The Canadian Press has learned that chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand has taken the governing party to task for failing to properly report the cost of running two regional campaign offices in Quebec. The $107,000 tab was divvied up and claimed as a shared expense by 15 candidates in Montreal and Quebec City. They claimed the expense even though Elections Canada found many candidates never used the regional offices, which were staffed by central party workers involved in what appear to have been national campaign activities.

Pundits Guide has more.

It ain't over till it's over

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 8:38 PM - 39 Comments

Five months after a federal court ruling on so-called in-and-out campaign financing, it turns out an unpublicized portion of the judgment imperils the political careers of three cabinet ministers. And the commissioner of elections has apparently referred the matter to the office of the public prosecutor to consider criminal charges.

… in a little-noticed detail, he also found that one of the two candidates should have paid — but did not — an equal share of the full market value of regional advertising buys. Rather, the amount charged appeared to have been “purely arbitrary,” based on what the candidate could afford without exceeding his spending limit.

In documents supporting its motion to stay Martineau’s ruling, Elections Canada applies the equal share dictum to all 65 candidates involved in the regional media buys. The agency finds up to 10 of them would have exceeded their spending limits, including Cannon by $7,618, Verner by $13,304, Paradis by $10,188 and Bernier by $20,138.

In its appeal, the party suggests Martineau’s ruling violates freedom of speech guarantees in the Charter of Rights because it “effectively limits a candidate’s ability to run ads if other ridings in the same (regional advertising) pool are unable to contribute to the same level financially.”

The full federal court ruling in its entirety is here. This particularly issue would seem to be raised at paragraph 235.

In-and-Out is in, unless it's out

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 9:30 AM - 17 Comments

Deep in the comment thread here, Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch offers the following reading.

The Federal Court ruling today dodged the issue of the legality of the Conservatives’ 2006 federal election ad spending scheme issue even more than Aaron hints at, as the ruling went in favour of the candidates only because the basis of the “balance of convenience” principle means that they should be reimbursed for their full expenses now because the legality of the scheme is yet to be determined.

So, in order to have the issue of the legality of the scheme ruled upon by the courts, Elections Canada must proceed with a prosecution through the Director of Public Prosecutions, and/or an appeal of today’s ruling to the Federal Court of Appeal.

Continue…

In-and-Out is in?

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, January 18, 2010 at 12:28 PM - 129 Comments

A Federal Court judge rules in favour of the Conservative side, with a caveat of sorts.

Elections Canada had contended that the Conservatives effectively skated around the party’s $18.3 million spending limit by channeling the cost of the ads through its candidates’ campaigns, which have their own spending limits. There was no evidence, the electoral agency argued, that the expenses were legitimately incurred by the candidates.

In a ruling released Monday, Justice Luc Martineau disagreed, saying the two candidates did incur the expenses. He ordered Mayrand to approve the claims. Martineau said, however, that the decision does not necessarily bear on an investigation of the ad buying program currently being conducted by the Commissioner of Canada Elections, William Corbett.

“There is a fundamental distinction between legality and legitimacy,” Martineau wrote. “As far as the overall legitimacy of the (regional-media buy) program is concerned, this is a debatable issue, which is better left for public commentary and debate by all interested persons outside the courts.”

Bless this mess

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, December 18, 2009 at 2:51 PM - 16 Comments

In a two-part post—here and here—Kady O’Malley reviews all that has befallen Parliament’s committee system.

The first one to collapse  was Procedure and House Affairs. where a motion to investigate the Conservative Party’s in-and-out electoral financing scheme led to meeting after meeting after meeting of government members running down the clock to prevent the vote from being called. Eventually, the opposition parties got fed up and ousted the chair — at the time, one Gary Goodyear, since ascended to the ranks of junior cabinet minister — which really did not go over well at all, particularly for Joe Preston, who was elected to take Goodyear’s place, despite his vehement protestations. After accusing the opposition of forcing him into indentured servitude, which made for a truly touching acceptance speech, Preston reluctantly took the chair, and adjourned the meeting, which turned out to be the last one the committee would hold until well into the next year.

The return of In-and-Out

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 23, 2009 at 11:11 AM - 11 Comments

The Ottawa Citizen’s Glen McGregor reports from the resumption of hearings into the battle between Elections Canada and the Conservative party. Relevant background here.

The judicial branch

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 at 12:15 AM - 3 Comments

First, Robert Allen Smith. Then, Omar Khadr. Now, the Military Police Complaints Commission.

And coming soon, In-and-Out.

Breaking News: It's back! Ethics committee to resume investigation into In and Out

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 5:32 PM - 24 Comments

As passed by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics earlier today (full liveblog available here):

“That the Committee resume the study it began during the Second Session of the Thirty-Ninth Parliament regarding the Conservative Party’s election campaign expenses during the 2005-2006 election campaign; that it deem the hearings held during that Parliament to have been held during the Second Session of the Fortieth Parliament; that the Committee issue btices to appear of all witnesses who did not appear during the study; and that it report its conclusions and recommendations to the House of Commons.”

Is this the end of the New New New Spirit of Nonpartisan Cooperation?

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 3:00 PM - 17 Comments

Well, I guess it depends on whether or not Bloc Quebecois MP Carole Freeman goes ahead with her plan to introduce a motion to relaunch the investigation into the In and Out Affair, doesn’t it?  Even if she does, she’ll need the support of all six opposition MPs – including the chair, who would have to break the tie – to outvote the government.

3:11:23 PM
Okay, I just wanted to note that I believe this may be the earliest that ITQ has ever turned up at committee, but after the near-riot at Natural Resources yesterday afternoon, I decided to take no chances, which is why I am currently watching rather bemused Commons staffers fill water glasses and arrange the various nameplates. We’re in a different room today, as it turns out – the NDP caucus room, to be precise, which is why there are framed vintage campaign posters and portraits of former leaders lining the walls. People before profits, y’all!

3:23:40 PM
Wow, Nina Grewal is apparently subbing for the Conservatives. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her at Ethics before, although in fairness, I’ve also missed the last few meetings. Maybe we’ve just been missing each other.

3:28:59 PM
Hmm – everyone seems to be here but Bill Siksay. Odd. Not that it will matter until later in the meeting, since I have a feeling there may just be one or two MPs who want to speak to the motion before it goes to a vote.

3:32:42 PM

Continue…

He's like the Kevin Page of elections! Liveblogging the Chief Electoral Officer at Procedure and House Affairs

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 10:20 AM - 27 Comments

ITQ has had this particular meeting circled on her calendar for weeks now – yes, in case y’all wondered, in red, surrounded by exclamation marks and little happy faces. Bring on the only-tangentially-related-to-the-official-order-of-business-yet-oddly-pointed questions!

10:51:48 AM
Eeee! It’s Marc Mayrand!

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I made it to committee just in time to miss out on the last seat at the media table – damn you, Colleague McGregor and your uncharacteristic punctuality – which is why I’m now sitting in the staffer section, but on the *government* side of the room for a change.

Along with Marc Mayrand, by the way, we have various other Elections Canada luminaries, including Rennie Molnar,Stephane Perrault and Belaineh Deguefe, and there is no way on earth I’m going to be able to spell that with any consistency once the meeting starts, so let’s call him BD, shall we?

The meeting is about to get underway – Yvon Godin is, adorably, greeting the witnesses – and most of the MPs are already at the table. I see that Kelly Block is stalking me — well, or I’m stalking her – as is Guy Lauzon, but as yet, we are short one pixie dancer. Where are you, Pierre?

10:58:36 AM
With an odd sort of vaguely nervous warning to his colleagues that “we’re in public today,” Chairman Joe hands the floor over to Marc Mayrand.

Continue…

ITQ Committee Lookahead—In and out? Listeriosis outbreak? Plaines d’Abraham? That’s more like it, guys.

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 10:04 AM - 2 Comments

Well, we got a hint of it during yesterday’s Ethics meeting, but a quick scan of upcoming committee meetings suggests that the era of parliamentary gentility, multipartisan cooperation and political restraint may be about to draw to a (not entirely unwelcome, in ITQ’s case) close –—and it’s likely no coincidence that it’s happening right as the budget bill is about to head off into the sunset – that is, if the Finance committee makes it through clause by clause without any unforeseen delays. (Was ITQ on that committee, we’d be keeping an eye out for NDP and Bloc members bearing extra-large coffee mugs and sleeping bags.)

Continue…

The Commons: A cold and miserable day

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 4:43 PM - 44 Comments

The Prime Minister arrived promptly at 9:30am. Stepping out of the car, he waved to the reporters assembled 70 metres away and then strode through the back door of Rideau Hall. His staff followed behind.

Half a dozen news trucks idled in the Governor-General’s driveway. A dozen television cameras lined up by the fountain, aimed at her front door. Madame Jean’s staff had set out coffee and, though lukewarm, it eventually became necessary.

Thus, the wait began. Two and a half hours of chilly anticipation.

***

So how did we get here? The answer depends on your perspective. Continue…

Watch out, global financial meltdown – committees are (almost definitely coming) back!

By kadyomalley - Monday, November 24, 2008 at 8:58 AM - 5 Comments

According to this week’s Hill Times, the government and opposition parties are going to try to get the rest of the committees up and running before the winter break — which is just three weeks away; tick tick tick, y’all — in order to “deal with” (House Leader Jay Hill’s words, not ours) “some of the economic issues” that are pretty much completely preoccupying parliamentarians at the moment. Liberal Whip Rodger Cuzner suggests that, with the fiscal update and pre-budget consultations, the Finance committee, in particular, may be putting in some long hours over the next few weeks. 

Continue…

The First Meeting of the ITQ In and Out Book Club starts now!

By kadyomalley - Friday, September 19, 2008 at 9:00 AM - 12 Comments

“Nonsense!”

- Dan Dugas, New York Times Conservative Party War Room Book Review

We can only hope that Sam Goldstein is even now putting the finishing touches on his autocandidography, but for now, check out Sixty-six Said Yes: A Personal Account of a Campaign and Scandal [PDF] by former Conservative candidate David Marler, who refused to take part in the Perfectly Legal Scheme to Transfer Money Between Party and Candidates That Everybody Else Does Too (Especially Libby Davies) And Now Elections Canada is Just Picking On Us Because It’s a Nest of Secret Liberals, and was subsequently dumped as the nominee for the next election.

Alert readers will recall that Marler was a guest of the Ethic committee earlier this summer at Camp In and Out, as chronicled by ITQ. At the time, he was relatively reluctant to speak out, but since then, he has definitely found his voice — much, ITQ suspects, to the horror of the Quebec Conservative organizers whose backroom machinations are described in distinctly unloving detail.

(H/T to the Montreal Gazette’s Elizabeth Thompson.)

In-and-Out (of her sickbed)

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 8:49 PM - 30 Comments

Dear ITQ Readers,

Please excuse Kady’s absence from the blog this afternoon. Although she made a valiant effort to stave off the unfortunately non-metaphorical Campaign Fever that has been going around the Hill like, well, a plague, she wound up spending most of the day lying on her couch in a Dayquil stupour, alternately napping and watching Newsworld. She does, however, have every intention of being back on the job first thing tomorrow morning, since the election isn’t just going to cover itself.

In the meantime, she directs you all to this fascinating story by her Hot Room colleague, Glen McGregor, on the off chance that you haven’t seen it already. Since CanWest doesn’t yet allow for comments on news stories, feel free to use this as an open thread for discussion of election and campaign financing laws, and she will see you in the morning, ideally without the aid of pseudophredine .

P.S. Yes, C/conservative readers, that means leadership debt too. Go crazy!

UPDATED – Still more on the candidate selection process – Apparently, it really is an honour just to be nominated.

By kadyomalley - Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:14 PM - 0 Comments

Yesterday, ITQ posted the new guidelines for potential Conservative candidates, which have become considerably more onerous since the last election.

In what a cynical observer might suggest is an attempt to tighten any potential future legal challenge to the party’s now notorious in-and-out scheme – which it maintains is entirely legitimate under existing election law – Tory hopefuls are now required to agree, in advance, to any “reasonable financial arrangement” with the party to provide “campaign services” before they will even be permitted to run for the nomination. They also aren’t allowed to talk about it before, during or after the fact, since they also have to sign a non-disclosure agreement that covers the entire candidate selection process.

Continue…

Speaking of candidate nominations …

By kadyomalley - Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 2:37 PM - 0 Comments

SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES
Take note, Conservative hopefuls – the process of winning your party’s nomination has become distinctly more onerous since the last election – and among the laundry list of new requirements – a thousand dollar “good conduct bond” deposit is now required, as well as at least 25 signatures from local party members – are a couple of changes that seem at least indirectly related to the current dispute with Elections Canada.

A candidate must now agree to “enter into any reasonable financial arrangements with the Conservative Party of Canada concerning the payment for the provision of campaign services by the Party to the candidate” before even being allowed to run for the nomination, and must also sign a confidentiality agreement promising “not to publicly disclose any information concerning the conduct of the application process” (articles 5 and 3b ii, respectively).

Here are the current – as of July 2007 – candidate guidelines:

Continue…

Sam Goldstein speaks!

By kadyomalley - Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 10:11 AM - 0 Comments

Just in case any readers are loath to follow lengthy comment back-and-forthing, I should point out that former Conservative candidate and once-and-possibly-future witness Sam Goldstein has turned up to tell his side of the story here, and has been very obligingly answering questions from readers – and ITQ – as well – starting here, and continuing throughout the rest of the thread.

(I assume I don’t have to read y’all the riot act preemptively about being polite and respectful to him, and to each other. This isn’t a parliamentary committee, after all.)

UPDATED: Memories of Moments of Goldsteinian Candor Past …

By kadyomalley - Friday, August 15, 2008 at 2:45 PM - 0 Comments

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.

Continue…