B.C. Conservative candidate to go on trial
Kathy Tomlinson, CTV News
The Conservative Party was not aware that their candidate in the B.C. riding of British Columbia Southern Interior is due to go on trial next month on smuggling charges, and if convicted, he could end up in jail.
Derek Zeisman, who is running in the riding currently held by Conservative MP Jim Gouk, previously made national news for a serious car accident five days before Christmas.
Zeisman is still in hospital with injuries from that accident, and would not agree to an interview. However, he did speak with CTV News off-camera.
"I have had nothing to hide during this campaign and those charges which were not even criminal charges are unjustified," Zeisman said. "And when I have my day in court, I am very confident that I will be exonerated.
"I have no doubt about that whatsoever, but you know, again, I hope we still live in a democratic country where people are allowed to have their day in court before they're found guilty in the court of public opinion."
In July 2004, Zeisman was crossing into British Columbia from the United States, when Canada Customs charged him with attempting to smuggle in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle and 112 containers of alcohol.
Zeisman is also accused of lying to Canada Customs about the incident.
Zeisman did not explain to CTV News why he didn't tell his own party about the charges, and blamed someone in government for leaking the information.
"I don't know if it came from the Department of Foreign Affairs or if it came from the Border Services Agency," he said. "Somebody obviously has a grudge to harbour."
Zeisman is a cross-border trade specialist, and up until the time of the charges he was working as a trade commissioner for the federal government.
The government knew about the charges, but the Conservative Party admits it didn't check Zeisman's background with his former employer.
Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper, who signed Zeisman's nomination papers, says he relies on others for such checking.
"There is a screening process," Harper said. "My understanding is that it is supposed to look into criminal backgrounds, and obviously we rely on candidates to be forthcoming with information as well."
Duff Conacher of the group Democracy Watch said the party should have taken a better look at their candidate's background.
"They should be taking the initiative and making sure candidates for office maintain the highest ethical standard, so we're not in this situation," Conacher said.
However, he added, "the primary responsibility is with the candidate since they obviously had full knowledge and should have gone public with it even if they didn't tell the party in the first instance."
Zeisman's party bio says that in 2004, he began working as Gouk's part-time constituency assistant.
Gouk, who is retiring from politics, had previously hired Zeisman as his parliamentary assistant, working in both his Ottawa and Castlegar offices.
The Conservatives say despite just finding out about the charges, they will stand by their man and won't pull him out of the race.
Kathy Tomlinson, CTV News
The Conservative Party was not aware that their candidate in the B.C. riding of British Columbia Southern Interior is due to go on trial next month on smuggling charges, and if convicted, he could end up in jail.
Derek Zeisman, who is running in the riding currently held by Conservative MP Jim Gouk, previously made national news for a serious car accident five days before Christmas.
Zeisman is still in hospital with injuries from that accident, and would not agree to an interview. However, he did speak with CTV News off-camera.
"I have had nothing to hide during this campaign and those charges which were not even criminal charges are unjustified," Zeisman said. "And when I have my day in court, I am very confident that I will be exonerated.
"I have no doubt about that whatsoever, but you know, again, I hope we still live in a democratic country where people are allowed to have their day in court before they're found guilty in the court of public opinion."
In July 2004, Zeisman was crossing into British Columbia from the United States, when Canada Customs charged him with attempting to smuggle in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle and 112 containers of alcohol.
Zeisman is also accused of lying to Canada Customs about the incident.
Zeisman did not explain to CTV News why he didn't tell his own party about the charges, and blamed someone in government for leaking the information.
"I don't know if it came from the Department of Foreign Affairs or if it came from the Border Services Agency," he said. "Somebody obviously has a grudge to harbour."
Zeisman is a cross-border trade specialist, and up until the time of the charges he was working as a trade commissioner for the federal government.
The government knew about the charges, but the Conservative Party admits it didn't check Zeisman's background with his former employer.
Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper, who signed Zeisman's nomination papers, says he relies on others for such checking.
"There is a screening process," Harper said. "My understanding is that it is supposed to look into criminal backgrounds, and obviously we rely on candidates to be forthcoming with information as well."
Duff Conacher of the group Democracy Watch said the party should have taken a better look at their candidate's background.
"They should be taking the initiative and making sure candidates for office maintain the highest ethical standard, so we're not in this situation," Conacher said.
However, he added, "the primary responsibility is with the candidate since they obviously had full knowledge and should have gone public with it even if they didn't tell the party in the first instance."
Zeisman's party bio says that in 2004, he began working as Gouk's part-time constituency assistant.
Gouk, who is retiring from politics, had previously hired Zeisman as his parliamentary assistant, working in both his Ottawa and Castlegar offices.
The Conservatives say despite just finding out about the charges, they will stand by their man and won't pull him out of the race.
