Secret PMO fund

[Cobalt_Kid]

This is an interesting approach by Pierre Poilievre, just show what a complete A-hole you are.

Pierre Poilievre: 'Mr. Speaker, Can I Tell You A Secret?' (VIDEO)

“Mr. Speaker, can I tell you a secret?” he asked sheepishly, to some laughs. “Promise you won’t tell anybody? Don’t tell the NDP. Don’t tell the CBC. The prime minister of Canada is the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. And when there are Conservative Party of Canada expenses, including from its leader, it’s paid by the Conservative party. I’ve been meaning to get that off my chest for a while. Please don’t tell the CBC. Please don’t tell the NDP.”

Though Poilievre scored some laughs from his fellow Tories – a few of whom helped his shtick with a “what?” here or a “this just in” there – not everyone was laughing.

The issue isn't whether or not Harper has access to party funds, it's what was the separate fund in the PMO that was under the control of the chief of staff being used for. Were there other instances we don't know about where it was used in the interests of the conservative party against the interests of Canadians as was done when Nigel Wright gave Mike Duffy a $90,000 check to avoid the exposure of a misuse of senate expenses by him and others.

Not only do the conservative not seem to care about the laws and rules meant to protect taxpayers interests, but they seem to enjoy showing that lack of concern.

 

[captain morgan]

Not only do the conservative not seem to care about the laws and rules meant to protect taxpayers interests, but they seem to enjoy showing that lack of concern.

Seems to me that if anyone were to be choked-up on this issue, it would be the Conservative supporters and no one else.

The 'tax payer' is not out one thin dime as the cash originated from the Party coffers.

Now, you can piss and moan all you like about Duffy's excesses and attempted abuse of the system - and you'd be right - but in the end, the CPC paid those costs from their own accounts.

 

[taxslave]

Can't be much of a secret fund if even the harper haters know about it.

 

[captain morgan]

Duffy definitely should be hung out to dry along with Wallin, et al.

... But this bitching about Harper, especially after he used non tax payer funds (from the SECRET account) to return the money is a joke

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

Looks like the Harper government is telling another windy when they claim there was Elections Canada oversight of the separate fund in the PMO.

No Elections Canada oversight of PMO fund, ex-chief says - Politics - CBC News

The former head of Elections Canada says the agency has no authority to probe a secret fund in the Prime Minister's Office, nor whether Conservative party money was in any way related to the $90,000 deal between the PM’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, and Senator Mike Duffy.

The government has been telling Canadians there is no secrecy and no fund, and that in any case, all spending by political parties is subject to utmost scrutiny by Elections Canada.

But in an exclusive interview with CBC News, former elections chief Jean-Pierre Kingsley says Elections Canada simply has no way of knowing how political parties spend the millions of dollars they collect each year from donors and taxpayers.

"There is nothing that Elections Canada imposes on political parties concerning their expenditures between elections," Kingsley says.

Conservatives are adamant that no party money was used in the now infamous $90,000 Wright-Duffy deal to repay the senator's improper expense claims.

But Canada's former chief electoral officer is equally clear that party funds could be used for just about anything without Elections Canada ever knowing about it.

Like Robocalls?

But those millions of dollars of expenses are only reported as totals in broad categories such as salaries, travel, advertising and even "other."

'There are no rules of any kind. There is nothing in the Canada Elections Act that prevents a party from spending money as it wishes'
—Jean-Pierre Kingsley, Canada's former chief electoral officer
And Kingsley says Elections Canada can't check any of it.

"There is no verification whatsoever."

The current head of Elections Canada, Marc Mayrand, has made exactly the same point to MPs at hearings of parliamentary committees since 2010, saying the agency essentially has to accept whatever information political parties provide in their respective annual filings.

As it any wonder things like the robocall scam could happen, instead of beefing up Election Canada and creating more accountability within our political system the Harper government is going the opposite direction. It cut funding to Elections Canada by 8% and blocked accountability bills even by its own MPs which forced Brent Rathgeber to leave the conservative caucus.

Meanwhile the conservatives tell more untruths saying it's all under control.

On CBC Radio's political show The House, Conservative MP Chris Alexander claimed Elections Canada limits how party funds can be spent.

"There are absolutely rules," Alexander said. "It has to be an event that relates to party activities. Elections Canada has very meticulous, very detailed rules."

Once again, Kingsley says: Not true.

"There are no rules of any kind," Kingsley says. "There is nothing in the Canada Elections Act that prevents a party from spending money as it wishes."

Sounds like there is very little Elections Canada can do about it.

The New Democratic Party recently wrote to Elections Canada, asking for an investigation of the secret PMO fund.

But Kingsley says the agency can't do that, either. According to Elections Canada's mandate under existing law, "that authority does not exist."

TIMELINEKey moments in the Senate expenses controversy
Both Kingsley and Mayrand have repeatedly asked Parliament for increased powers to be able to force political parties to open their books.

After all, Kingsley points out, public subsidies to political parties and generous tax rebates to their donors mean Canadian taxpayers are providing tens of millions of dollars a year to these organizations for everything from attack ads to prime ministerial travel to, well, who really knows what?

"Do we care how that money is being spent? That is one question people might want to ask," Kingsley says.

Elections Canada needs more resources, there needs to be more control on how money is spent on campaigning and especially illegal campaigning and there needs to be an independent inquiry into just what this secret fund was used for. It it was used to circumvent the election laws of Canada then we have a right to know about it.