The Canadian Press

Pending appeal, timetable set for fall hearing on Tory suit against Elections Cda

Thu Jul 24, 6:41 PM

By Tim Naumetz, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - The Conservative party's 15-month legal battle against Elections Canada could draw to a close this fall after the federal party lost a last-ditch bid to enter new evidence in its lawsuit.

However, if the Tories decide to appeal the decision, voters may not find out until after the next election whether the ruling party perpetrated campaign spending fraud during the last campaign.

Elections Canada alleges that the party illegally funnelled advertising expenses during the 2006 campaign through 67 local riding campaigns, allowing the Tories to exceed their national campaign spending limit by $1.3 million and affording candidates rebates on expenses they didn't actually incur.

The Tories, contending the transactions were above board, launched a lawsuit in May 2007 in a bid to force Elections Canada to reimburse the 67 candidates for the ad expenses.

A court official dismissed this week a motion from two Tory campaign agents who wanted to submit new affidavits in response to the independent election watchdog's explanation of why it is refusing to issue the rebates.

The official gave the party until Aug. 29 to file its final submissions and gave chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand until Oct. 10 to respond.

However, the Conservatives have 10 days to decide whether to appeal the decision before a Federal Court judge, potentially dragging out the lawsuit beyond the fall.

Michel Decary, lawyer for the two Tory campaign agents, would not say Thursday if he'll launch an appeal.

"If there is to be an appeal - and there can be - it's within 10 days," Decary told The Canadian Press.

He declined to comment on the decision by the court officer, who is a lawyer but not a full-fledged judge, that additional affidavits this late in the game would not be relevant to the Conservative party's case.

"Whatever comments I have you will find, if I do appeal, in our factum."

Conservative party spokesman Ryan Sparrow also refused to comment on a possible appeal, although he denied the court officer's decision is a setback for the party.

Sparrow dodged when asked if the party believes the lawsuit should be settled before Canadians head to the polls again.

"I think Canadians accept that we used Conservative money to fund Conservative advertising. We did that legitimately," he said.

However NDP MP Pat Martin said the court case should be resolved before the next election, which could be thrust on voters as early as this fall.

"It is critically important these matters are addressed before the next federal election so we're all clear on the rules around election financing," Martin said.

Liberal MP Marlene Jennings agreed, saying: "It's time."

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said this week he believes voters may be favourable to an election this fall. NDP Leader Jack Layton has also ramped up the campaign rhetoric.

The Conservative party had attempted to file two additional affidavits, virtual replicas of each other from the two different campaign agents, in response to testimony from a top Elections Canada official over interpretations of the law defining campaign expenses.

Originally, Elections Canada had argued that advertising had to support or promote the election of a candidate, rather than the party, to be eligible as a candidate's expense. But in arguments filed later in court, the agency shifted its argument somewhat, contending that the central issue is whether the costs were actually incurred by the candidate.

In documents used to obtain a search warrant of Tory headquarters, Elections Canada has alleged that the party was attempting to circumvent the $18.3-million limit for spending on its national campaign by shifting the advertising expenses to candidates who had ample spending room left under their own campaign limits.

The so-called in-and-out scheme is also the subject of an inquiry by the Commons ethics committee, which resumes its hearings next month.

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