I understand.
To compound the offence, then they had the gall to claim a rebate on 60% of those fraudulent expenses, getting a bonus on the proceeds of the crime, so to speak. I think that's where most Canadians would really find fault.
Our election system is funded in a number of very generous ways. In the first place, if I make a donation to a political campaign, I get 75% of the first $400 given back to me; second, we subsidize elections to the tune of $1.75 per vote received in the election campaign given to the party; and third, there's a rebate on the legitimate local expenses of campaigns of 60% of their actual cash outlay—not of in-kind expenses, but of legitimate cash outlays, at fair market commercial value, spent locally. We're very generous.
The Conservatives have developed what they call, what their candidates call, a “creative fundraising scheme” to prop up the bank accounts of ridings—in one witnesses' testimony—in a low-income area because they are pleading poverty and therefore that justifies bilking the taxpayer out of 60% of this phantom money that was dipped into a bank account for about 30 seconds and yarded right back out again.
That scenario would not be allowed. Well, obviously I don't have to ask you, sir, because you disallowed those claims, and I thank you for catching it.
Other than that, all candidates in all 308 ridings had their books scrutinized, and fault was only found with 67 Conservative Party ridings. So the rest is self-evident.
At this point in time, Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a motion that we suspend the proceedings after the next Liberal speaker for a two-hour break so that we can get some business done before the end of business day, because I anticipate we're going to have a long evening getting through the other orders of business today.