Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in this House today to finally set the record straight regarding the Conservatives' scheme during the last election campaign.
As we remember, in 2005, the Conservatives neglected to declare donations of $1.7 million, in the form of fees paid by delegates to their party leadership convention. Worse still, the Prime Minister became the first prime minister in the history of our country to be forced to admit that he had personally violated the Canada Elections Act, when his party finally recognized these facts.
We are well aware of the Prime Minister's tactics. When he does not like something, he just brushes it aside. If he does not like a piece of legislation, he just interprets it in his own way. It is very much his way or no way. This way of operating buys him time. When an issue is before the courts, it is so much easier to refuse to provide answers. This is an out of sight, out of mind approach, and it even looks like a lack of transparency.
Then the Conservatives decided to go at it again. During the last election campaign, they allegedly funnelled more than $1 million dollars in national advertising expenditures into the budgets of about 70 of their candidates. This would have allowed the Conservative Party to exceed the national spending limit of $18 million, while allowing its candidates to get a refund to which they were not entitled. If these allegations are confirmed, this would mean that there was an electoral fraud.
The Conservative Party is currently under investigation by Elections Canada for allegedly funnelling over $1.2 million in national advertising costs to regional candidates during the 2006 federal election in order to circumvent federal election spending limits.
Elections Canada rejected the advertising expenditures refund claims submitted by 66 Conservative candidates. We released the names of 129 former Conservative candidates and official agents who may have been involved in the alleged scheme. Then, we asked the Commissioner of Canada Elections to look at nine other campaign teams that may also have been involved in the scheme.
Canadians are concerned because it appears that the Conservatives would have diverted over $1 million in national advertising expenditures from their national campaign books to those of at least 67 of their candidates' campaigns. These funds would have exceeded the $18 million national spending limit.
Canadians are not the only ones who are concerned. The Conservatives themselves are concerned. The proof is that they have resorted to procedural tricks to avoid an inquiry into their electoral financing scheme. They have stalled the work of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs many times, including today. Why? Because we want to get details about potential fraud committed by the Conservatives during the 2006 election campaign. Shame on the parliamentarians who are trying to keep us from getting to the bottom of this.
We have learned that former Conservative candidates and official agents would have been named to federal appointments or would have been hired in high profile government jobs.
In the name of transparency, can the parliamentary secretary deny that former Conservative candidates and official agents were rewarded by being named to federal appointments, or were hired in high profile government jobs, and if not, how can he justify these appointments?