Mr. Speaker, yesterday Elections Canada confirmed that union sponsorships at the NDP's 2011 convention are unquestionably illegal donations. Using union dues, big union bosses paid between $25,000 and $35,000 to be sponsors at the NDP convention.
As the opposition well knows, union and corporate donations were outright banned in 2006, yet this is the second NDP breach of the elections financing in less than one year. Last year the NDP was forced to admit that it was guilty of illegally issuing tax receipts for tax donations made to left-wing pressure groups. It is clear that the NDP is prone to ignoring political financial rules for its own political gain.
Given that the NDP received sponsorships at its 2009 convention, Canadians deserve to know the full extent to which big unions have been subsidizing the NDP with illegal donations. How much money did the NDP rake in and where is the money?