Mr. Speaker, twice in the last year the NDP has been found in breach of Canada's election financing laws.
First, in August, it was forced by Elections Canada to admit it was guilty of illegally issuing tax receipts to a left-wing think tank. On Tuesday, Elections Canada confirmed that the NDP's union sponsorships at its 2011 convention were unquestionably illegal donations. It has been forced to pay them back. Yesterday, I wrote to the Commissioner of Elections Canada to ask him to review what seem to be corporate sponsorships, during the NDP's 2012 leadership convention, found in its leadership convention guide.
What has been the NDP's reaction to these charges? Have the members come out and apologized? No. In fact, the NDP member from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu said that these illegal sponsorships were none of Canadians' business. The NDP members need to come clean and be transparent with Canadians about these sponsorships. Just how much illegal money have they raked in anyway?