Mr. Speaker, under Elections Canada rules, candidates for the leadership of a political party are required to settle unpaid debts no later than 18 months after the vote. For the NDP, that deadline passed on September 24, yet several NDP leadership candidates are still in debt.
It is an offence under the Canada Elections Act to wilfully use loans to circumvent donation limits. Elections Canada, of course, has the power under the existing act to investigate or recommend charges against anyone who has done so.
NDP leadership candidates from 2012 have hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal loans.
Elections Canada can and should investigate whether NDP candidates used these loans to circumvent donation limits. The agency has certainly taken much more drastic actions over much smaller amounts. Elections Canada must apply the law and its discretion under the law equally and fairly to all parties.