Information & Ethics committee  Indeed, and that's why I chose or I decided to deny the claims as filed.

Information & Ethics committee  It's not up to me to comment on or judge that.

Information & Ethics committee  As I explained at the very start of my presentation, it is up to the political parties to choose the best ways to promote their ideas, their vision and their values. The way they do that is not the responsibility of Elections Canada. However, the act places limits on the manner i

Information & Ethics committee  It could have had an impact, but no factor is decisive in itself. You have to consider all factors as a whole.

Information & Ethics committee  No, I mentioned the five factors a little earlier in my presentation. In light of those five factors, I had no basis for believing that the expenses as claimed had been incurred. My next step was to see whether other considerations could lead me to reduce the impact of the five f

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. It's not truly a report, but barely a sheet indicating how we went about it and why we believed there was.... There's no reason to believe there was a leak from Elections Canada.

Information & Ethics committee  You mean a formal report or a written report? No.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, I will.

Information & Ethics committee  I didn't make any statement to that effect. As I mentioned earlier, I made two decisions with respect to those transactions. Here's the first. Seeing that the information in support of the transactions was inadequate to show that they had actually been incurred by the candidates

Information & Ethics committee  I am bound by the rigours and requirements of the act. I must be sure, before drawing any conclusion, that I have all the evidence enabling me to draw that conclusion.

Information & Ethics committee  That is correct.

Information & Ethics committee  The referral had taken place before. This may be seen as a technical point, but with regard to the notion of distinguishing between political entities, the procedure before the Federal Court is on behalf of two official agents. There are two agents seeking a review.

Information & Ethics committee  My point is that the court proceedings had been launched by agents of candidates, not necessarily the party.

Information & Ethics committee  I need to point out that Elections Canada doesn't set the rules. It acts as a referee, but the rules are set by the legislation. That's the first point. As I mentioned in my presentation, we do produce all sorts of documents and manuals to assist candidates and agents in meeting

Information & Ethics committee  Again, this is a matter before the Federal Court, and I want to refrain from arguing a case here today. I hope you will understand. These matters have been raised before the Federal Court, and I'm sure counsel for both parties will argue strongly about these points before the jud