Cons On The Job

Seems our crooked friends in New Canada's New Government are facing new questions about their slippery financial practices during the last election. Election polling costs have come under question by NDP MP Pat Martin. Martin alleges that the Cons were playing a similar scam to the in'n'out scandal to shift money back and forth between the national and select local campaigns to finance polling for he party. Marting is asking Elections Canada to expand its investigation into the shady dealings of the transparent and accountable bunch.

Winnipeg MP Pat Martin said Monday that the strategy to have 51 candidates pay for polling - only to be reimbursed later for those expenses by the central Tory party - appears similar to the so-called in-and-out scheme the Conservatives used to funnel advertising expenses through local ridings.

"Laundering federal campaign spending through individual campaigns in order to exceed the party's spending limits is cheating, plain and simple, and there should be severe consequences for any political party found guilty of such a fraudulent practice," Martin says in a letter to chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand.

"It compounds the offence if the local candidates then claim the rebate on these false expenses."

Of course, our friendly neighbourhood Cons are claiming that they did nothing wrong and besides, even if they did commit electoral fraud, well, everyone else does it too... adscamadscamadscam. Clinton?

Martin acknowledged that other parties sometimes pay for polling done in ridings. But he said there are several things that make him suspicious of the way the Tories did it.

For one, the amount of money candidates claimed for polling expenses - as much as $20,000 - seems too high for a poll conducted in one riding. Martin said he consulted a polling firm and was told that a 20-question survey of 400 people in one riding would cost about $4,000.

"I think they're misrepresenting the value of the polling," Martin said in an interview.

Moreover, Martin questioned why many of the transactions occurred months after the Jan. 23, 2006, election.

For instance, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's financial return shows that Flaherty's campaign paid the party $15,000 on April 1, 2006 for polling. On May 25, the party transferred $15,000 to Flaherty.

I'll be interested to see if these allegations gain traction if for no better reason than to see Flaherty squirm.