In a letter to Canada’s interim Elections Commissioner on Thursday, Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden asked the office to investigate whether the federal party may have benefited from alleged financial crimes by the Brown campaign after the party expelled him on Tuesday. “There are serious questions, given the nature of the Conservative Party’s leadership rules and party subscriptions, as to whether the party itself may have benefited from the alleged illegal actions of the leadership contestant,” van Koeverden wrote in the letter, the July. 7.
Read more: Patrick Brown has been ruled out of the Conservative leadership race
He suggested that such alleged “benefit” could be in the form of a “cash windfall” to the party from membership fees sold by the Brown campaign or leadership fees paid to the party, as well as any “in-kind donations” with the form of work or services that “advanced the political interests of the Conservative Party”. Story continues below ad “Given these potential illegitimate benefits accruing to the Conservative Party, any investigation should not be limited to an individual leadership contender, but should follow the money if there was a potential benefit to the Party as a whole,” he wrote. A spokesperson for the office confirmed receipt of the letter to Global News. I wrote a letter to the Canadian Elections Commissioner @cef_cce asking for an immediate, independent investigation into allegations of possible financial crimes in the current CCP leadership race that could benefit the Conservative Party of Canada. My letter is here: pic.twitter.com/gnOHktYLbC — Adam van Koeverden (@vankayak) July 7, 2022 The Office of the Electoral Commissioner of Canada is separate from Elections Canada. Trending Stories
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Elections Canada is the organization that organizes and conducts Canada’s federal elections, while the Commissioner of Canada Elections is the official whose job it is to specifically ensure compliance with the Canada Elections Act, which is the legislation that governs behavior and finances during elections. Story continues below ad 6:46 Patrick Brown has been dropped from the Conservative leadership race Patrick Brown has been dropped from the Conservative leadership race Brown was ruled out of the Conservative leadership race on the evening of July 5. In a statement announcing the disqualification, Ian Brodie, chairman of the Leadership Elections Organizing Committee (LEOC), said the party became aware in recent weeks of what he called “serious allegations” that the Brown campaign was violating “Canada’s financial provisions Law on elections”. Brody said the Brown campaign was not satisfied with the commission’s response when asked about the allegations and that the party would share the information with election authorities. A spokesman for Canada’s Electoral Commissioner’s office confirmed earlier Thursday that it had received information about the allegations and was reviewing them to determine whether they warrant an investigation. Brown calls the issue a “fantasy claim.” Story continues below ad His campaign said he was not given enough information about the allegation to properly respond, and Brown has hired criminal defense attorney Marie Henein of Henein Hutchison LLP as he tries to challenge the disqualification. However, Conservative leadership candidates have agreed to abide by the rules set by the party when registering to run, including section 3.1.110 of the Conservative Party of Canada 2022 Leadership Election rules which states: “all Decisions of the LEOC are final and not subject to internal appeal or judicial review.” – with files from Global News’ Marc-Andre Cossette and Abigail Bimman. © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
