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Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair isn t revealing how much the NDP wasforced to pay back to major Canadian unions after Elections Canadafound the party violated political financing laws. More Related to this Story Convention Elections Canada sides with Tories, orders NDP to cough up unioncash In-and-out case Elections Canada racks up $1.3-million in legal fees fightingTories Foundation NDP hopes Broadbent think-tank will help bolster its gains The elections watchdog said the New Democrats broke the rules afteraccepting an unspecified amount of sponsorship money from largeunions during the NDP s national convention last June. For example, an evening dinner with late leader Jack Layton andNova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter was sponsored by the PublicService Alliance of Canada. Elections Canada noted that the sponsorships constitutedcontributions, and because parties can t accept contributions fromunions, the money was considered ineligible. Accepting money from unions or corporations isn t always aviolation they can pay parties for goods or services, such asadvertising or a sponsorship, as long as there is an actual marketthey are accessing and that they pay an appropriate market value. Paying more than market value equals contributing politically tothe party. The Canada Elections Act says such contributions must be paid backto the donor, or to Elections Canada, which then sends it to thereceiver general. Reporters asked Mr. Mulcair how much the party had paid back to theunions which included the Public Service Alliance of Canada andthe United Steelworkers. He offered no details. Elections Canada is very clear that unlike the Conservatives, werespect Elections Canada, we continue to work with them, and wecontinue to be in conformity with the law, Mr. Mulcair saidWednesday after the NDP s weekly caucus meeting. We continue toobey the law, that s what Elections Canada confirms in theletter. Later, Opposition House Leader Nathan Cullen also said he couldn tspecify how much money was paid back. The details will be madepublic when the NDP files their quarterly financial results withElections Canada sometime in the summer. These are guys who continually play the game out of both sides oftheir mouth, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said. They demandaccountability, but show no accountability themselves. The details of the violations were revealed in a letter sent to theConservative Party of Canada last week. The Tories had lodged aformal complaint with Elections Canada last August. They also helda day of committee hearings on the sponsorships last October. This is the second time in a year the NDP have run afoul of theCanada Elections Act. The Commissioner of Canada Elections had found last fall that theNDP solicited funds on behalf of another entity a no-no underCanadian law. The NDP had taken in donations to commemorate Layton s death to bepassed on to the new Broadbent Institute think tank. It alsopromised to issue tax receipts. Ultimately, it had to return moneyto donors and set up an another system for contributions to berouted to the institute. The Conservatives have also come under the Elections Canadamicroscope. In March, the party paid back Elections Canada $230,198 and droppedan appeal at the Supreme Court. The case involved the funnelling ofnational funds to local ridings that in turn paid for nationaladvertising in the 2006 election a practice that caused theparty to exceed its legal spending limits. The party also settled last November for another $52,000 over aseparate set of regulatory charges related to the so-called inand out scheme. The electoral watchdog has also been probing allegations of votersuppression during the last general election. The Conservativeshave acknowledged some irregularities in one Ontario riding, butthere is no evidence directly linking the party to misleading robo-calls. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as 400 Series Stainless Steel , China Hot Rolled Steel Coils, and more. For more , please visit Stainless Steel Sheets today!
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