CPC donors made multiple contributions in election years, totaling almost $10,000 over limit

Three Conservative party supporters have separately acknowledged they exceeded Canada Elections Act contribution limits for candidates, nomination contestants and electoral district associations to a single political party—by a combined total of $9,795—when they donated large amounts of money to multiple Conservative candidates and riding associations for the 2008 and 2011 general elections, documents made public by the federal Commissioner of Canada Elections show. The three donors, one in New Brunswick and two in Ontario, avoided prosecution for donating above their individual contribution limits to entities affiliated with one party when they each signed agreements with Elections Commissioner Yves Côté promising to comply with Canada Elections Act limits in the future, and acknowledging they had violated the law. The fact that several candidates and associations had returned the excessive amounts, or paid the amounts to the Receiver General of Canada, helped the party supporters avoid charges in two of the cases. Contributors to political parties and candidates do not have to report their contributions to Elections Canada, and each political party, its candidates for nomination and election, as well as its electoral district associations, submit contribution and expense returns to Elections Canada separately. Contributors only file their records, in the form of receipts, to Revenue Canada if they wish to get income tax deductions that are available for donations to parties, candidates and associations. As part of the “compliance agreement” system under the Canada Elections Act, the three donors were assured acknowledgement of their “non-compliance" with the law did not constitute a guilty plea in the criminal sense and no record of conviction was created as a result of their admissions of responsibility for acts “that could constitute an offence,” copies of each of their agreements state. A summary conviction on a charge of knowingly exceeding contribution limits under the Canada Elections Act carries penalties of a fine up to $5,000 and a jail term up to six months. Two of the compliance agreements were made public and entered in the Canada Gazette in late March, while the other was entered into the Gazette in late December, among 15 compliance agreements Mr. Cote signed in 2015, primarily over prohibited election contributions or failure to report all election spending for the 2011 general election. The 2015 agreements include an acknowledgement by first-time Liberal MP Sven Spengemann (Mississauga-Lakeshore, Ont.), posted on the election commissioner’s web site and entered into the Canada Gazette in August, that he had exceeded the amount he could personally contribute to his own nomination campaign in 2014 by $2,055, over the allowed limit he had of $2,200. Online archives of compliance agreements at the office of the Elections Commissioner show no prior cases since 2001 involving multiple donations to candidates, associations and nomination contestants that exceeded contribution limits, and a spokeswoman for Mr. Côté, Michelle Laliberte, said the commission has no record of prosecutions involving multiple contributions to candidates and electoral districts or associations from a single contributor. Contributions to political parties The Conservative donor who exceeded his 2008 contribution limit of $1,100 by the largest amount, Kenneth Ross Creelman of Fredericton, N.B., contributed a total of $4,672, primarily in the lead-up to the October election that year, to four Conservative candidates and two electoral districts, all in New Brunswick. Mr. Creelman’s contribution limit for donations to candidates, electoral district associations and nomination contestants was $1,100 in total for the entire year, and he contributed $1,100 alone to the Conservative incumbent MP in the electoral district of New Brunswick Southwest, Greg Thompson. Mr. Creelman's multiple contributions led him to exceed his 2008 limit by $3,572. For each year, contributors to federal political entities have separate limits for contributions to parties, leadership contestants and candidates unaffiliated with parties in an election. Among his other contributions to candidates or associations of one party, Mr. Creelman gave $400 to the electoral campaign of Conservative candidate Mike Allen, the incumbent MP in the electoral district of Tobique-Mactaquac, and contributed another $772 to the Conservative party’s electoral district association in Tobique–Mactaquac. Mr. Allen, who had defeated the former Liberal MP for the electoral district, Andy Savoy by about 300 votes in the 2006 federal election, won his 2008 election with 57 per cent of the vote after then Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper called a snap election in an unsuccessful first attempt to take advantage of a divided Liberal party and turn his 2006 minority government into a majority. Conservative supporter Vaughan Minor of Burlington, Ont., another of the three who signed Elections Canada agreements acknowledging they exceeded their donation limits for election year 2008, admitted that he also went over his contribution limit in 2011 while contributing to four Conservative electoral districts in London, Ont., in the lead-up to the May 2 election and afterward. Electoral district associations with all major national parties transfer money to candidate campaigns during election periods, following association fundraising events held prior to the election period to build up war chests. Leading up to the 2008 election , Mr. Minor contributed a total of $3,350 to two Conservative electoral districts and five Conservative candidates in Ontario, including Lisa Raitt, the former labour minister who is now a prospective candidate for the leadership of the Conservative party. In the 2008 election, Ms. Raitt defeated Garth Turner, a former Conservative MP who had left the Conservative party under Mr. Harper and was trying to hang on to his Halton, Ont., riding after crossing the Commons floor to join the Liberals. In total during the 2008 calendar year, Mr. Minor exceeded his $1,100 contribution limit for candidates, electoral district associations and nomination contestants by $2,250. In 2011, Mr. Minor contributed a total of $2,123 to four Conservative electoral district associations, exceeding his 2011 limit for the category by $1,023. Three of the electoral districts were in London, Ont., and Mr. Minor also contributed $923 to the Conservative electoral district association in the Quebec riding of Beauce. The London electoral districts were close battlegrounds in each election from 2006 through 2011. In a 2006 byelection, Liberal Glen Pearson won London North Centre with only 34.8 per cent of the vote, when Green Party Leader Elizabeth May placed second and the Conservative candidate came third. In 2008, when Mr. Pearson hung on to his London West seat with 39 per cent of the vote, Mr. Minor contributed a total of $1,850 to the four London Conservative electoral district associations, and a further $1,000, in two $500 donations, to London North Centre Conservative candidate Paul Van Meerbergen. In 2011, Conservative Susan Truppe won the riding for the Conservatives with 36.9 per cent of the vote over Mr. Pearson's 33.8 per cent. Mr. Minor contributed $250 to Ms. Truppe's electoral district association just prior to the election call and another $100 after the May 2 vote. Peter Munk of Toronto, the third Conservative supporter who signed a compliance agreement with Mr. Côté in December, contributed a total of $2,100 to two Conservative electoral districts and a Conservative candidate in 2008—exceeding his contribution limit for Conservative electoral district associations, candidates and nomination contestants for the year by $1,000. In May, 2008, Mr. Munk contributed $1,000 to the Conservative electoral district in Whitby-Oshawa, once held by former NDP leader Ed Broadbent. Only five days before the October 14 general election, he contributed $550 to Conservative candidate Heather Jewell in the Toronto electoral district of St. Paul’s, where Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, now the minister for indigenous affairs in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.), was re-elected. On Oct. 15, Mr. Munk contributed $550 to the Toronto electoral district of Eglinton-Lawrence, where former finance minister Joe Oliver lost to Liberal Joe Volpe before he won the seat in the 2011 election. Mr. Munk exceeded his contribution limit for candidates, nomination contestants and riding associations of one party by $750 in 2010, when he contributed $1,100 to the Conservative electoral district association in Beauce, Que. in November, when a 2011 election was on the horizon, and $750 to the party’s electoral district association in Eglinton-Lawrence in December. Mr. Munk exceeded his spending limit by $1,200 in 2012, when he again contributed $1,200 to the Beauce, Que. Conservative association and another $1,200 to the party’s association in St. Paul’s. Following a legislated increase in the contribution limits through government amendments to the act and a indexed increase for 2016, the limit is now $1,525. Contributions to political parties are separate, with a ceiling of $1,525 for contributions to each party. "I am now aware of the relevant provisions of the Act." Mr. Munk states in the agreement he signed, following a list of the contributions he acknowledged. Attempts to reach Mr. Minor, Mr. Creelman and Mr. Munk by telephone were unsuccessful. A time-consuming process A spokeswoman for Elections Commissioner Côté told The Hill Times that Elections Canada referred the three cases of excessive contributions to the commissioner in 2013 for investigation. A spokeswoman for Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand said Elections Canada does not comment on specific cases that come under review or are referred to the commissioner for investigation of irregularities. Spokeswoman Melanie Wise said it takes time to review and audit contribution and expense returns from the national political parties, nomination candidates and election candidates, as well as the returns of 348 federal electoral district associations, in part because of different reporting deadlines. “We get the returns from all of the different entities and we go through them and do the regular audit and then afterwards with all of the returns in we do a horizontal audit,” said Ms. Wise. “That would be how it might come up, that we would see there is a person with the same name that seems to have made an over-contribution,” she said. “What we would do is if there are cases where contributors have the same name and address and it seems to be like it might be an over-contribution, we would refer that to the commissioner,” Ms. Wise said. “We do know that there are always situations where it could be two people with the same name, live in the same house, they could have their first name and last name, things aren’t always as they appear, so we make the referral to the commissioner and then they take it from there,” said Ms. Wise.

Read the latest Election 2025 stories

CPC donors made multiple contributions in election years, totaling almost $10,000 over limit

To keep reading, subscribe and become a political insider.

Only $7.76 a week for an annual subscription.

Grits lead in polls for new Canadians’ support, but Tories can still gain traction as loyalties remain up for grabs, say researchers

Key hands behind Pierre Poilievre’s 2025 Conservative campaign

Poilievre needs to ‘bomb the bridge’ of Carney’s credibility to win one of Canada’s ‘most consequential’ elections, say political players

Trump-led U.S. an ‘unreliable partner’ for Canada, says expert group: ‘we’re dealing with an administration that doesn’t believe our country has a right to exist’

Real chance of global recession due to U.S. trade war, say economists

Pharma, tech giants complained of Canada’s drug pricing system, digital service tax to U.S. trade rep

Pharma, tech giants complained of Canada’s drug pricing system, digital service tax to U.S. trade rep

Liberals could pick up five to six seats in Alberta, but NDP’s bleed in votes could also help Conservatives, say strategists

Conservatives target labour vote as NDP support wanes, but union leader says there’s ‘no substance’ behind catchy slogans

Canada needs a national strategy for security, trade, and economy to contend with Trump, say political science experts

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

UN disability rights report on assisted-dying regime deserves a fair hearing

E-commerce is a vital opportunity to diversify markets, but success depends on trust in the digital ecosystem

Renewed resolve: commit to DEI principles to advance health equity

Questions that should be asked at the political leaders’ debates

Day 16: Deadline day for parties to fill their candidate rosters

Senator Plett incorrect about horse exports: Animal Justice

Senator Plett incorrect about horse exports: Animal Justice

News

Get free news updates

Opinion

Submit a guest opinion article

resources

Follow us

Advertise

subscribe

get help

Get free news updates

Submit a guest opinion article

CPC donors made multiple contributions in election years, totaling almost $10,000 over limit

To keep reading, subscribe and become a political insider.

Only $7.76 a week for an annual subscription.

Become a Political Insider

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8