Nearly all Manitoba Tory MPs broke HoC rules with partisan mailouts

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This article was published 29/06/2015 (3783 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — All but one Conservative MP from Manitoba broke House of Commons rules in 2013 when they sent partisan flyers to voters in a non-Conservative riding and have been asked to reimburse the government for the cost.

Ten of the 11 Manitoba Conservative MPs in office at the time signed a letter that was mailed to thousands of homes in Winnipeg Centre, which is held by NDP MP Pat Martin.

The letter sang the praises of Conservative economic policies and criticized the NDP and the Liberals.

It triggered a number of complaints from irate constituents who wanted to know how an MP from another riding had their names and addresses, and why taxpayers were funding partisan advertising.

The NDP complained to the House of Commons about the flyer last year, arguing it and several other examples were similar to the flyers sent by 23 NDP MPs to non-NDP ridings, which the board of internal economy ruled were against the rules. The NDP was ordered to repay $1.17 million for their cost.

In June, the board determined the Manitoba flyer was one of five that were “not fully in compliance with the members bylaw or board policies due to the volume of the mailings sent outside the members’ constituencies and/or the content of the mailings.”

The minutes from the committee’s June 9 meeting also says the MPs involved had already agreed to reimburse the receiver general for the “requested amounts.”

However the board, which oversees administration of the House of Commons, is a secretive committee that meets behind closed doors and rarely divulges many details of its operations. A spokeswoman for House Speaker Andrew Scheer, who chairs the committee, said she could not say anything about which MPs have repaid, the amounts or what is still owing.

A spokeswoman for John Duncan, the Conservative whip who acts as a spokesman for the committee, would not comment, either.

Both Duncan’s office and a spokeswoman for regional minister Shelly Glover, who is one of the 10 MPs involved, issued almost identical statements demanding the NDP “show some respect for the taxpayers of Canada and immediately pay back the $2.7 million they owe for use of their satellite offices outside Ottawa.”

The satellite office issue had the NDP combining office budgets for several Quebec and Toronto MPs to establish regional constituency offices instead of individual ones. The NDP argues this was serving constituents, but the Conservatives and Liberals say it violated House rules and the offices were too partisan in nature.

The board ordered the NDP to repay $2.7 million. The NDP is fighting both that and the $1.17 repayment for the flyers in court.

Kildonan-St. Paul MP Joy Smith told the Free Press in an emailed statement Monday she was asked by a fellow Manitoba caucus mate to participate in the letter campaign and “was not aware that the mailing would not be in accordance with the members bylaw.”

At the beginning of June, she sent a cheque for $386.29 to repay what she said was her prorated share of the group mailing.

Selkirk-Interlake MP James Bezan, who paid back $386.29, said the MPs believed they were following the rules when the letter was sent and that the rules have changed. He said the problem was not with the content of the letters but how many were sent. He said the amount they were asked to pay back was only for the number of letters sent over their limit.

“There was nothing wrong with the content,” he said.

Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette MP Bob Sopuck told the Hill Times he repaid $638.15.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

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It isn’t clear if former MPs Vic Toews or Merv Tweed have been asked to repay money. They both left their seats in 2013.

Martin said the repayments come nowhere close to the cost of the flyers.

“They carpet bombed my riding with a four-sided personalized letter of partisan political propaganda. That must cost $2 per to produce and post. There’s over 45,000 households in my riding, so $90,000 for one mailing.”

Martin said the Conservatives “break the rules until they’re caught, then quietly pay back a fraction of it. Meanwhile, they’ve enjoyed the benefit of their cheating.”

He said without stronger punishments, the penalties are just a cost of getting to do what you want.