Alleged wrongdoing by now-former Conservative leadership candidate Patrick Brown may have “benefited” the party and warrants an investigation, a Liberal MP from the federal election watchdog insists.
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 reaped any benefits from alleged financial crimes by Brown’s campaign when the party disqualified him on Tuesday.
“There are serious questions, given the nature of the Conservative Party’s leadership rules and the party’s membership fees, whether the party itself may have benefited from the leadership candidate’s alleged illegal actions,” van Koeverden wrote in the July 7 letter.
Read more: Patrick Brown disqualified from 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 Brown’s campaign or leadership fees paid to the party, as well as any “in-kind donations” under the form of work or services which “advance the political interests of the Conservative Party”.
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“Given these potential illicit benefits accruing to the Conservative Party, any investigation should not be limited to an individual leadership candidate, but should follow the money if there is potential benefit to the party as a whole,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for the office confirmed receipt of the letter to Global News.
I have written to the Canadian Electoral Commissioner @cef_cce asking for an immediate, independent investigation into allegations of potential financial wrongdoing in the ongoing CPC 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 Commissioner of Elections Canada is separate from Elections Canada.
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Elections Canada is the agency that organizes and administers federal elections in Canada, while the Commissioner of Elections Canada is the official whose job is specifically to ensure compliance with the Canada Elections Act, which is the legislation governing the conduct and finances of elections .
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6:46 Patrick Brown disqualified from Conservative leadership race Patrick Brown disqualified from Conservative leadership race
Brown was disqualified from the Conservative leadership race on the evening of 5 July.
In a statement announcing the disqualification, Ian Brodie, chairman of the party’s Leadership Elections Organizing Committee (LEOC), said the party had become aware in recent weeks of what he called “serious allegations” that Brown’s campaign had breached “finance regulations of the Canada Elections Act.”
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 has received information related to the allegations and is reviewing it to determine whether it warrants an investigation.
Brown calls the issue a “phantom accusation.”
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His campaign said it had not received 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 Party leadership candidates agreed to abide by the rules set by the party when they registered to run, including section 3.1.110 of the Conservative Party of Canada’s 2022 leadership election rules, which states: “all LEOC decisions are final and not subject to internal appeal or judicial review.’
— with files from Global News’ Marc-Andre Cosset and Abigail Beaman.
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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