Whoa, holy bat signal! and a warm welcome to Etobicoke Centre Con MP Ted Opitz to Harper's Parade of Perps with Perks for contributing $9,000 to his nomination campaign, thus exceeding his $2,100 personal contribution limit by nearly $7,000. Oh, and failing to file an election expenses claim.
That's Ted there at the back between Nigel Wright and Arthur Hamilton.
A week ago Mr. Opitz was on his feet in the HoC applauding the Cons new Fair Elections Act for having .... wait for it .... don't rush it .... "sharper teeth, a longer reach, and a freer hand".
Now this is ironic because it was the Supreme Court upholding the spirit of the old Canada Elections Act rules - allowing vouching because a citizen's right to vote trumps whatever subsequent paperwork mistakes made by Elections Canada officials might serve to disqualify that vote - that ultimately allowed Mr. Opitz to keep his seat.
Just 26 votes out of 52,000 separated his election win from Liberal incumbent Borys Wrzesnewskyj in 2011. After a recount, an Ontario court overturned the election results due to voting irregularities - including ballots cast by people who did not live in the riding.
Opitz appealed the ruling and another razor-thin vote - a split 4-3 Supreme Court decision - overturned the lower court decision and Opitz kept his seat.
At the time the Supreme Court found both parties blameless.
$6,900 well spent, I guess.
Wednesday Update : According to the Hill Times, Opitz only had one other donor of $50 to his 2008 nomination campaign, aside from his own donation to himself of $9,000. His campaign expenses were $6,696 .
Perps with Perks Virtual Boxed Set
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