Why was a Conservative MP from Niagara West Glanbrook sending a ten percenter into a Toronto Riding after the writ was dropped? How many other Conservative MPs are doing this?
Since the last in and out scandal wasn't resolved prior to PM Harper's illegal election call, how are we to know what the Conservatives are doing? Are they still applying the same tactics as the last election?
Here's the article from the Niagara West News:
MP accused of breaking rules on mail-outs
Posted By TOM WILKINSON
Posted 22 hours ago
MP Dean Allison has broken the rules on constituency mail-outs in three areas, giving Conservatives an unfair advantage, the Liberal candidate says.
MPs are allowed to send brochures out at taxpayers’ expense to 10 per cent of their riding, or any other riding.
Liberal candidate Heather Carter says the mailout is intended to inform the public about what the MP is doing.
On Monday, Carter sent the West Niagara News a copy of a brochure received in Toronto on September 29 by a resident there.
Carter says mail-outs, known as ten percenters, are supposed to be stopped once an election is called.
“It’s completely illegal to do this,” Carter told West Niagara News on Monday. “This is taxpayers’ money being spent to promote Stephen Harper.”
Carter says she tried to ask Allison about the mailout at a debate on the weekend, but he refused to answer questions about it.
She said it costs taxpayers $4,700 for Allison to mail out 2,000 copies of the ten percenters.
Carter wants to know why the mail-outs were delivered four weeks after the writ was dropped. The rules say that if the mailout is in the process of being delivered, that’s okay, but Carter says that gives them eight days after the writ was dropped. She also said that the rules require the return address to be that of the MP, and the return address of this mailout was the Conservative Research Group, located in Ottawa.
“The Liberals are creating a tempest in a teapot,” said Andrew Bienhaus, Dean Allison’s campaign manager.
“All parties in Parliament make use of mailings to ridings held by another political party. This is particularly true of MP Stephane Dion and MP Jack Layton, who have even gone so far as to use franked mail (no-postage required FIRST CLASS addressed envelopes -- at the taxpayers’expense),” he said.
2 comments:
House of Commons civil servants do the actual mailing. If there has been no writ dropped by the GG, it can be sent out.
If the writ is dropped two days later and a 10%er arrives after that - it is legal.
No foul here boys and girls.
What part of the delivery on the 29th of Sept. didn't you read? That is 22 days after the writ was dropped. Now, I know the post office is slow, but it ain't that slow for a 35 km. trip.
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