OTTAWA - Conservatives questioned Stephane Dion's ability to handle the country's finances Monday after Elections Canada released repayment schedules for $1.48 million in candidate loans from the Liberal leadership campaign.
The Liberal leader was the only one of nine candidates Monday who had not finalized his repayment timetable with the federal agency.
Eight other contenders from the 2006 leadership agreed on paydown plans to eradicate their own loans and a further $165,800 in unpaid bills and other claims by 2009.
Ottawa MP Pierre Poilievre not only criticized Dion but jumped on Elections Canada for what he characterized as an overly forgiving timetable that may not even comply with the Canada Elections Act.
Dion had filed a proposed repayment schedule on time but Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand was still considering its details, said an Elections Canada spokesman.
A party spokesman said Dion reported a debt of $560,000 in early June.
Spokesman Daniel Lauzon added he expects the outstanding balance to be lower after the proceeds from subsequent fundraisers are taken into account.
Federal election financing law allows candidates 18 months to submit a schedule for repaying any debt left over from election or leadership campaigns. But Poilievre said the Dec. 31, 2009, deadline Mayrand gave the Liberals to balance their books was excessive.
The Conservative MP said he was not even sure the extension complied with the complicated details of the financing law.
"We're still reviewing whether this is legal," said Poilievre, who added "Elections Canada has been extremely generous with those candidates."
Poilievre added that Dion's failure to reach a repayment arrangement with the federal electoral agency 19 months after his leadership campaign puts into question his ability to manage finances. And he said it places doubt on Dion's ability to garner broad support from ordinary Canadians under lower political contribution caps introduced by the Tories.
"The fact that Stephane Dion cannot commit to paying off his debts promptly shows that he is a weak leader who can't be trusted with the nation's finances," Poilievre told The Canadian Press.
He challenged Dion to "commit to Canadians that he will pay off all of his debts before the next election."
"If Mr. Dion goes into the next election with these debts hanging over his head, then Canadians will wonder about his fiscal competence."
Two of the leadership candidates, MPs Bob Rae and Carolyn Bennett, earlier repaid their campaign loans and other claims.
Toronto MP Ken Dryden owes the most among the eight candidates whose payment schedules were released Monday by Elections Canada.
Dryden owes $300,000, but all of it, along with $53,678 in unpaid claims, he owes to himself through personal loans to his campaign.
Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff has a debt of only $187,000. He and Gerard Kennedy both listed Magna International, owned by the father of Liberal MP Belinda Stronach, as a lender to their campaigns. Each of them still owes Magna $50,000.
NDP MP Pat Martin also criticized the schedules for paying off the debts.
"It makes you wonder why leadership races within a political party are subject to election financing rules," he said. "When is a loan not a loan? When it's not paid back."
If candidates fail to arrange repayment schedules within 18 months, the loans are considered financial contributions, and some of them would violate even the previous limits for donations.
