The Commissioner of Canada Elections' office says it has received and is reviewing information related to the allegations raised by the Conservative Party of Canada that now-disqualified leadership contender Patrick Brown's campaign violated federal election financing rules.
"Our office reviews every complaint it receives, regardless of its source, to determine whether or not the allegations fall within the scope of its mandate," said commissioner spokesperson Jacinthe Dumont in an email to Â鶹´«Ã½.
Late Tuesday night, the Conservative Party of Canada's Leadership Organizing Committee it had decided—following a split vote—to disqualify Brown from the race because it had been made aware of "serious allegations of wrongdoing by the Patrick Brown campaign that appear to violate the financial provisions of the Canada Elections Act."
The party said while it regrets having to remove Brown from the race, his campaign's response to the allegations did not adequately satisfy their concerns. In making the bombshell announcement, LEOC Chair Ian Brodie indicated the information they had acquired over recent weeks looking into the claims would be passed along to Elections Canada.
On Wednesday, in a series of media interviews, including with Â鶹´«Ã½, Brown denied any wrongdoing. Brown said the party had not adequately provided him enough information about the "phantom" allegations, but indicated his campaign was told one complaint had to do with someone being paid by a corporation to work on getting Brown, the current mayor of Brampton, elected to the federal leadership position.
Brown also cast doubt on the integrity of the race, suggesting supporters of one of his opponents, Pierre Poilievre, were the ones pushing for his ouster. However, later Wednesday, Conservative Party President Rob Batherson said the allegations did not come from anyone affiliated with any other campaign.
"The allegations came actually from within Mr. Brown's camp," he said.
Batherson also confirmed the party has been in communications with federal elections authorities about the allegations.
"They have confirmed a process by which we can provide all the information including the source of the information, and it will now be up to Elections Canada to make a determination as to how they proceed to interview the sources of the allegations," Batherson said.
"My understanding is that there have been one or two investigators assigned to the file. I don't know the status of all of the information being transferred over, but we are cooperating fully with Elections Canada to make sure that they have all the information that they need about these serious allegations to investigate."
As the specific independent officer responsible for ensuring compliance with and enforcement of the Canada Elections Act, it will now be on interim commissioner Marc Chenier to begin reviewing the allegations. Caroline Simard, was recently appointed as the new commissioner, replacing Yves Cote after a decade in the role.
Citing confidentiality, the commissioner's office said it was not able to provide any details as to the contents of the information it has received.
"The Commissioner of Canada Elections takes all complaints seriously and, where appropriate, conducts a thorough investigation. The duration of an investigation can vary greatly depending on the nature and complexity of the file," Dumont said.
"It is only at the conclusion of a review or investigation – and only in cases where formal compliance or enforcement action is taken – that limited information is made available to the public.
On Thursday afternoon, Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden published a letter he has sent to the interim commissioner, requesting "an immediate, independent investigation into allegations of potential financial crimes in the current Conservative leadership race that could have benefitted the Conservative Party of Canada."
In the letter, van Koeverden said he wants the commissioner to look into whether the party itself could have in some way gained from the alleged wrongdoing.
“This benefit may take the form of a monetary windfall for the party either from membership fees sold by the contestant or from leadership dues paid to the party by the contestant. The benefit to the party could also possibly take the form of donations in kind - labour or services provided that ultimately furthered the political interests of the Conservative Party but paid for by third-party entities,"
"Any investigation must not be limited to an individual leadership contestant but must follow the money if there was potential benefit to the party as a whole… I’m requesting that these matters be thoroughly and independently examined."
Meanwhile, Brown is attempting to appeal the party's decision to disqualify him. While the party has indicated its rules don't provide for an appeal and the decision to disqualify him is final, Brown's counsel Henein Hutchison LLP giving notice of an intent to challenge the "Kafkaesque process," and to ask for a "litigation hold" on all relevant documents.
On Thursday, Batherson told Â鶹´«Ã½ that the party is taking the requests from Brown's representation seriously, but said the federal political organization is confident in its legal position.
