Compliance Agreements

COMMISSIONER OF CANADA ELECTIONS

CANADA ELECTIONS ACT

Compliance agreement

This notice is published by the Commissioner of Canada Elections, pursuant to section 521 of the Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000, c. 9.

On June 27, 2008, the Commissioner of Canada Elections entered into a compliance agreement with Blair Wilson, who was a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2006 federal general election in the electoral district of West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country (hereinafter referred to as the Contracting Party), of the city of West Vancouver, Province of British Columbia, pursuant to section 517 of the Canada Elections Act.

The Contracting Party has acknowledged acts that constituted a failure to comply with section 83 of the Canada Elections Act, which requires a candidate to appoint an official agent and auditor before accepting a contribution or incurring an electoral campaign expense, the contravention of which is an offence under subsection 486(1) of the Act. Pursuant to section 82, the requirement under section 83 may apply before a candidate's nomination has been confirmed by the returning officer.

The Contracting Party acknowledged that: he did not appoint an official agent at the time he first incurred electoral campaign expenses prior to November 29, 2005; that the first person who acted as official agent was appointed on November 29, 2005, but left the campaign on December 8, 2005; that this official agent opened a bank account but did not administer financial transactions in relation to the campaign other than in relation to insurance premiums; and that another person was appointed as official agent on or before December 20, 2005.

The Contracting Party also acknowledged an act that constituted a failure to comply with subsection 438(2) of the Canada Elections Act, which prohibits a person other than the official agent from accepting contributions to the candidate's electoral campaign, the contravention of which is an offence under subsection 497(3) of the Act.

The Contracting Party acknowledged that he accepted the offer of a non-monetary contribution of 144 printed umbrellas from TAG Products International (TAG Umbrellas); that his second official agent was not made aware of this contribution; and that the commercial value of this contribution, based on the value assigned by TAG to this contribution as discontinued stock, is believed to be approximately $711.

The Contracting Party acknowledged that this contribution did not appear as either a non-monetary contribution or an election expense in the electoral campaign return for his campaign that was filed by his official agent with Elections Canada.

The Contracting Party also acknowledged acts that constituted a failure to comply with subsection 438(4) of the Canada Elections Act, which prohibits a person or entity, other than the official agent of a candidate, from paying expenses in relation to the candidate's campaign, except for petty expenses and the candidate's personal expenses, contravention of which is an offence under subsection 497(3) of the Act.

The Contracting Party acknowledged that he paid for printing services for election advertising in the approximate amount of $9,000, including brochures, campaign business cards and Christmas cards, all of which promoted his candidacy and which were supplied to his electoral campaign by DPI Digital People Inc.

The Contracting Party acknowledged that neither of his official agents participated in payment of transactions involving DPI Digital People Inc., and that no expense for printing services provided by DPI Digital People Inc. appeared in the electoral campaign return for his campaign that was filed by his official agent with Elections Canada.

The Contracting Party acknowledged and accepted responsibility for these acts.

Prior to the conclusion of the agreement, the Commissioner of Canada Elections took into consideration that:

• The matters that are the subject of this compliance agreement were contained in an anonymous complaint, certain other parts of which the Commissioner, after review and examination, considered unfounded or insufficiently substantiated;

• The Contracting Party acknowledged and regretted the effect that these acts had on the ability of each of his official agents to effectively exercise the obligations of an official agent under the Canada Elections Act; and that

• The Contracting Party consented to a notation of the existence of this compliance agreement being made on the Elections Canada audit file in relation to his electoral campaign return.

   

July 9, 2008

William H. Corbett
Commissioner of Canada Elections