In an attempt to get ahead of the story, Rocco Rossi and Steve MacKinnon have announced that the Liberal Party will not be accepting donations to the Michael Ignatieff leadership campaign fund as a way of purchasing tickets to a fundraising dinner.  Only donations to the party count.

People who have already donated to the party at their limit are out of luck.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 02:46 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Politicians raise money.  That's fine.  Leadership candidates need money to run for party leaderships.  That's also fine.

But with the recent controversy over incoming Liberal Party president Alfred Apps email to wealthy Liberal donors encouraging them to donate to Michael Ignatieff's campaign fund, a campaign in which he is the only contender, I think it's fair to ask whether Bob Rae really needs to money.

Because Bob Rae is still asking for donations for his leadership campaign that ended back in December.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 09:36 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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As the sole contender in the Liberal Party leadership non-race, it stands to reason that Michael Ignatieff is not going to accrue any expenses.  It matters, because it would then suggest that pleas to donate to his leadership fund constitute a cynical attempt to get around donation limits, since any surplus in the fund will flip to the Liberal Party.

So I looked over the costs of running a leadership race to try and guess what more needs to be spent.

One Liberal tried to suggest the sorts of expenses that would need to be covered, but he just confirmed what Alfred Apps and others are denying, and that is that any donations to the Michael Ignatieff leadership fund are really destined for the Liberal Party.

Really, they need to get their stories straight.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 12:07 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The story of Alfred Apps, the incoming president of the Liberal Party, asking dozens of high-powered and wealthy Liberal supporters to donate twice to the Liberal Party, continues to build up steam.

The media is all over it already.  And now the Commissioner of Elections Canada has been asked to look into the issue.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 03:27 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Recently I wrote about a donation tactic that the Liberals are using to maximize their fundraising.  The tactic appears legal, but the optics are lousy.  Now it seems like the Liberals are scurrying to spin the message.  This is never a good sign.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 06:30 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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In an email that was mistakenly distributed far too widely, we learn of a plan to have Liberal donors donated double the amount legally allowed.  They'll do this by donating to Michael Ignatieff's leadership fund, which is in surplus, and then transferring the surplus to the party.

This is legal, apparently.  I suppose every leadership candidate's leadership campaign funds could be used this way.

But somehow I don't think the legislation was intended to make leadership funds conduits for extra cash, not when everyone involved is told outright that the fund is no longer paying off campaign debts.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 06:36 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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