Summary
The issue dominated question period on Tuesday, with the Tory Opposition claiming Elections Manitoba treated the NDP with kid gloves and shied away from pressing charges under the elections finance act. The Tories say letters from senior NDP officials and from [David Asselstine] suggest the NDP pressured Elections Manitoba to fire Asselstine and impeded his audit.
What happened years ago: After the NDP won the 1999 provincial election, Elections Manitoba questioned the party's campaign finance paperwork. In 13 campaign returns, the NDP's central campaign improperly counted union workers who were seconded to the election campaign as "expenses" instead of donations in kind. The NDP received more than $76,000 in rebates for those union workers, which the party payed back in 2003 after years of haggling. Except maybe for a handful of political insiders, the public was totally unaware of the matter until a Free Press story last summer.What happened Monday: At a committee meeting, the Tories table two leaked letters. One was from the NDP to Elections Manitoba questioning the impartiality of forensic auditor David Asslestine, then investigating the 1999 returns. The other was from Asselstine, who said the NDP was impeding his review. Asselstine's letter makes it clear he has parted ways with Elections Manitoba.See the full content of this document
Extract
Auditor Says '03 Vote Might Have Changed
Public didn't know about NDP finance irregularities
The forensic auditor hired to look into NDP campaign finance irregularities believed Manitobans might not have re-elected Premier Gary Doer in 2003 had they known h...See the full content of this document
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