Conservatives bypassing election rules with pre-writ blitz of taxpayer-funded campaign literature

WINNIPEG - A nation-wide Conservative blitz of taxpayer-funded campaign literature in the weeks before a general election is an attempt to bypass electoral spending limits at public expense, Liberal Member of Parliament Mark Holland said today.

"Conservatives are abusing their House of Commons printing and mailing privileges because they know an election is coming," said Mr. Holland, MP for Ajax-Pickering, Ontario. "Now even some Conservatives are speaking out and saying this is wrong."

Mr. Holland pointed to comments made yesterday by retiring Red Deer Conservative MP Bob Mills, who said he doesn't agree with the mailings. Mr. Holland also noted that an Angus Reid poll released Monday showed half of Canadians polled believe a recent Conservative mailing was a violation of House of Commons rules because it is "in fact campaign material."

"I was especially struck that 36 per cent of people identifying themselves as Conservatives told the pollster the flyer is an abuse," said Mr. Holland. "Based on the calls to my office, I think this strategy is backfiring on Stephen Harper."

MPs are allowed to send bulletins called "householders" four times a year to their own constituents. Additionally, they can mail flyers called "ten percenters" within their ridings or elsewhere in Canada. Ten percenters may be sent as often as once a day, but the quantity that may be printed is limited to 10 per cent of the households in the sending MP's constituency.

Mr. Holland recently filed a formal complaint with House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken about a campaign leaflet sent to his riding by six Conservative MPs. The complaint was accompanied by a letter from the nonpartisan Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel which expressed a legal opinion that this Conservative mailing was "electoral" and therefore illegal.

"They are abusing taxpayer-funded House of Commons resources for electoral purposes, and they are doing this pre-writ to bypass Elections Canada spending limits - just like they did with the in-and-out scam," said Mr. Holland. "This is a party that believes in one rule for themselves and another rule for everyone else. The Conservative Party should repay Canadian taxpayers for all mailing and printing costs of these campaign brochures."