In a letter sent to the party on Tuesday, received by Global News, a Poilievre campaign lawyer suggested that the use of prepaid credit cards to buy subscriptions violates party rules.
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And if the party refuses to ban them – and cancel any subscriptions they have bought with them since February 2 – the Poilievre campaign has hinted that it will see them in court. “As we have repeatedly explained, our candidate is not afraid of losing a fair election,” wrote the letter, sent by Bennett Jones’s co-founder Robert Steely. “On the contrary, our candidate is concerned that leadership can be won by a candidate who has openly acknowledged the deception and does not seem to be limited by integrity and rules in pursuing political office.” The story goes on under the ad The Poilievre campaign did not provide evidence of alleged fraud, nor did Staley’s letter accuse any rival campaign of buying members – and eligible voters – of the September leadership vote. But the letter quoted candidate Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton and former Ontario PC leader, as acknowledging that “everyone knows” that candidates are buying subscriptions for their supporters and likening the practice to “jayperpat”.
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Patrick Brown has described the illegal purchase of subscriptions for individuals in a political race as normal as jaywalking. “It’s not normal, it’s serious and it’s illegal,” wrote Anthony Koch, a spokesman for the Poilievre campaign. “To prevent fraud, we asked LEOC to enforce CPC member regulations.” In response, Brown’s campaign showed a compliance agreement signed by Poilievre with Canada’s 2017 Election Commissioner after he wore a Conservative T-shirt during a funding announcement while serving as cabinet minister. Trending Stories
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The commissioner found that Poilievre’s intention to wear CPC clothing was to improperly link the party to government payments to his parents, and Poilievre admitted that he had to wear a suit. “How can Pierre Poilievre ever hold Justin Trudeau accountable when he uses the same immoral book that Trudeau does?” Wrote Jeff Silverstein, a Brown campaign spokesman, in an email to Global News. The story goes on under the ad “Our campaign will continue to abide by all the rules set by the Conservative Party and the Canadian Election. And we will win. “ A source close to Brown, who agreed to talk about internal campaign issues on condition of anonymity, told Global Tuesday that they were waiting for the offensive line, given previous allegations against Brown of membership irregularities. The source said that he actively discouraged the organizers from registering new members using prepaid cards.
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Prepaid credit cards are a timeless issue in Conservative leadership struggles. They were allowed in previous races, despite concerns that organizers might use them to register eligible leadership voters without being asked to pay the $ 15 fee using a personal check or credit card – and thus be easily verified by the party. In the 2017 leadership race, champion Kevin O’Leary accused an anonymous rival camp – widely believed to be Maxime Bernier, later supported by O’Leary – of using the cards to register fake members. The party later collected 1,351 names from its list of members following an internal investigation. The party’s executive director, Wayne Benson, sent a note to all Conservative leadership campaigns on Monday that the party would continue to accept prepaid cards but would monitor them closely. The story goes on under the ad “We are working closely with our service provider, examining all the details of the transaction, to assist in our fraud prevention business,” Benson wrote in a letter to Global News. “Subscriptions purchased, either by personal or prepaid credit card, that do not comply with our (rules) will not be allowed.” However, the Poilievre campaign wrote on Tuesday that the note suggested that “no precautionary measures be taken” by the party’s Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) to prevent the use of prepaid credit cards for subscription purchases.
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The Poilievre camp demanded that all subscriptions purchased with prepaid cards be canceled from 2 February and that all subscriptions be required to be purchased either by personal check or by personal credit card. If the party’s payment processor cannot meet these requirements, the Poilievre campaign has recommended finding a new one. “If there is no acceptable response by the close of work on April 14, 2022, our campaign will take the appropriate steps to require the party to comply with the Membership Rules,” the letter said. © 2022 Global News, part of Corus Entertainment Inc.
