Angry in the Great White North

Review the complaint against Blair Wilson as delivered to Elections Canada on October 24, 2007.

There are eight distinct charges laid -- two regarding offices rented for the purposes of running an election campaign, one regarding how charges for printing business cards and brochures were handled, one about charges to be paid to Canada Post for a mass mailing, one about the cost of unbrellas purchased as promotional items, and three regarding charges for newspaper ads.

In each of these cases, the argument is made that the expenses incurred for these items or services were not properly accounted for to Elections Canada. It matters because there are limits to spending in an election, and when expenses are unaccounted for, it is impossible to tell if the limits were exceeded.

The complaint concludes with this point:

The election result was very close and had Mr Wilson actually only spent what he was allowed to he may well have lost. In the interest of a fair and accountable democratic election process Mr Wilson's campaign must be investigated.

Perhaps it is to aid the investigation that the complainants included an extra sheet that informs the reader that the man who ran Blair Wilson's election effort, Guillio Vilas, works in the Ottawa in Blair Wilson's House of Commons Office.

One more thing of note. The complaint does not request that Elections Canada just investigate these eight specific allegations. Instead, the complaint says that these eight alleged violations establish a "pattern of deception", and that Elections Canada must expand the investigation beyond these eight specifics (assuming the violations are established to have happened) to investigate the entire campaign.

The Charges Against Blair Wilson:

1. The Charges (The letter of complaint)
2. The Cowrie Street Office (The Cowrie Street evidence)
3. The Marine Drive Office (The Marine Drive evidence)
4. Printing (The Printing evidence)
5. Canada Post (The Canada Post evidence)
6. The Umbrellas (The Umbrellas evidence)
7. The Coast Reporter (The Coast Reporter evidence)
8. The Whistler Question (The Whistler Question evidence)
9. Jamey Kramer (The Jamey Kramer evidence)
10. Conclusion

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