Angry in the Great White North

The sixth charge against former Liberal MP Blair Wilson under investigation by Elections Canada focuses on how advertising in the Coast Reporter was accounted for:

The Coast Reporter: Please find enclosed photocopies of all of Mr Wilson's advertisements in The Coast Reporter newspaper. Also enclosed is the original budget for Mr Wilson's campaign newspaper advertisements as prepared by Elizabeth Woods. It shows five ads planned, the first a 1/8th page ad and the rest 1/4 page ads. The costs are $131 for the 1/8th page and $241 for each of the 1.4th page ads. These rates can be checked with The Coast Reporter. On his return Mr Wilson claimed an expense of $1,226.01 for advertising with The Coast Reporter. An examination of the ads placed shows:

1. December 9, 2005 - 1/8th page ad: $131
2. December 16, 2005 - 1/8th page ad: $131
3. December 23, 2005 - 1/4 page ad: $241
4. January 6, 2006 - 1/4 page ad: $241
5. January 13, 2006 - 1/4 page ad: $241
6. January 20, 2006 - Full page ad - If the above amounts are correct Mr Wilson only recorded paying $241.01 for a full pge ad, only $0.01 more than he paid for the quarter page ads. While some size discount can be expected, this is clearly absurd. Mr Wilson reported a quarter page ad on January 20, 2006 but placed a full page instead.

You can study the supporting material related to the Coast Reporter advertising charge against Blair Wilson for yourself.

In the August 2006 email in which the people who collected this evidence consider the advertising budget, it is noted that the full page ad went in "after Blair Wilson took over his own 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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