02/08/06, Bill Curry, Discord dogging Green Party race
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OTTAWA -- The Green Party's summer leadership race is starting to heat up with only two days left for party members to mail in their ballots.
Candidate David Chernushenko is asking the Green Party to investigate whether the race's biggest name, environmentalist Elizabeth May, is bending Elections Canada's campaign financing rules.
Ms. May, the former executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, rejects the accusations, saying her expenses are in line with detailed advice she received directly from Elections Canada. She said she is saddened by the negative turn in the campaign.
"This is definitely a last-minute attempt to cast some doubt on my credibility," she said. "I am who I am and I've never hedged on anything."
Mr. Chernushenko's team has sent a letter to the party asking for an audit of both Ms. May's campaign finances as well as his, to ensure that all rules have been followed before the party's Aug. 24-27 leadership convention in Ottawa.
Though party members can vote at the convention, the vast majority of votes in past Green Party leadership races have come via mail-in ballots, which must be postmarked by Aug. 4.
In the letter to the party, Mr. Chernushenko's team raises questions about a recent eight-city speaking tour by Ms. May, dubbed "Clearing the air on climate change." Ms. May's speeches focused on her concerns regarding the development of the Alberta oil sands. While her speeches did not discuss the Green Party, Ms. May said her candidacy was occasionally mentioned as she was introduced to the audiences.
She says the roughly $15,000 tour was not related to her leadership campaign, and was planned before she announced her candidacy. Mr. Chernushenko's campaign, however, points to several links between the tour and the leadership race, such as the fact that speaking dates for the tour were listed on Ms. May's leadership campaign website under the heading "campaign trail."
Ms. May said a campaign volunteer put the speaking-date information on her campaign website and that she demanded it be removed as soon as she became aware of it.
The Green Party has a spending limit of $50,000 a candidate for the leadership race. Ms. May said she is aiming to keep her costs below $40,000 so that she will still be under the limit if Elections Canada ultimately decides that some of the tour, such as plane tickets, were in fact campaign expenses.
Mr. Chernushenko's team says that only individuals can donate to a leadership campaign. "If some support came from a non-governmental organization, like an environment group or a corporation or a foundation, then that raises issues," Mr. Chernushenko, an Ottawa environmental consultant, said in an interview.
Both sides have received letters from Michèle René de Cotret, Elections Canada's senior legal counsel. Though the letters are essentially the same, both sides say Ms. de Cotret's comments support their view.
"If, during a leadership contest, an event is used, or reasonably perceived to be used, to promote the campaign of the contestant or to oppose the campaign of another, the full event is a leadership campaign expense," states Ms. de Cotret's letter to Ms. May.
In light of the letter, Ms. May said her campaign has decided that one speaking date at which Green Party memberships were sold will be treated as a campaign event.
Candidate David Chernushenko is asking the Green Party to investigate whether the race's biggest name, environmentalist Elizabeth May, is bending Elections Canada's campaign financing rules.
Ms. May, the former executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, rejects the accusations, saying her expenses are in line with detailed advice she received directly from Elections Canada. She said she is saddened by the negative turn in the campaign.
"This is definitely a last-minute attempt to cast some doubt on my credibility," she said. "I am who I am and I've never hedged on anything."
Mr. Chernushenko's team has sent a letter to the party asking for an audit of both Ms. May's campaign finances as well as his, to ensure that all rules have been followed before the party's Aug. 24-27 leadership convention in Ottawa.
Though party members can vote at the convention, the vast majority of votes in past Green Party leadership races have come via mail-in ballots, which must be postmarked by Aug. 4.
In the letter to the party, Mr. Chernushenko's team raises questions about a recent eight-city speaking tour by Ms. May, dubbed "Clearing the air on climate change." Ms. May's speeches focused on her concerns regarding the development of the Alberta oil sands. While her speeches did not discuss the Green Party, Ms. May said her candidacy was occasionally mentioned as she was introduced to the audiences.
She says the roughly $15,000 tour was not related to her leadership campaign, and was planned before she announced her candidacy. Mr. Chernushenko's campaign, however, points to several links between the tour and the leadership race, such as the fact that speaking dates for the tour were listed on Ms. May's leadership campaign website under the heading "campaign trail."
Ms. May said a campaign volunteer put the speaking-date information on her campaign website and that she demanded it be removed as soon as she became aware of it.
The Green Party has a spending limit of $50,000 a candidate for the leadership race. Ms. May said she is aiming to keep her costs below $40,000 so that she will still be under the limit if Elections Canada ultimately decides that some of the tour, such as plane tickets, were in fact campaign expenses.
Mr. Chernushenko's team says that only individuals can donate to a leadership campaign. "If some support came from a non-governmental organization, like an environment group or a corporation or a foundation, then that raises issues," Mr. Chernushenko, an Ottawa environmental consultant, said in an interview.
Both sides have received letters from Michèle René de Cotret, Elections Canada's senior legal counsel. Though the letters are essentially the same, both sides say Ms. de Cotret's comments support their view.
"If, during a leadership contest, an event is used, or reasonably perceived to be used, to promote the campaign of the contestant or to oppose the campaign of another, the full event is a leadership campaign expense," states Ms. de Cotret's letter to Ms. May.
In light of the letter, Ms. May said her campaign has decided that one speaking date at which Green Party memberships were sold will be treated as a campaign event.
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