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Press Releases and Media Advisories

Media Advisory

Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Appeals Decision to Allow
Correction of Election Expenses Returns

OTTAWA, Friday, January 29, 2010

  • The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Marc Mayrand, will appeal the decision of the Ontario Superior Court in Conservative Fund Canada v. Chief Electoral Officer of Canada.
  • In this decision, the Court allowed a political party to correct election expenses returns it had submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer after the 2004 and 2006 general elections in order to deduct, from the amount of election expenses reported in the returns, an amount of GST that had since been rebated by the Canada Revenue Agency.
  • Elections Canada believes that the Canada Elections Act requires that election expenses be reported to reflect their "commercial value," as defined in the Act. In this decision, the Court invoked the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to allow the correction of the returns. A requirement to report election expenses in accordance with GAAP would mean that the party's reported expenses would no longer reflect commercial value.
  • Justice H. J. Wilton-Siegel issued his reasons for this judgment on December 31, 2009.

Elections Canada is an independent body set up by Parliament.

Information:
Elections Canada Media Relations
1-877-877-9515
or at www.elections.ca