TransactionsCassels Brock Secures Key Victory in Conservative Fund Canada v. The Chief Electoral Officer of CanadaPublished: 01/05/2010 By Bill Burden, Arthur L. Hamilton, Robert Kligman, Linda I. Knol, James M. Parks On December 31, 2009, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its decision in Conservative Fund Canada v. The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada. Cassels Brock acted for Conservative Fund Canada, the chief financial agent for the Conservative Party of Canada. In the case, the Fund was successful in persuading the court that a proper interpretation of the Elections Act permitted the Fund to correct its election expense returns for the federal general elections held in 2004 and 2006. The correction of the election expense returns is important, as the corrected amounts that appear on the election expense returns will allow the Fund to repay approximately $600,000 of reimbursement payments which it should not have received from the Chief Electoral Officer in respect of the 2004 and 2006 elections. Prior to the release of the court's decision, the Chief Electoral Officer refused to permit the return of the $600,000 from the Fund. The Chief Electoral Officer instead took the position that political parties could keep the extra amounts they had been reimbursed, even though that view was at the expense of the Canadian taxpayer. This decision has significant implications for the manner by which federally registered political parties budget their expenses for general elections, which are subject to spending limits. The outcome of this case has received extensive coverage in The Globe and Mail and in numerous Canadian newspapers. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP represented Conservative Fund Canada with a team that included Bill Burden (Litigation), Jim Parks (Tax & Trusts), Rob Kligman (Research Partner), Linda Knol (Litigation) and Arthur Hamilton (Litigation). |