Liberals, PQ may have to pay back six years’ worth of illegal donations

The Quebec Liberal Party might have to repay more than a halfmillion dollars as reimbursement for numerous illegal donations received between 2006 and 2011. For the same period, the Parti Québécois may also have to repay illegal donations, although in its case the sum will be up to $250,000.

This is what may result from the approach taken by the Chief Electoral Officer, which sent out a pre notice of claim to the Liberals and the PQ on July 19, under the power of a new law.

Nobody at the offices of the Chief Electoral Officer, the Liberals or the PQ wanted to reveal the exact total of the alleged illegal contributions. In a statement released this week, however, the president of the Liberal party, Gilbert Grimard, indicated that following the advice received by his party, he placed more than $500,000 in trust for the contributions referred by the Chief Electoral Officer, which will be analyzed for whether or not they were in accordance with electoral law.

According to Liberal spokesperson Arnaud Champalbert, this amount should cover the full sum that will eventually be claimed.

Verifying all of the past financial contributions, spread over the past six years, constitutes “a monk’s work” in the coming days for the party, Champalbert said in a phone interview.

The PQ has estimated that the amount to be reimbursed, if applicable, would be less than $250,000 — “Less than half of the Liberal party,” noted party spokesperson Yanick Grégoire.

The party has always been committed to reimbursing any money that it received illegally, Grégoire said. Spokesperson for the Chief Electoral Officer, Alexandra Reny, said for their part, the notices had been sent because the agency believed it had sufficient proof to initiate the claims process.

The Chief Election Officer gives 15 days for parties to state their position. After that, if the assembled evidence is not challenged, they will receive a formal notice of claim and must pay the due amount. The officer must then make details of the charges public.

At this stage, the tight-lipped Chief Electoral Officer refused to say if the illegal contributions in question were made by nominees or by another strategy.