Tories seek costs from Council of Canadians

Conservatives want $355,907 they spent fighting fraud charge

OTTAWA — The Conservative Party has asked the Council of Canadians to pay the party $355,907, a fraction of the cost incurred by the party in an election-fraud case brought to court by the council.

Last month, Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley ruled that election fraud occurred in the 2011 election, with opposition supporters being misdirected by unknown parties likely making use of the Conservatives’ voter database.

But Mosley found that there was no evidence that the fraud affected the outcome, so he didn’t order elections overturned, as the council had asked.

The council had organized the lawsuit on behalf of voters in six ridings who received calls sending them to the wrong polling stations.

Mosley ordered the council to pay a “modest fixed amount” to the Conservatives for the cost of the hearing, but also ordered the Conservatives to pay costs to the council for motions the party brought in unsuccessful attempts to have the case tossed before it could be heard.

On Friday, Conservative lawyer Arthur Hamilton submitted the party’s bill to the council, seeking $355,907, which he describes as a “fraction of the costs of preparing and filing written submissions and the cost of two lawyers preparing for one week and attending at court.”

The council complained Monday that the figure was exorbitant.

“This is an outrageous amount to request, given that the judge found that voter suppression did occur and that the Conservative Party database was the likely source of the call lists,” said Garry Neill, the executive director of the council, which describes itself as a progressive advocacy group.

The Conservatives had no comment.

The council now has 15 days to prepare a submission arguing for a lower award, likely the $7,000 the organization submitted as a surety.

The Conservatives have five days to respond, after which Mosley will select an amount.

The council and the Conservatives have yet to discuss the amount that the party must pay the organization for costs. Neil said Monday that the organization has raised about $500,000 from supporters to help underwrite the case, but spent about $600,000.

Hamilton’s submission on behalf of the party outlines only some of the costs that the Conservatives incurred in the case, and calculates the lawyers’ fees not based on what they were actually paid but on a lower amount, then reduces the sum by half.

Elections Canada is investigating dirty political calls across Canada.