Liberal candidate admits he broke election law with overcontribution
Spengemann agrees to repay $2,055 in agreement with Elections Canada
A Liberal candidate has admitted he broke the election law by overcontributing to a nomination campaign in Mississauga-Lakeshore last year.
In a compliance agreement with Commissioner of Canada Elections Yves Côté, Sven Spengemann acknowledges that he kicked in $4,255 to his nomination bid, well above the $2,200 maximum that candidates can legally contribute.
“The excess contribution resulted from my paying out of my personal funds part of the campaign expenses, using my personal credit card as well as cash,” Spengemann admits in the agreement, published Friday in the Canada Gazette.
The agreement is not an admission of guilt but acknowledges the violation and includes an undertaking not to do it again. His nomination campaign must pay the excess $2,055 back to Elections Canada within six months.
In July, The Canadian Press reported that Spengemann was under investigation by Côté’s office for failing to declare expenses. At the time, the former Liberal MP for the riding, Paul Szabo, alleged a deliberate misfiling of expenses and said a mere compliance agreement wouldn’t be sufficient penalty.
“Proven cheaters should never be allowed to seek public office,” Szabo said.
Elections Canada investigator Al Mathews, who led the probe of the 2011 robocalls scandal, told Szabo in an email, “I have traced approximately half a dozen other unreported costs to the campaign,” according to the report from The Canadian Press.
Spengemann’s campaign spent $8,820 according the report filed with Elections Canada, well below the permitted cap of $19,141.
Spengemann is a Harvard Law School graduate and sits on the board of the United Way of Peel Region, his official biography states.
He faced a strong challenge for the nomination from environmental activist Julie Desjardins and won the nod in September by fewer than two dozen votes, according to one report.
He’s now running against Conservative incumbent Stella Ambler, who beat Szabo in 2011. The NDP is running human resources professional Eric Guerbilsky.
Earlier this year, former Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro was convicted and sentenced to one month in jail for overspending on his 2008 election campaign in Peterborough.
It is unclear if Del Mastro was ever offered an opportunity to settle the matter with a compliance agreement. He chose to fight the case and currently is appealing the conviction and sentence.
Cheaters should never be allowed to seek public office. I have traced approximately half a dozen other unreported costs to the campaign.