Riding association refunds mayor’s $600 ticket charged to city
The price of a $600 ticket for City of Kawartha Lakes Mayor Ric McGee to attend a Conservative fundraiser in Toronto last month will be refunded because the municipality was billed for it, the president of the Peterborough Conservative federal riding association said Thursday.
Federal parties are not allowed to accept donations from corporations, Alan Wilson said.
“As a federal association, the Federal Accountability Act bans any donations from corporations or unions for federal parties,” he said.
Proceeds from the private club function, which featured former prime minister Brian Mulroney, went to the association and Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro. About $72,000 was raised.
McGee told QMI Agency earlier this month that he had expensed the ticket price and mileage to the municipality.
“It appeared that it was a Visa number and Ric’s name and his address,” Wilson said, “so the assumption was that it was a private Visa, but we now understand the municipality was being billed for it.
“We cannot accept anything that has any semblance of a corporate donation, so we have refunded it. I made the decision about a week ago, but the refunding hasn’t actually taken place yet because I have to get the card number from our chief financial officer. It will happen probably over the weekend, I would think.”
The violation might have resulted from a misunderstanding of the regulations, Wilson said.
“I think there is a fair amount of confusion when it comes to political figures or corporate figures attending fundraisers, because there is a huge difference between the federal and provincial legislation,” he said.
“Provincially, anybody, anything, can pay for this sort of contribution or fundraising ticket. I would assume that’s where a part of this confusion is.”
Wilson said he made the decision to refund the money immediately after learning how McGee’s ticket was paid for.
“In this case, it was the first time we heard about it, and as soon as we did, my decision was that we couldn’t accept it. I’m not into grey. I prefer black and white when it comes to finances,” he said.
Wilson said some municipalities have a policy of paying for representatives to attend political functions.
“Municipalities, hospital boards, unions, you can put a whole big list together of organizations that attend political functions of every stripe,” he said.
“I think it’s because they want to be there to express their appreciation to politicians, and having good relations with politicians, I imagine, gives them a better chance of receiving grants etc. So I think it’s a relational thing.”