Former MP Dryden has no plans to raise money for 2006 campaign debt he owes himself
Ken Dryden — the former Toronto MP who lent himself $ 300,000 to take part in the 2006 Liberal leadership race — has no plans to raise money from individual contributors to pay off his outstanding campaign debt, says his lawyer.
And although it’s against the rules, Elections Canada can’t do anything about it.
The Canada Elections Act limits individual contributions to a federal or leadership campaign to $ 1,200 a person and forbids corporations from contributing at all. There is no restriction on how much a person can loan a campaign. When Dryden, a millionaire, ran for the leadership of the federal Liberals, all his loans came from himself and he never raised the individual contributions needed to pay off that debt and stay within the rules laid down in the legislation.
Elections Canada would like him to raise the cash, but his lawyer says he won’t be doing so.
“What Elections Canada is saying to ( Ken Dryden) is go out and raise this money and put it in your pocket,” said Jack Siegel. “He says, except if being forced to by Elections Canada — which now appears not to be the case — ‘ I will not do that.’ ”
Elections Canada said last week that it could not press charges against Dryden or three other Liberal leadership candidates with outstanding loans from the 2006 campaign because the Canada Elections Act “lacks sufficient clarity to support enforcement action in the criminal courts with respect to loans or claims that remain unpaid following the expiry of an extension.”
Under the act, individuals could contribute a maximum of $ 1,100 to a leadership campaign in 2006 ( it’s now $ 1,200 due to inflation). Leadership contestants have 18 months to pay off loans using eligible contributions from individual donors and what hasn’t been paid off after the deadline officially becomes a contribution.