OTTAWA — A former Conservative party official charged last week in the “in-and-out” election spending affair is now working in the office of the auditor general of Canada, the government’s chief spending watchdog.
Susan Kehoe, the party’s former chief financial officer, is one of four past or current party workers who could face fines and jail time if convicted for Elections Act violations related to advertising purchases in the 2006 campaign.
Kehoe left her job at the party and now serves as secretary of the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors, an association of federal and provincial auditors that is run from a secretariat within the federal auditor general’s office.
Kehoe’s name appears on the series of invoices from a media-buying firm that were submitted by Conservative candidates to back up their claims for compensation of election expenses.
The auditor general is responsible for checking the government’s books to ensure public money is spent properly. The office says Kehoe is not involved in any review of government expenses.
“She does not work on audits,” said spokesperson Susan Wheeler. “She is providing a secretariat service to the association.”
Wheeler cited employee privacy and would not say how long Kehoe had been with the auditor general.
Reached at her office on Wednesday, Kehoe declined to comment on the Elections Canada allegations and referred calls to Toronto criminal lawyer Mark Sandler.
It is unclear if Sandler is also representing the party or the others charged. He has served as counsel on several commissions, including the inquiry into the wrongful convictions of Guy Paul Morin. He did not respond to a request for comment.
When the case comes before the Ontario Superior Court on March 18, Sandler will face Richard Roy, a Montreal-based general counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Elections Canada contends that the Conservative party used a series of wire transfers to move money into and out of the accounts of 67 of their candidates to evade the spending limits on the national campaign.
Kehoe was charged along with Tory senators Doug Finley (the party’s former campaign manager) and fundraiser Irving Gerstein (the official agent in the 2006 election). Michael Donison, then the national party’s executive director, was also charged.
As officers of the Conservative Fund Canada, they are accused of wilfully exceeding the spending limit, an offence that carries a maximum fine of $2,000 and up to one year in jail.
After the 2006 campaign, Donison left the party’s headquarters to join the office of then-minister of democratic reform Peter Van Loan. He has since joined the Ottawa communications and lobbying firm Crestview Public Affairs.
As a former public-office holder, Donison is prohibited from lobbying the government for five years after leaving his job.
Several other Crestview staff are registered to lobby the federal government on behalf of clients such as Telus Corp., Greyhound Canada and Prudential Consulting.
Donison did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The Conservatives have repeatedly claimed that the dispute with Elections Canada is an “accounting issue” and characterize the charges as “administrative.”
Elections Canada won an important legal victory this week when the Federal Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision in a related case about the chief electoral officer’s legal right to investigate the expense claims.
The Conservatives say they plan to seek leave to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.
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