Most Manitobans and Canadians take for granted that our elections are free and fair. This is a sign that our democracy is firmly entrenched and well safeguarded.
But no democracy is without its faults and because of that it is important that all efforts are made to ensure elections and the rules that govern them are applied correctly and fairly. Sadly, over the past several weeks, a number of things have been discovered that raise serious concerns about this important principle in Manitoba.
Thanks to an NDP insider who recently spoke publicly, Manitobans have learned that in 1999 the NDP altered 13 candidate election expense forms in an attempt to receive more than $75,000 in taxpayer funded rebates that the NDP were not entitled to. The current Minister of Finance, Greg Selinger, who in 1999 was the NDP candidate in St. Boniface, recently revealed that this was a deliberate act.
Deliberately falsifying election returns in an attempt to get taxpayer funded rebates is both a violation of the Elections Finances Act of Manitoba and the shared Code of Ethics that all political parties have agreed to in our province. Despite this, the NDP scheme was not mentioned by Elections Manitoba until several years after the 1999 election and then only vaguely by a statement posted on their website a few days before Christmas in 2003.
Elections Manitoba is the organization in our province that acts as the referee for elections and is supposed to be independent and unbiased. When the rules are broken, Elections Manitoba can bring the candidate or Party who broke the rules to court. In fact, in 1999, it brought 3 candidates to court for either small or accidental violations of the Elections Finances Act.
Strangely however, Elections Manitoba did not bring the NDP to court for filing 13 false claims and collecting more than $75,000 in taxdollars they were not entitled to. No charges against the NDP were laid despite the fact the forensic auditor hired by Elections Manitoba to investigate felt strongly the NDP had wrongly claimed these funds and had done the same thing in years past. In fact the forensic auditor was fired by Elections Manitoba after the NDP complained about him.
The fact that no charges against the NDP were laid when Elections Manitoba was aggressively prosecuting other political parties has caused both provincial opposition parties and most major media outlets in Manitoba to demand answers and to question whether the independence of Elections Manitoba has been compromised.
These questions need to be answered. Not simply for the political parties and candidates who actively participate in elections, but for all Manitobans who want to have faith in their democratic system and the fairness of elections.
