Stephentaylorca Warrant

Superior Court of Justice
In the Matter of an Application

pursuant to Section 487of
the Criminal Code for a
Search Warrant
Application
(Section 487 Criminal Code)
An ex parte application for a Search Warrant, pursuant to Section 487 of the

Criminal Code, will be made to the presiding Judge of the Superior Court of
Justice in and for the Province of Ontario. The following documents will be
filed with the Application:
• Information of Ronald Lamothe with attached appendices;

• Search Warrant;
• Assistance Orders
o Accountant
o Data Administrator
• Sealing Order.
Dated at Toronto, Ontari

this day of
2008.-Z
11 V^' '`
Ronald Lamothe ( applicant)
Assistant Chief Investigator
Office of the Commissioner of
Canada Elections
111101- IIIULIOII IlJ VUIdlll it
Search Warrant
INFORMATION TO OBTAIN A SEARCH WARRANT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THINGS TO BE SEARCHED FOR: ..................................................................................................................... 2
PLACE ....................................................................................................................................................................4
OFFENCES .............................................................................................................................................................4
RELEVANT LAW .................................................................................................................................................5
GROUNDS FOR BELIEF ......................................................................................................................................6

OVERVIEW ..............................................................................................................................................6
BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................................ 8
GROUNDS FOR BELIEVING THAT THE OFFENCES DESCRIBED HEREIN HAVE BEEN COMMITTED
...............................................................................................................................................................................
REFERRAL TO THE COMMISSIONER OF CANADA ELECTIONS ................................................. I I
REVIEW OF MATERIALS PROVIDED WITH THE REFERRAL ...................................................... 12
CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA COMMENTS ON MEDIA BUY ........................................ 16
REVIEW OF RECORDS PROVIDED BY ELECTIONS CANADA ..................................................... 17
MEDIA BUY TRANSACTIONS AS DESCRIBED IN DOCUMENTS PROVIDED BY ELECTIONS
CANADA ................................................................................................................................................. 19
INTERVIEWS ......................................................................................................................................................20
INTERVIEW OF SENIOR OFFICERS OF RETAIL MEDIA ................................................................ 20
INTERVIEWS OF PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES and OFFICIAL AGENTS ................................23
REVIEW OF RECORDS PRODUCED BY RETAIL MEDIA .......................................................................... 38

RETAIL MEDIA INVOICES ..................................................................................................................39
RETAIL MEDIA E-MAILS .....................................................................................................................41
OBSERVATIONS ................................................................................................................................................ 52
REASONABLE BELIEFS ................................................................................................................................... 56
GROUNDS TO BELIEVE THE LOCATION TO BE SEARCHED IS THE SAME LOCATION NAMED IN

THE WARRANT ................................................................................................................................................. 58
GROUNDS TO BELIEVE THAT THE THINGS TO BE SEARCHED FOR ARE CURRENTLY AT THE
LOCATION TO BE SEARCHED .......................................................................................................................59
GROUNDS TO BELIEVE THE THINGS TO BE SEARCHED FOR WILL AFFORD EVIDENCE OF THE
OFFENCES NAMED ...........................................................................................................................................60
ASSISTANCE ORDERS ..................................................................................................................................... 66

GILLES ROBILLARD ............................................................................................................................ 66
DATA ADMINISTRATOR .....................................................................................................................67
CONDITIONS ......................................................................................................................................................67
GROUNDS FOR SEALING ORDER .................................................................................................................67
Page I
CANADA
Commissioner of Canada Elections Identifier No. 1700-103-E06-6-14-1
Province of Ontario

Form 1
Criminal Code
Section 487
THIS IS THE INFORMATION OF:
Mr. Ronald Lamothe , Assistant Chief Investigator , Office of the Commissioner of

Canada Elections,
(Name and occupation of Informant)
of the CITY OF Ottawa, in the PROVINCE OF Ontario, hereinafter called
the Informant, taken before me.
THE INFORMANT SAYS THAT:
THINGS TO BE SEARCHED FOR:
The following things, documents or data recorded or stored by means of any device, are
sought:
1. Correspondence and a-mails between or among representatives of the Conservative

Party of Canada ( including candidates , official agents and regional organizers), the
Conservative Fund Canada, Retail Media and its related companies and
production companies including Yield or Yield Integrated, Republik Publicite +
Design Inc;
2. Invoices, purchase authorizations , receipts, accounts and accounting records,

records of payment, transfers of funds , contracts, instructions, minutes of meetings,
records of decisions authorizing work or reflecting negotiations , meetings or
discussions concerning the production of advertising or purchase of media
advertising , accounting books and records , including cash disbursements journals;
3. Advertisement scripts and recordings of media advertising for radio or television

broadcast, including text displayed on television advertisements;
Page 2
4. Time schedules , details of broadcast coverage , date and time of broadcast of

advertisements;
5. Records pertaining to broadcasts in electoral districts, locations or geographic

areas covered by broadcast advertisements and any analysis or allocation of
payments for the production or broadcast of such advertising, or information
relating to the allocation of funds for advertising by electoral district;
6. Data storage media, including disk , tape, chip or other items capable of storing
data, whether internal, external , attached or not attached to a computer system,
containing any data pertaining to the items described in paragraphs 1 to 5 above
that, either taken by itself or in relationship to other data or information, could
reasonably be believed to be evidence of the commission of an offence named
herein;
7. Things required to access , make intelligible , reproduce, transfer, communicate or

receive data contained in the data storage media described in paragraph 6,
including:
(a) Computer system and computer components , including hardware,

equipment, peripheral components and devices;
(b) Computer programs , including operating systems, software and drivers;
(c) Documentation and data , including manuals , operating instructions,
licensing and operating data, whether preserved, stored or retained on
any type of support, intelligible or not, inscribed by a human or a
computer system;
8. Data or other recorded information which may provide indicia of use,

maintenance, ownership and possession that pertain to items described in
paragraphs 6 and 7 above,
relating to media advertising, including broadcast air time and television or radio
advertising, prepared for the 39`h general election period of November 29, 2005 to January
23, 2006, purchased by or on behalf of or produced for:
a) The Conservative Party of Canada,

b) Conservative Party of Canada candidates or their official agents, and / or
c) The Conservative Fund Canada,
for greater certainty , the things to be searched for relate to media advertising prepared for
the time period mentioned above , but were not necessarily purchased or produced during
that time period,
HEREINAFTER referred to as the said " Things" , which will afford evidence,
Page 3
PLACE
AND THAT he has reasonable grounds for believing that the things are located in the offices of
the Conservative Party of Canada and the Conservative Fund Canada, 130 Albert St.. Suites 1204
and Suite 1720, Ottawa. Ontario, KIP 5G4;
OFFENCES
AND THAT there are reasonable grounds to believe the Things will afford evidence with
respect to the commission of offences against the Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000, c.9 as
amended, namely the offences of
1. The CONSERVATIVE FUND CANADA, being the chief agent of the Conservative
Party of Canada, a party registered pursuant to section 366 of the Canada
Elections Act, at the City of Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada, did incur election
1
expenses in relation to the 39 h federal general election, the period of which was
November 29, 2005 to January 23, 2006, the total amount of which exceeded the
maximum amount allowed for election expenses of the Conservative Party of
Canada for the 39'h federal general election , calculated under section 422 of the
Canada Elections Act, contrary to subsection 423(1) of the Canada Elections Act,
S.C. 2000, c.9 as amended;
And by so doing committed an offence under subsections 497(1)(1) and 497(3)(g) of

the Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000, c.9 as amended;
2. The CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA, being a registered party whose

chief agent, the Conservative Fund Canada, committed an offense by violating
subsection 497(1)(1) or 497(3)(8) of the Canada Elections Act, at the City of Ottawa
and elsewhere in Canada , by incurring election expenses that exceeded the election
expense spending limit for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 39`h federal
general election, the period of which was November 29, 2005 to January 23, 2006,
Committed an offence contrary to section 507 of the Canada Elections Act; S.C.
2000, c.9 as amended;
3. The CONSERVATIVE FUND CANADA, being the chief agent of the Conservative
Party of Canada, a party registered pursuant to section 366 of the Canada
Elections Act, did on or about June 6, 2006, and on or about December 18, 2006 at
the City of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario, file with the Chief Electoral Officer
a Registered Party Return on Elections Expenses pertaining to the Conservative
Party of Canada 's election expenses in relation to the 39'h federal general election,
as required by section 429 of the Canada Elections Act, c.9 that it knew or ought
reasonably to have known contained a materially false or misleading statement,
contrary to subsection 431(a) of the Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000, c.9 as
amended;
Page 4
And by so doing committed an offence under subsection 497(3)(m)(ii) of the Canada

Elections Act, S.C. 2000, c.9 as amended.
RELEVANT LAW
1. Attention is drawn to the following relevant sections of the Canada Elections Act:
Section 404.2(2.2) states that "A transfer of funds, other than trust funds, is permitted and
is not a contribution for the purposes of this Act if it is...
a. from a registered party to a candidate endorsed by the party."
Section 407(1) defines an election expense as "cost incurred ... by a registered party or a
candidate, to the extent that the property or service for which the cost was incurred ... is
used to directly promote or oppose a registered party, its leader or a candidate during an
election period."
The foregoing sections must be considered in light of other relevant provisions of the
Canada Elections Act, in particular:
Section 436 - "The official agent of a candidate is responsible for administering the
candidate's financial transactions, for his or her electoral campaign and for reporting on
those transactions in accordance with the provisions of this Act."
Section 437(1) - "An official agent of a candidate shall open, for the sole purpose of the
candidate's electoral campaign, a separate bank account in a Canadian financial institution
as defined in section 2 of the Bank Act, or in an authorized foreign bank as defined in that
section, that is not subject to the restrictions and requirements referred to in subsection
524(2) of that Act."
Section 437(3) - "All financial transactions of the candidate in relation to an electoral

campaign that involve the payment or receipt of money are to be paid from or deposited to
the account."
Section 438(4) - "No person or entity, other than the official agent of a candidate, shall pay
expenses in relation to the candidate's electoral campaign except for petty expenses
referred to in section 411 and the candidate's personal expenses."
Section 438(5) - "No person or entity, other than a candidate, his or her official agent or a
person authorized under section 446(c) to enter into contracts, shall incur expenses in relation
to the candidate's electoral campaign."
Section 446 - "A contract involving an expense in relation to a candidate's electoral

campaign is not enforceable against the candidate unless entered into by ... c) a person whom
Page 5
the official agent may, in writing, have authorized to enter into the contract."
2. Similar provisions relating to the reporting of election expenses are imposed on

registered parties:
Section 416(1) - "No person or entity, other than the chief agent of a registered party or
one of its registered agents or a person authorized under subsection 411(1), shall pay the
registered party's expenses."
Section 416(2) "No person or entity other than the chief agent of a registered party or one
of its registered agents, shall incur the registered party's expenses."
Section 423(1) - "No chief agent of a registered party shall incur election expenses on its
behalf the total amount of which is more than the maximum amount calculated under
section 422."
Section 429 -
" (1) For a general election, the chief agent of a registered party shall provide the Chief
Electoral Officer with
(a) an election expenses return on the registered party ' s general election
expenses in the general election that substantially is in the prescribed form.
(2) An election expenses return must set out as an election expense each of
(a) the expenses incurred by the registered party, whether paid or unpaid..."
The above provisions establish the salient aspects of the scheme through which Parliament
has opted to control spending on election expenses. Simply put, an election expense of a
candidate or a registered party must represent an expense incurred on behalf of that
candidate or registered party by a person with legal authority to incur the expense.
GROUNDS FOR BELIEF
The Informant says that he has reasonable grounds to believe and does believe the matters
described above, and that his grounds are based on the following:
OVERVIEW
3. I, Ronald Lamothe , the Informant herein , am an Assistant Chief Investigator in the

Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections and a person charged by the
Commissioner with duties relating to the administration and enforcement of the Canada
Elections A ct. Pursuant to subsection 511(3) of the Cuncida Elections: Ict, for the purposes
Page 6
of section 487 of the Criminal Code, I am a Public Officer as defined by section 2 of the
Criminal Code. I have been investigating this matter and as such. have personal knowledge
of the things herein deposed except where stated to be on information or belief and where so
stated I believe them to be true.
4. The purpose of this Information to Obtain a Search Warrant is to seek judicial

authorization to enter into and search the offices of the Conservative Party of Canada and
the Conservative Fund Canada, both located at 130 Albert St, Suite 1204. Ottawa, Ontario
for the Things to be Searched For, as indicated above. This address is registered with
Elections Canada as the address of both of these entities. This address is listed on the web
site of the Conservative Party of Canada as its Headquarters and the Ottawa telephone book
lists 130 Albert Street as the address of the Conservative Party of Canada National
Headquarters. The building is a multi-storey office tower, housing various businesses,
embassies and other organizations. The search will be restricted to those parts of the
building occupied by or under the control of the Conservative Party of Canada or the
Conservative Fund Canada. In addition to Suite 1204 mentioned above, I believe this
includes Suite 1720 at 130 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario (paragraphs 235 - 238).
S. On 17 May, 2007, Political Financing, Audit and Corporate Services, Elections Canada,
made a referral to the Commissioner of Canada Elections to investigate whether, during the
election period of the 391h federal general election, the Conservative Party of Canada, a
registered political party (Appendix 1), through its registered agent, the Conservative Fund
Canada (Appendix 1), incurred election expenses for media advertising which were claimed
by a number of its candidates . This enabled those candidates to claim the expenses as their
election expenses for the purposes of reporting to and claiming rebates from Elections
Canada. This alleged scheme had a number of consequences:
a. It enabled the Conservative Party of Canada to spend more than $1 ,000,000 over
and above the spending limit on election expenses imposed on the Party for the
39`h federal general election by the Canada Elections Act, without these
expenses being claimed in its Registered Party Return on Elections Expenses;
b. It allowed the approximately 67 candidates involved to increase their reported

election expenses with expenses they did not incur or pay for and claim a rebate
through the Ogee of the Chief Electoral Officer from the Receiver General to
which they were not entitled. Candidates are eligible to receive 60% of the
election expenses spent, up to the spending limit allowed by the Canada
Elections Act (eligibility is contingent on the candidate receiving at least 10% of
the votes in the election).
6. It is alleged that funds were only transferred by the Conservative Fund Canada into the
accounts of selected candidates whose campaign spending appeared to be well below the
election spending limit imposed on individual candidate campaigns by the Canada
Elections Act. The amounts transferred to those candidates were allocated so that the
additional claims for expenses would not cause the campaigns to overspend their spending
Page 7
limits. It was anticipated that the candidates selected were expected to receive at least 10%
of the vote so that the candidates could claim a 60% rebate for the additional expenses
pursuant to subparagraph 464(1)(6) of the Canada Elections Act (paragraph 25).
7. It is also alleged that funds were transferred into and out of each of the bank accounts of
the 67 campaigns identified as having participated in the alleged scheme, entirely under the
control of and at the direction of officials of the Conservative Fund Canada and/or the
Conservative Party of Canada. The purpose of the in and out transfers was to provide
participating candidates with documentation to support their reimbursement claims for these
election expenses.
8. It is alleged that the expenses were actually incurred by the Conservative Party of
Canada and not by the candidates who claimed the media buy transactions as their own, and
that the Conservative Party of Canada, therefore, was consequently obliged by the Act to
report the expenses as its election expenses , rather than the expenses being claimed by the
participating candidates as their own. It is acknowledged that a registered party may
transfer funds to a campaign to pay election expenses; transfers are allowed pursuant to
section 404.2(2.2) of the Canada Elections Act. The allegation centres on the incurring and
paying of expenses and by whom.
BACKGROUND
9. Based on my review of the Canada Elections Act, Elections Canada web site and my
experience as an Investigator with the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections, I
have knowledge and belief that the contents of paragraphs 10 to 25 (inclusive) are true.
10. Bill C-24, an Act to Amend the Canada Elections Act and the Income Tax Act (Political
Financing) came into effect on January 1, 2004, and included a number of amendments to
the Canada Elections Act. Although contributions from individuals are allowed pursuant to
section 405 of the Act, the amendments occasioned a shift from private financing of
election campaigns by individuals and corporations to public funding by payments and
reimbursements to qualified political parties and candidates from the Consolidated Revenue
Fund of the Government of Canada.
11. General documentation associated with the amended Canada Elections Act indicates that
the Act is based on three principles:
a.Equity, through the imposition of election spending limits, so that no candidate

or registered party can use money to overpower his or her opponent unfairly:
b. Participation, through the partial reimbursement of election expenses incurred
by candidates and registered parties from the public purse, so that money is not
an overwhelming obstacle to taking an active part in Canadian public life;
c. Transparency, or the public's right to know, through the obligation to disclose
spending and contributions by candidates and parties, and buttressed-by etTective
Page 8
compliance measures, so that public confidence in the system's intrinsic fairness

confers legitimacy on the whole enterprise.
12. The essence of Canada's election financing system is to ensure that all Canadians.
regardless of financial means, have a fair and equitable chance to be heard and elected.
13. Pursuant to the Canada Elections Act, the Chief Electoral Officer is responsible for the
administration of elections, referendums and other important aspects of our electoral
system. The Chief Electoral Officer is assisted in carrying out this mandate by the Deputy
Chief Electoral Officer, Chief Legal Counsel, the Broadcasting Arbitrator and the
Commissioner of Canada Elections, who ensures that the provisions of the Canada
Elections Act and the Referendum Act are complied with and enforced.
14. The role of the Broadcasting Arbitrator is to allocate broadcasting time to registered
parties, issue Broadcasting Guidelines concerning the obligations of broadcasters during a
general election, and arbitrate disputes between political parties and broadcasters
concerning the application of the Canada Elections Act.
15. The Canada Elections Act sets out a series of procedures in regard to the handling of
campaign contributions and electoral campaign expenses to ensure transparency and
facilitate the enforcement of financial controls . Election expense limits are communicated
by Elections Canada to registered parties and to candidates prior to the election.
16. The election expense spending limit for a registered party is set by a formula outlined at
section 422 of the Canada Elections Act. The scheme of the Act identifies the maximum
amount to be spent during a given campaign by multiplying by a funding scale the number
of registered electors on the preliminary or revised lists of electors in the electoral districts
in which that party has endorsed a candidate, and taking into consideration an adjustment
for inflation. In the 39'h federal general election of 2006, the Conservative Party of Canada's
election expense spending limit was set by Elections Canada at $18, 278, 278.64. The
spending limit amounts for both the Conservative Party of Canada and for each electoral
district were communicated to the Conservative Party of Canada by Elections Canada on
December 2, 2005 and confirmed on January 16, 2006 (Appendix 2). These limits were
also posted on Elections Canada's web site.
17. Under subsection 416(1) of the Act only the chief agent , a registered agent or a person
authorized by a registered agent can pay the expenses of a registered party. Under
subsection 416(2) of the Act, only the chief agent or a registered agent can incur the
expenses of a registered party.
18. The chief agent of a registered Party must submit a return to report general election
expenses to the Chief Electoral Officer on behalf of the Party within 6 months after the
election, as per section 429 of the Canada Elections Act.
19. Section 429 of the Canada Elections Act states that all election expenses incurred by a
Page 9
registered party. whether paid or unpaid, must be set out as an election expense in the
election expenses return provided to the Chief Electoral Officer. Provided the Chief
Electoral Officer is satisfied with the return filed on behalf of a registered party, and
presuming the criteria for reimbursement are met, the registered party is entitled to receive
50% of it's election expenses as tiled in the return (up to 50% of it's election spending
limit), from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Government of Canada, pursuant to
section 435 of the Act.
20. With respect to a candidate's election campaign, section 438 of the Canada Elections
Act recognizes that two persons will be responsible for the financial administration of a
candidate's campaign: the official agent and in some circumstances, the candidate.
21. The candidate appoints the official agent, who must meet certain eligibility criteria as
imposed by section 84 of the Canada Elections Act, and notifies Elections Canada of the
person he or she has selected. Pursuant to section 438 of the Canada Elections Act, the
official agent is then responsible for all financial transactions involved in the campaign.
The basic principle is that all funds coming to the campaign must be deposited into the
campaign bank account and that all expenses must be paid out of that account by the official
agent.
22. Pursuant to subsection 438(4), other than petty expenses and the candidate's personal
expenses, only the official agent may pay expenses in relation to a candidate's electoral
campaign. Subsection 438(5) of the Canada Elections Act states that no person may incur
an expense in relation to the candidate's electoral campaign other than the candidate, the
official agent or a person authorized in writing by the official agent to enter into a contract
pursuant to subsection 446(c).
23. With a few very limited and specific exceptions, all financial transactions must be
handled by the official agent, who is also responsible for preparing the Candidate's
Electoral Campaign Return pursuant to section 451 of the Canada Elections Act. Both the
candidate and the official agent must sign a solemn declaration asserting to the
completeness and accuracy of the return. The return, which must be sent to Elections
Canada within four months of polling day, sets out in detail all financial aspects of the
campaign.
24. The election expense spending limit for a candidate is set by a formula outlined at
section 440 of the Canada Elections Act. The scheme of the Act identifies the maximum
amount to be spent during a given campaign by multiplying the number of registered
electors in that electoral district by a funding scale and taking into consideration an
adjustment for inflation. As a result, the amount varies from electoral district to electoral
district. On January 16, 2006 every official agent was advised by a letter, sent by the Senior
Director, Political Financing, Audit and Corporate Services, Elections Canada of the final
elections expenses limit for their candidate. An example of such a letter is attached at
Appendix 3.
Page 10
25. Election expenses submitted by a candidate are eligible for a 60% rebate, up to the
maximum election expense spending limit, from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the
Government of Canada, provided the candidate receives at least 10% of the votes in that
electoral district, pursuant to sections 464 and 465 of the Canada Elections Act.
GROUNDS FOR BELIEVING THAT THE OFFENCES DESCRIBED HEREIN HAVE

BEEN COMMITTED
REFERRAL TO THE COMMISSIONER OF CANADA ELECTIONS
ALLEGATIONS CONTAINED IN THE REFERRAL
26. The writ commencing the election period for the 39th federal general election became
effective on November 29, 2005 and the general election day was January 23, 2006.
Attached at Appendix 4 is a copy of a memorandum from the Chief Electoral Officer to all
Returning Officers and Field Liaison Officers, providing the date for the writ of election
(November 29, 2005) and the election date of January 23, 2006.
27. Following a general election, a "Registered Party Return on Elections Expenses" and a
"Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return" forms are received at Elections Canada by the
Political Financing and Audit Directorate, which is responsible to review and audit the
returns . The information provided by a registered party must conform to the requirements
of section 429 of the Canada Elections Act and a candidate ' s return information must
conform to the requirements of section 451 of the Canada Elections Act.
28. On April 11, 2007 , a written referral (hereinafter called the Referral) signed on April 5,
2007 by Ms. Janice Vezina, Senior Director, Political Financing , Audit and Corporate
Services, and Ms. Marion Hamel, Acting Director Political Financing and Audit, was
received by the Commissioner of Canada Elections . The referral sets out that during the
election period of the 391h federal general election, the Conservative Party of Canada, a
registered political party (Appendix 1), undertook with its chief agent , the Conservative
Fund Canada, a planned course of action to incur and pay election expenses with respect to
election advertising broadcast time, but through a series of transactions created the
appearance that, for the required reporting to Elections Canada , some of the expenses were
incurred by various candidates. The Conservative Party of Canada incurred the expense by
entering into an agreement with Retail Media, a company it engaged to purchase broadcast
time.
29. It was alleged in the Referral that the Conservative Party of Canada transferred funds
from its chief agent, the Conservative Fund Canada (Appendix 1), into the accounts of
approximately 67 Conservative Party of Canada candidates, and then almost immediately
transferred the funds back to the Conservative Fund Canada account as payment for the
invoiced advertising expense. The Conservative Fund Canada provided an invoice to each
participating candidate for a share of the advertising expense, and in the case of Quebec
Page 11
candidates , for production costs as well, which were then claimed by the candidate as an
election expense in the Candidate ' s Electoral Campaign Return.
30. The Referral alleged that the scheme operated as follows:
a. The Conservative Party of Canada entered into an agreement with Retail Media
to purchase blocks of advertising air time. Payment to Retail Media was
provided by both the Conservative Party of Canada and the Conservative Fund
Canada prior to any advertising being broadcast on the air. Documentation filed
with Elections Canada shows that officials of the Conservative Party of Canada
discussed participation in the transactions with a number of candidates or other
campaign officials , advised them that there would be no cost to the ' campaign
and indicated that the candidate would be able to recover a 60% rebate from
Elections Canada of the funds transferred.
b. The Conservative Fund Canada then transferred funds to the bank accounts of
participating candidates. Officials of the Conservative Fund Canada did not
allow this transfer to occur, however, until the official agent of a given
participating candidate completed and forwarded to the Conservative Fund
Canada, a bank wire transfer document. The transfer document ensured that the
same, or approximately the same, amount as the proposed transfer to the
campaign would be transferred back to the Conservative Fund Canada. This
action gave the Conservative Fund Canada control over the money that would be
transferred into and back out of the participating campaign bank accounts.
c. The Conservative Fund Canada issued an invoice to the participating campaigns

for a portion of the total advertising cost. The Conservative Fund Canada then
used the previously supplied bank wire transfer document to immediately return
the funds to the Conservative Fund Canada bank account in Ottawa. The
transfer of funds to, and the withdrawal of similar amounts from, participating
campaign bank accounts was entirely under the control and direction of the
Conservative Fund Canada.
31. The participating candidates then claimed the advertising expense as an election
expense in their electoral campaign returns , for the purposes of reporting to Elections
Canada and receiving reimbursement of election expenses from the Receiver General. The
invoice provided by the Conservative Fund Canada was used to support the claim.
REVIEW OF MATERIALS PROVIDED WITH THE REFERRAL
32. The Commissioner of Canada Elections reviewed the Referral document and determined
that an investigation was warranted. I, along with Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville
was directed to initiate the investigation on behalf of the Commissioner of Canada
Elections. The process of the investigation included a review of the relevant documentation
Page 12
provided with the Referral by Political Financing and Audit (paragraphs 32 - 46), review of
additional documentation provided by Elections Canada (paragraphs 51 - 62), documents
obtained by way of a Production Order executed on Retail Media (paragraphs 167 - 222)
and interviews with persons of interest to the investigation (paragraphs 63 - 166)..
33. Included in the Referral is the explanation as to how and why Elections Canada became
aware of the alleged media buy scheme. In late October 2006, Mr. Rani Naoufal, an auditor
employed at the Political Financing and Audit Directorate of Elections Canada. discussed
with Mr. Denny Pagtakhan, official agent of Mrs. Elizabeth Pagtakhan, Conservative Party
of Canada candidate in the electoral district of Vancouver East (British Columbia), an
election expense filed with Elections Canada by the candidate. The discussion concerned an
invoice dated January 4, 2006 in the amount of $29,999.70 (Appendix 5), which had been
issued to the Pagtakhan campaign by the Conservative Fund Canada relating to a media
buy.
34. Mr. Pagtakhan stated to Mr. Naoufal, "1 think we contributed to TV national advertising.
There was no way we can spend our limit so we were asked by the Party if we can help
contribute."
35. Upon being advised of this discussion by Mr. Naoufal, Ms. Marion Hamel, Acting
Director of Political Financing and Audit Directorate, undertook a further review of
Conservative Party of Canada candidate returns filed with Elections Canada with respect to
the 39'h federal general election. Her review identified 67 returns filed by Conservative
Party of Canada candidates in which she noted amounts transferred into the candidate's
account by the Conservative Fund Canada, which closely equated to election expenses
claimed by the candidates for media buys, and in which similar amounts were almost
immediately transferred back to the Conservative Fund Canada. Ms. Hamel noted that
amounts of the transfers to the 67 various candidates' bank accounts ranged from just over
$2,000 to almost $52,000. When added together, the election expenses claimed by
candidates in relation to the media buy totalled $1,375,451.91 (Appendix 6). 60% of that
figure amounts to slightly more than $825,000 in potential rebates to be paid by the
Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada to candidates of the Conservative Party of Canada
claiming for media buy expenses in relation to this alleged scheme. A spreadsheet prepared
by Ms. Suzanne Evans, Political Finance and Audit Directorate, Elections Canada, is
attached to provide an overview of the amounts (Appendix 6).
36. Not all candidates who claimed rebates were eligible for reimbursement of media buy
expenses because not all participating candidates received the required 10% or more of
votes in their electoral districts as required by subsection 464(1)(b) of the Canada Elections
Act. Of the 67 campaigns identified as having participated in the alleged scheme, 2
candidates (Sam Goldstein and Kren Clausen) received less than 10% of the vote , making
them ineligible for any rebate . The rebate amounts which could have been claimed by those
candidates in relation to the media buy expenses totals $79,999 . 81. Exclusion of these
candidates reduces the total election expenses claimed for rebate amount to approximately
$777.000 for the remaining 65 campaigns (paragraph 35).
Page 13
37. As a result of her review, Ms. Hamel identified 14 of these 67 campaigns (6 in Quebec
and 8 outside Quebec) on which Elections Canada had not yet completed the audit process,
and accordingly the candidates had not yet been reimbursed for their election expense
claims. On November 29, 2006, letters signed by the Chief Electoral Officer were sent to
11 of these candidates pursuant to subsection 451(2.2) of the Canada Elections Act asking
for supporting documents for the claimed media buy expenses. On January 12, 2007 an
additional 3 letters were sent to the remaining candidates also seeking additional supporting
documentation for the media buy expense they had claimed. (Appendix 7). The candidates
were asked to provide:
a. A copy of the contract or other written agreement with the advertiser and with
the registered party relating to the expense;
b. A copy of the advertising or script;
c. Documentation of the date(s) of the advertising promoting the candidate;
d. Documentation of the date on which the official agent approved the expenditure.
38. Each of the 14 candidates provided a similarly formatted response on Conservative Party
of Canada letterhead. Eleven of the 14 packages received by Elections Canada were dated
December 2006, and contained (Appendix 8):
a. A copy of a letter dated December 15, 2006, to Ms. Marion Hamel from Ms.
Ann O'Grady, Chief Financial Officer of the Conservative Fund Canada;
b. Radio and television time schedules;
c. Electoral District allocations of broadcast time for Conservative Party of Canada
Candidates as provided by Retail Media;
d. An invoice from the Conservative Fund Canada;
e. An invoice from Retail Media; and
f. A copy of a bank wire transfer.
39. The remaining 3 packages received by Elections Canada, dated January 2007, contained
the same 6 documents mentioned above and 1 additional document which is a letter, dated
January 15, 2007, from Mr. Andrew Kumpf of Retail Media, to Ms. Manon Hamel, in
which Mr. Kumpf explains the relationship between Retail Media and the Conservative
Party of Canada (Appendix 8).
40. I note that in addition to the 14 packages of documents received from candidates from
whom additional information was requested, an unsolicited package dated December 2006
and containing the same documents as indicated for the packages received by Elections
Canada dated December 2006 above (paragraph 38), was received from Mr. Robert A.
Campbell, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the electoral district of
Dartmouth - Cole Harbour (Appendix 8). Mr. Campbell was identified in a letter dated
January 15, 2007 from Mr. Michael Donison, (then) Executive Director of the Conservative
Party of Canada, to Ms. Hamel (paragraph 48 and Appendix 10) as having participated in
Page 14
the media buy transactions . He is one of the 67 candidates identified as having participated
in the media buy transactions (paragraph 35) but was not one of the 14 from whom
additional documentation was requested. The total number of packages of additional
support documents received by Elections Canada, therefore, is 15.
41. I have examined the packages of documents submitted by the 15 candidates in response
to the Chief Electoral Officer's request for additional information. Of these 15 candidates,
9 were located outside Quebec while 6 were located in Quebec (Appendix 8). Each package
contains an invoice bearing the letterhead of Retail Media , which was provided to each
candidate by the Conservative Party of Canada or the Conservative Fund Canada (paragraph
45). As noted at paragraphs 37 and 38, each of the 15 packages also contained an invoice
issued to the particular candidate by the Conservative Fund Canada. The Conservative
Fund Canada invoice is in the same amount as the invoice bearing the Retail Media
letterhead (Appendix 8).
42. I note that each of the invoices bearing Retail Media letterhead filed by the 9 candidates
outside Quebec bears the same invoice number , being 1101868-1, and I note that each
contains a typographical error in that the word "Invoice" is spelled "nvoice". The invoices
each bear the handwritten notation "+ GST" and a handwritten total amount . The actual
amount of GST is not indicated, nor is a GST registration number indicated . (Appendix 8).
43. I note further that each of the invoices bearing Retail Media letterhead filed by the 6
candidates in Quebec also bears the same typographical error, i.e. "Invoice" is spelled
"nvoice", but each invoice bears a different invoice number. The subtotal , GST (amount
and registration number) as well as the Quebec tax (amount and registration number) are
type written on the page, as is the total amount payable . The format of the invoices bearing
Retail Media letterhead provided by the candidates in Quebec differs considerably from the
Retail Media invoices provided by the candidates outside Quebec . (Appendix 8).
44. Upon review of the documentation submitted by the 15 candidates, the Chief Electoral
Officer was not satisfied that the additional supporting documentation evidenced that the
expenses claimed had been incurred by the candidates , and on that basis excluded these
expenses for the purpose of calculating the appropriate reimbursement to these candidates
pursuant to section 465 of the Canada Elections Act. (Appendix 8).
45. I have reviewed the documents tiled with Elections Canada by the 67 campaigns
identified (paragraph 37). I note that the only campaigns which filed copies of an invoice
bearing the letterhead of Retail Media, were the 15 (previously identified at Appendix 8 and
paragraphs 37 - 44) from which additional supporting documentation was requested by the
Chief Electoral Officer (Appendix 7). All of the invoices bearing Retail Media letterhead
appear to have been received by the 15 candidates via the Conservative Party of Canada,
since each of the 15 invoices was addressed to "The Official Agents for Conservative Party
Candidates, #1720 - 130 Albert St., Ottawa". I know this to have been the address
registered with Elections Canada by the Conservative Party of Canada until 2007
(paragraphs 235- 238).
Page 15
46. 1 note that in the 15 packages of additional information received by the Chief Electoral
Officer (paragraphs 37 - 46), for the candidates in Quebec only, the names of specific
candidates are included on the invoices bearing Retail Media letterhead. These invoices
bearing Retail Media letterhead were each addressed to "The Official Agents for
Conservative Party Candidates" and addressed to "#1720 - 130 Albert Street, Ottawa,
Ontario, KIP 5G4" (Appendix 8). The names of specific candidates or official agents are
absent from the Retail Media invoices directed to non-Quebec candidates; they are
identified by electoral district only (Appendix 8). Mr. Andrew Kumpf of Retail Media
stated (paragraph 67) that Retail Media did not deal with any of the candidates. Ms. Marilyn
Dixon stated that Retail Media did not generate invoices to candidates or electoral districts
(paragraph 72). Further, when shown one invoice (Appendix 23) bearing Retail Media
letterhead (# 1101868 - 1, dated January 1, 2006 ) filed by the candidate in the Electoral
District of York South - Weston (one of the 15 candidates from whom additional
information was requested at paragraphs 37 - 46), Ms. Dixon stated that the invoice must
have been altered or created because it did not appear to conform to the appearance of the
invoices sent by Retail Media to the Conservative Party of Canada (paragraph 75 and
Appendix 19) with respect to the purchase of media airtime during the 39`h federal general
election.
CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA COMMENTS ON MEDIA BUY
47. Subsequent to the November 29, 2006 letters from the Chief Electoral Officer
(paragraph 37 and Appendix 7), representations were received from the Conservative Party
of Canada with respect to the media buy and the requests which had been made to each of
the 14 candidates for additional supporting documentation.
48. In a letter (Appendix 10) dated January 15, 2007 to Ms. Marion Hamel, Acting Director,
Political Financing and Audit Directorate at Elections Canada , (then) Executive Director of
the Conservative Party of Canada, Mr. Michael Donison states:
"...there is no single contractual document between the registered party, or the

candidates and the supplier that speaks to the arrangements of the regional media
buy...
Later in the same letter he indicates:
the bank tivire instructions provided by the official agent to the registered party
approving payment of the Conservative Fund Canada invoice to the official agent
for the media buy, both of which have been provided to EC as part of the response
package, speaks to the approval of ,the media huy services received and iv indicative
of an agreement by the official agent for the provision of'these regional media
buys..,
49. • Ina letter (Appendix 11) dated January 25, 2006 to Ms. Manon Hamel, Acting Director,
Page 16
Political Financing and Audit Directorate at Elections Canada, Ms. Ann O'Grady. Chief
Financial Officer of the Conservative Fund Canada writes:
"Costs were calculated by Retail Media by individual campaigns based on the

advertising performed and invoiced to the Conservative Candidates at the
Conseti,ative Party national of ice.-
"As is the practice in media buys during an election where time is of the essence,
those buys must be paid for in advance. Given the number of candidate campaigns
that participated in the candidate media buy programs and the timeliness of payment
required in order to book the purchase of radio and TV time, the Conservative Fund
facilitated the process by rendering payment to Retail Media as intermediary and
subsequently charged each of the campaign (sic)_for their respective media bury and
the associated allocation of production costs. These are the invoices that Elections
Canada is being presented by the candidates ' official agents to support their media
buy during the writ. "
50. In a letter (Appendix 12) to the Chief Electoral Officer, dated April 12, 2007, (current)
Interim Executive Director of the Conservative Party of Canada, Ms. Susan J. Kehoe stated:
"When candidates were invited to participate in the concept of a regional media buy
each of their campaigns generally indicated a level offinancial participation that
they would undertake. These commitment levels were then provided to the media
buy supplier to determine the group market area and what combination of TV and
radio in what markets was best to target the region in which each participating
candidate's audience laid. "
REVIEW OF RECORDS PROVIDED BY ELECTIONS CANADA
51. As part of the ongoing investigative process I obtained additional documentation (which
was not appended to the Referral from Elections Canada (paragraphs 26 - 50) from Ms.
Suzanne Evans, Audit Manager at Elections Canada. In addition to the documents
mentioned here, I have also reviewed electoral campaign returns and other related
documents tiled by candidates and / or official agents with Elections Canada.
52. I have examined the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return forms pertaining to the 67
campaigns identified by Ms. Hamel. I note that the amounts claimed by the candidates on
the basis of invoices provided to them by the Conservative Fund Canada closely
corresponded to equivalent transfers of money from the Conservative Fund Canada to the
campaigns. In most cases there is a close correlation between the claimed election expenses
and corresponding transfers by the Conservative Fund Canada that were provided to pay the
invoice. In numerous campaigns, the amount transferred to the campaign bank account by
the Conservative Fund Canada corresponds exactly with the expense claimed by that
campaign. In a number of other campaigns, the difference between those two amounts is
$10 or less while in other cases the difference represents the cost of transferring the funds
Page 17
by bank wire transfer back to the Conservative Fund Canada. These figures for the 67
candidates are attached as a spreadsheet, prepared by Ms. Suzanne Evans, Audit Manager,
Elections Canada (Appendix 6).
53. I note further that Ms. O'Grady mentioned in her letter of January 25, 2006 (paragraph
49 and Appendix 11) that the Conservative Fund Canada charged each participating
candidate *for their respective media buy and the associated allocation of production
costs. " In my review of the Candidate Electoral Campaign Return forms pertaining to the
67 campaigns identified by Ms. Hamel , each campaign received an invoice from the
Conservative Fund Canada. It was only the participating Quebec campaigns, however,
which filed invoices or documentation with Elections Canada pertaining to campaigns for
which production costs were allocated . No such allocation has been filed by the
participating campaigns outside Quebec , each of which received a media buy invoice from
the Conservative Fund Canada (Appendices 8, 19 and paragraphs 93, 136, 142, 146, 148,
224, 225, 227).
54. I have reviewed the Registered Party Return in Respect of General Election Expenses,
filed with Elections Canada by the Conservative Fund Canada as chief agent of the
Conservative Party of Canada (Appendix 13) submitted pursuant to the 39 `h federal general
election. I note that the statutory election expense spending limit of the Conservative Party
of Canada for the 39'h federal general election was $18,278,278.64. The Conservative
Party of Canada reported having spent $18,019,179.28, leaving it $259,099.36 short of its
maximum permitted election expenses spending limit. In its original Registered Party
Return, the Conservative Fund Canada declares that the Conservative Party of Canada spent
$9,174,393.60 on radio and television advertising during the 39`h federal general election.
55. In an amended Registered Party Return (Appendix 13), signed on December 4, 2006 the
Conservative Fund Canada declares that the Conservative Party of Canada spent
$8,786,108.38 on radio and television advertising and $388 ,284.22 on Advertising - Other;
these two categories total $9 ,174,393. 60. The specifics of election expenses pertaining to a
registered party are not required by law to be filed with Elections Canada and accordingly I
have no knowledge of these particulars of the Conservative Party of Canada with respect to
the 39`h federal general election.
56. The matter was referred to the Commissioner of Canada Elections to establish whether
there had been compliance with sections 423(1), 431 and 463 of the Canada Elections Act,
specifically whether the expenses claimed as election expenses in relation to the media buy
were acceptable as election expenses that were incurred by the candidates and were eligible
for reimbursement in accordance with section 465 of the Canada Elections Act or whether
they were expenses incurred by the Conservative Party of Canada and the Party had
consequently exceeded its spending limit for election expenses.
Page 18
MEDIA BUY TRANSACTIONS AS DESCRIBED IN DOCUMENTS PROVIDED BY

ELECTIONS CANADA
57. The documents mentioned in paragraphs 58 - 62 were filed with Elections Canada by
various candidates with their Candidate ' s Electoral Campaign Return. As explained below
(paragraphs 58 - 62), within a short period of time , typically the same day, funds were
transferred from the Conservative Fund Canada to the accounts of the participating
candidates and then transferred back to the Conservative Fund Canada by pre-authorized
bank wire transfer instructions signed by the official agent of the candidate prior to the
initial transfer to the candidate . Deposits into the accounts and the corresponding transfers
back to the Conservative Fund Canada were directed by and under the control and direction
of the Conservative Fund Canada . These payments are described as "in-and-out payments".
58. The in-and-out payments are explained in an email dated December 20, 2005 sent by
Mr. Michael Donison, then Executive Director of the Conservative Party of Canada. The
email asks Mr. Byng Giraud , Conservative Party of Canada National Councillor for British
Columbia , to advise concerned official agents of the steps in accordance with which
transfers would be made to pay for the media buy invoice . The invoice was provided to the
participating candidates by the Conservative Fund Canada . The e-mail (Appendix 14)
concludes by saying:
"... no monies will be transferred from the Fund to the Candidate to pay for this
invoice until the Fund has received a signed and completed bank wire instruction
form from the official agent. "
59. An email (Appendix 15), which appears to be dated January 4, 2006 , from Mr. Brian
Hudson, Conservative Party of Canada National Councillor, Newfoundland and Labrador,
forwards instructions dated December 30, 2005 from Ms. Susan Kehoe , (then) Chief
Financial Officer of the Conservative Party of Canada , concerning the steps by which
monies would be deposited to the participating campaign accounts . The gist of these
communications is that candidates participating would pay the Conservative Fund with
monies almost contemporaneously provided by the Conservative Fund Canada for that
purpose . Payment would be based on the invoice issued by the Conservative Fund Canada.
60. In her forwarded e-mail (part of Appendix 15), Ms. Kehoe states:
"It would appear that a point of question comingforth, from the official agents ... is
how do they treat the monies being forwarded to them by the National Party on their
books.
It is to be recorded as a Transfer, from the Registered Party and gill be recorded on

Part 2Hofthe C: andidate 's Electoral Campaign Return in the Statement of Transfers
Received ... in column I "Alonetary " under Registered Party. "
Page 19
She goes on to state:
"The paid invoices kill be recorded in Part 3,,1 , the Statement of Electoral
Campaign E:tpenses ... under ... Column 1 ' Advertising - RadioiT1"'. "
61. In his e-mail noted in Appendix 15, Mr. Hudson states:
"Having gone through all the documents now, I have realized this is a transfer in
and then back out, same day. You will still be able to use the 60% you will get back
from this amount after filing election expenses in whatever way your team desires
(pay off election debt or use towards credit). "
"The invoice will for each candidate will be in the amount as indicated in my
preceding e-mail. The transfer will be in the same amount. Therefore, as agreed
there will be not net cost or cash flow impact. The paid invoice can be included in
paid election expenses subject to the 60% rebate that the candidate gets to keep
[sic]."
62. A Toronto based company, Retail Media, was retained by the Conservative Party of
Canada or the Conservative Fund Canada to act as the agent to purchase broadcast time for
radio and television advertising during the 39`" federal general election . On January 15,
2007 Mr. Andrew Kumpf, Vice President of Retail Media, wrote (Appendix 16) to Ms.
Manon Hamel , Acting Director, Political Finance and Audit at Elections Canada . The letter
was forwarded to Ms . Hamel by Mr. Donison , (then) Executive Director of the
Conservative Party of Canada . The letter described the role of Retail Media as the:
"supplier/agency of record for the media buys made by the Conservative Party of
Canada and the official agents for participating Conservative candidates in the 39th
Federal Election that took place in November 2005 and January 2006 and that we
mutually entered into an agreement to provide media buys."
He also indicated in his letter:
4'...appropriate invoices reflecting goods and services rendered were separately

issued to participating Conservative Candidates and to the registered parry based on
the d segments identified."
INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEW OF SENIOR OFFICERS OF RETAIL MEDIA
63. On October 15, 2007 Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville and I met with Mr. Andrew
Kumpf, Vice President of Broadcast Operations, Retail Media, Ms. Marilyn Dixon, Chief
Operating Officer of Retail Media and Mediacom, Mr. David Campbell, President and CEO
Page 20
ofGroupM Canada ( a company I was told by Mr. Campbell is related to Retail Media and
Mediacom) and their legal counsel . Mr. Malcolm N . Ruby. Paragraphs 63 - 80 relate to that
meeting.
64. I am aware that the Broadcasting Guidelines for the 39`h federal general election
(Appendix 17) as issued by the Broadcasting Arbitrator (paragraph 14), lists Mr. Andrew
Kumpf of Retail Media as the Authorized Agent for the purchase of broadcasting time for
the Conservative Party of Canada. Mr. Kumpf's address is listed as 150 Bloor Street West,
Suite 705, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2X9. Mr. Kumpf confirmed that this is the address of
Retail Media. On December 12, 2007 I was advised through counsel to Retail Media that
RMI Retail Media is a division of The Media Company/ MBS, an Ontario General
Partnership of Grey Advertising ULC and Media Buying Services ULC.
65. Mr. Kumpf advised me that Retail Media is not a news gathering agency , nor does it
report news and it is not a creative agency, i.e. it does not create or produce the advertising
itself. Retail Media is a company engaged in purchasing broadcast advertising time on
behalf of its clients.
66. I was advised by Mr. Kumpf that no formal contract existed between Retail Media and
the Conservative Party of Canada . He said that each time the purchase of air time was
required by the Conservative Party of Canada, a verbal agreement between these parties was
followed up with a purchase authorization to obtain media advertising . Mr. Campbell
stated that Retail Media required payment in full from the Conservative Party of Canada 1
Conservative Fund Canada , in advance of purchasing advertising air time.
67. Mr. Kumpf advised me that no contracts between Retail Media and participating
candidates or official agents were entered into . He also stated that the agreement for the
purchase of broadcast air time was between Retail Media and the Conservative Party of
Canada on an ad hoc basis.
68. During the October 15, 2007 meeting, Mr. Kumpf stated that Retail Media typically
dealt with the following persons at the Conservative Party of Canada to make such
agreements:
-Mr. Patrick Muttart , Strategic Planner for the Conservative Party of Canada
-Mr. Mike Donison, (then) Executive Director of the Conservative Party of Canada,
and
-Ms. Susan Kehoe , (then) Chief Financial Officer , Conservative Party of Canada
69. During the October 15, 2007 meeting with Mr . Kumpf, et al, Mr. Kumpf stated that
Retail Media provided the Conservative Party of Canada with 4 invoices for services
relating to the purchase of advertising air time during the 39th federal general election. I
was not provided with copies of these invoices . Mr. Kumpf said these invoices were issued
in 4 segments identified as:
Page 21
1) Media Buy - Rest of Canada (excluding Quebec) - Registered Party

2) Media Buy - Participating Candidates
3) Media Buy - Quebec- Registered Party, and
4) Media Buy - Quebec - Participating Candidates.
70. Mr. Kumpf indicated that although Retail Media issued the four invoices noted above to
the Conservative Party of Canada with respect to the advertising air time purchased by
Retail Media on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada, only two of the invoices
pertain to the media buy transactions identified by Ms. Hamel of Elections Canada:
2) Media Buy - Participating Candidates, and

4) Media Buy - Quebec - Participating Candidates.
71. Mr. Kumpf and Ms. Dixon stated that the four invoices totalled just under $9,000,000.
Ms. Dixon stated that the four invoices, noted above , were generated on January 1, 2006
and provided to the Conservative Party of Canada. None of these invoices has been filed
with Elections Canada by The Conservative Party of Canada or the Conservative Fund
Canada because registered parties are not required by law to file supporting documentation
to justify the election expenses claimed in their Returns.
72. Mr. Kumpf stated that Retail Media had no contact whatsoever with individual
candidates, the candidates ' Official Agents or their campaign teams . Mr. Kumpf stated that
information relating to the participating candidates and recorded in the invoices by Retail
Media came to Retail Media directly from Ms. Kehoe.
73. Ms. Dixon stated as well that the amounts to be allocated to each electoral district /
candidate on the invoices were provided to Retail Media by Ms. Kehoe . These statements
are in contradiction to Ms . O'Grady ' s letter of January 25 , 2007 (paragraph 49 and
Appendix 11) in which she states that the amounts to be allocated were determined by
Retail Media. I believe that target amounts were provided to Retail Media by the
Conservative Party of Canada or the Conservative Fund Canada and that actual allocations
for candidate campaigns were carried out by Retail Media (paragraph 170 - 222).
74. I note that the documentation filed with Elections Canada by the 14 candidates (plus the
unsolicited 15`h candidate ) (Appendix 8 and paragraphs 37 - 46) from whom additional
supporting documentation was requested , includes a breakdown of the number of times an
advertisement ran in various geographic regions. I note as well a number of instances in
which the number of ads held out as benefiting candidates in contiguous electoral districts
or the same geographic region is exactly the same , yet the amounts allocated to each
candidate as the value of the benefit vary considerably. I note that the amounts allocated fit
within the difference between the amounts spent by a given candidate and the allowable'
election spending limit for that candidate (paragraph 106, 113). The advertising data filed
with Elections Canada was aggregated and charted by Ms. Marion Hamel of Political
Financing and Audit and is attached (Appendix 18).
Page 22
75. As an example of the invoices filed with Elections Canada, I showed the representatives
of Retail Media an invoice in the amount of $39,999.91 (Appendix 23) filed by the
candidate for the electoral district of York South-Weston, who was one of the 14 candidates
(paragraph 37) contacted by Elections Canada for additional information subsequent to the
tiling of Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return following the 39`h federal general election.
Upon viewing the document, which bears the letterhead of Retail Media, Ms. Dixon
speculated that this invoice must have been altered or created by someone , because it did
not conform to the appearance of the invoices sent by Retail Media to the Conservative
Party of Canada with respect to the media buy.
76. I note that during the meeting with the representatives of Retail Media, none of the
executives contradicted or corrected any of the statements made by the other executives
present.
77. Mr. Ruby, legal counsel for Retail Media, advised Elections Canada investigators that
Retail Media would deliver the relevant documents in the possession of Retail Media in
response to a Production Order . Mr. Kumpf indicated to me that he would be prepared to
deliver the relevant documentation to Elections Canada investigators at the place of
business of Retail Media , or at another mutually agreeable place to be arranged , within a
period of 30 days from the day of service of a Production Order.
78. As indicated at paragraph 167, subsequent to the October 15 , 2007 meeting with
officials of Retail Media I served a Production Order on Retail Media and received
documentation. This documentation is discussed in paragraphs 80, 156 , 167 - 222.
79. Appendix 23 is an invoice # 1101868 -1, dated January 1, 2006 filed with the Chief
Electoral Officer by the candidate for the Electoral District of York South - Weston (one of
the 14 candidates from whom the Chief Electoral Officer sought additional information
(Appendix 7)). The invoice appears to be a version of the invoice received via a Production
Order served on Retail Media (paragraphs 167, 168 ) at Appendix 20, however the only
itemized data showing in the invoice at Appendix 23, which I showed to the officials of
Retail Media, is the amount invoiced to the Electoral District of York South - Weston. The
other 40 Electoral Districts which appear on the invoice at Appendix 20 have been blocked
out. Handwritten onto the invoice at Appendix 23 (I do not know by whom) are. the words
"GST = 39,999.91."
80. Among the documents I received pursuant to the execution of the Production Order, I
note that an invoice # 1101868 - 1, also dated January 1, 2006 in the amount of $39.999.91
(including GST), pertaining to the Electoral District of York South- Weston was included
(Appendix 19). I do not know why the invoice at Appendix 19 was not filed by the
candidate with the Chief Electoral Officer instead of the hand-written amount indicated in
the invoice which was filed (Appendix 23 and also part of Appendix 8).
INTERVIEWS OF PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES and OFFICIAL AGENTS
Page 23
81. Investigators of the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections were able to
schedule and conduct structured interviews with 14 of the 67 candidates and/or their official
agents, and conducted a telephone interview with an official agent to one of the 67
candidates, as indicated below. In addition, one structured interview was conducted with an
Elections Canada auditor. The 14 structured interviews conducted do not correspond to the
14 candidates from whom additional information was sought by the Chief Electoral Officer
(described above at paragraphs 37 - 46).
82. In addition to the interviews actually conducted and set out below, during the period July
1, 2007 to September 30, 2007, I am aware that attempts were made by investigators of the
Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections to schedule 18 additional interviews. Of
these 18 attempts, 16 individuals declined to be interviewed and stated to investigators that
they have been advised by counsel to the Conservative Party of Canada that they should not
speak with Elections Canada investigators without the involvement of counsel to the
Conservative Party of Canada. Many potential interviewees cited civil litigation
commenced by two official agents against the Chief Electoral Officer as the reason for
declining to be interviewed. The Commissioner of Canada Elections is not a party to this
litigation.
83. In addition to the 16 who declined to be interviewed, one Official Agent refused to meet
with Elections Canada investigators and one candidate did not return calls. This comprises
the 18 mentioned in paragraph 82.
84. The following candidates and/or official agents were part of the 67 campaigns identified
by Elections Canada in the referral as having participated in the media buy from their
electoral campaign returns. They were contacted by investigators of the Office of the
Commissioner of Canada Elections and agreed to be interviewed:
Landry / Vallieres
85. On July 2, 2007, Assistant Chief Investigator R. Pruneau interviewed and obtained
separate statements from Mr. Jean Landry, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in
the 39th federal general election of January 23, 2006, in the electoral district of Richmond-
Arthabaska (Quebec) and his official agent, Ms. Lise Vallieres. Both Mr. Landry and Ms.
Vallieres stated that they were not familiar with Retail Media.
86. When asked about his involvement in the media buy transaction, Mr. Landry stated that
he travelled to Montreal with his official agent in December 2005 and spoke with a
Conservative Party of Canada Quebec organizer, Mr. Pierre Coulombe. The purpose of this
visit was to obtain election posters.
87. Mr. Landry stated that he was told by Mr. Coulombe that $30,000 would be deposited in
Mr. Landry's campaign account. He was not to spend this money but Mr. Coulombe told
him that he could count on an $18,000 return on it because Elections Canada would provide
him with a reimbursement of 60% of the $30,000 ($18,000) when the $30,000 was.claimed
Page 24
as an election expense.
88. Mr. Landry said that Mr. Rivard, another Conservative Party of Canada organizer for the
Province of Quebec, provided verbal instructions to Mr. Landry on how this infusion of
funds should be reported in the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return. Mr. Landry's
campaign was provided with an invoice of $26,039.15 by the Conservative Fund Canada for
election advertising under the 'media buy' initiative. Mr. Landry stated that the difference
between the $30,000 deposited in the campaign account and the $26,039.15 withdrawal
from this same account, approximately $4,000, was to cover the cost of posters, which was
the reason for meeting with Mr. Coulombe.
89. Ms. Vallieres told Assistant Chief Investigator Pruneau that she provided the
Conservative Fund Canada with the necessary banking information and signed the wire
bank transfer instruction authorization for the withdrawal of funds from the official agent's
bank account to pay for the `media buy' invoice. She also stated that on or about January 6,
2006, $30,009.15 was deposited from the Conservative Fund Canada to the campaign
account. She stated that on or about January 12, 2006, the amount of $26,039.15 (which
included a bank administrative fee of $90) was withdrawn from the account by the
Conservative Fund Canada via the pre-signed wire transfer document.
90. Ms. Vallieres stated that she did not enter into a contract with any media company for
this media buy advertising nor did she provide written authorization to anyone else to incur
costs on behalf of the campaign.
91. I have examined the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return filed by Mr. Landry and
Ms. Vallieres as provided by Elections Canada and find that, subject to the qualifier in.
paragraph 92, the information in the return aligns with the information provided in their
respective statements.
92. Mr. Landry was one of the 14 candidates from whom additional supporting information
was sought from the Chief Electoral Officer (paragraph 37). Of those 14, he is one of the 6
candidates from Quebec from whom additional information was sought (paragraph 37). I
note that the package submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer by Mr. Landry includes an
invoice issued on January 1, 2006 by Retail Media, for "January 2006 media expenditure"
(radio) costing $9,264.94, plus GST ($648.55) and provincial tax (743.51), for a total of
$10,657. Also part of the package submitted by Mr. Landry is an invoice issued on
1/3/2006 (I presume this to be January 3, 2006) by the Conservative Fund Canada indicating
that the candidate's "share of media buy costs" was $21,240.57. The Conservative Fund
Canada invoice also indicates the candidate's "share of advertising production" cost was
$4,798.58, for a total invoice cost of $26,039.15 (no taxes are indicated in this invoice)
(Appendix 48). I am not aware of the reason for the difference between the amount of the
Retail Media invoice and the invoice from the Conservative Fund Canada.
93. I was advised by Mr. Kumpf of Retail Media that Retail Media does not create or
produce advertising (paragraph 65), therefore the item pertaining to production costs noted
Page 25
in the Conservative Fund Canada invoice (paragraphs 49, 53, 136, 146, 148, 224) must
relate to a separate contract for production. No such contract has been filed with Elections
Canada by the candidate; I have no knowledge of the nature of the production costs charged
to Mr. Landry by the Conservative Fund Canada.
Page 26
DeSouza / Creech
94. On July 4, 2007, Assistant Chief Investigator P. Pottier interviewed and obtained
statements from Mr. T. DeSouza, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the
electoral district of Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca (British Columbia) and his official agent, Mr.
A. Creech. These individuals were interviewed in the presence of each other, with Mr.
Creech being interviewed first.
95. Mr. Creech stated that the Campaign Manager, Mr. Geoff Donald, advised him in
December 2005, that the campaign would participate in a'National Media Buy' and that the
Conservative Party of Canada would transfer funds to finance the purchase of the
advertisements. Mr. Creech stated that he did not know of `media buy' and the
arrangements were made through Mr. Donald.
96. Mr. Creech, as official agent, said he received instruction in the form of an email from
Mr. Donison (then Executive Director of the Conservative Party of Canada) addressed to
Mr. Byng Giraud, Conservative Party of Canada National Councillor for British Columbia,
dated December 20, 2005 (Appendix 14) advising of the steps to be taken for the transfer of
funds. As per the instructions, Mr. Creech said he provided the Conservative Fund Canada
with the necessary banking information and signed the required bank wire transfer
authorization to allow the Conservative Fund Canada to withdraw a sum of money
equivalent to the funds transferred into the campaign account by the Conservative Fund
Canada.
97. The official agent reported these transactions in parts 2h and 3a of the Candidate's
Electoral Campaign Return as provided by Elections Canada. Mr. Creech commented,
'from my prospective (sic) this was straightforward; I received a transfer and I paid for the
media."
98. The Official Agent, Mr. Creech, stated that he did not enter into a contract with a media
company for this media buy advertising nor did he provide written authorization to anyone
else to incur costs on behalf of the campaign.
99. The candidate , Mr. DeSouza, stated that he had no knowledge of the ` media buy' until
contacted by Elections Canada investigators . At the conclusion of his statement, when
reviewing his answers , Mr. DeSouza wrote in his own handwriting "Clearly, this was an
Ottait a organized effort ifover 60 campaigns were involved."
100. I have examined the mandatory Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return filed for Mr.
DeSouza's campaign as provided by Elections Canada. The return indicates that on January
6, 2006 the Conservative Party of Canada transferred $9,996.85 into the official agent's
campaign bank account, and that on January 13, 2006 an amount of $10,016.15 was paid to
the Conservative Party of Canada from the same account.
101. Filed with the return was an invoice, dated January 4, 2006, issued to the DeSouza
Page 27
campaign by the Conservative Fund Canada. The invoice of $9.999.15, describes the cost
as "2005-2006 Candidate share of niedia advertisement. (.'andidate share of media
advertisement purchased as agreect to,lor the 2005-2006 election - (Appendix 49).
102. I have examined the bank records tiled by the DeSouza campaign pertaining to the 39`h
federal general election, as provided by Elections Canada. I note that on January 11, 2006
the amount of $9,996.85 was deposited into the campaign account by wire transfer from the
"Conservative Party" and that on the same date, the amount of $10,016.15 was transferred
out of the account as per the Bank Wire Instruction signed by Mr. Creech on January 4,
2006, and directed to the Conservative Fund Canada. The wire transfer represents the
amount of $9,999.15 invoiced to Mr. DeSouza by the Conservative Fund Canada plus wire
transfer fees which appear to total $17.00.
Mailer
103. On September 14, 2007 I, along with Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville,
interviewed Mr. Dan Mailer, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the electoral
district of London - Fanshawe in the 39th federal general election. Mr. Mailer stated that he
had no specific knowledge of media advertising during his campaign, other than being
aware of a program of the Conservative Party of Canada through which advertising
expenses would be incurred by a candidate, but paid for by the Conservative Party of
Canada. Mr. Mailer deferred to his Official Agent, Mr. David Pallett, to provide specifics
of the program.
Pallett
104. On September 14, 2007, I along with Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville,
interviewed Mr. David Pallett, the Official Agent for candidate Dan Mailer the
Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the electoral district of London - Fanshawe in
the 39`h federal general election.
105. Mr. Pallett stated that the campaign was minimally funded and frugal. Most advertising
involved local print media and radio stations as well as lawn signs. He stated that a sum of
approximately $10,000 was deposited into the candidate's account from the Conservative
Party of Canada for a mix of advertising, and that the Conservative Party of Canada would
determine '`tit hat it,as best for our area". He believed that the Conservative Party of Canada
also provided brochures, but was not certain whether or not the cost of these brochures was
included in the $10,000 deposit.
106. Mr. Pallett went on to say that sometime prior to the deposit of the funds, he received a
telephone call from the Conservative Party of Canada (he could not recall from whom)
asking if there was room in the campaign spending limit to allow for a deposit by the
Conservative Party of Canada into the candidate's account. Mr. Pallett indicated that he did
Page 28
not anticipate spending to the limit allowed for the campaign and confirmed that there was
room. He recalls a conversation with someone at the National Offices of the Conservative
Party of Canada pertaining to advertising, and states he provided verbal authorization to
proceed with the transfer of funds for advertising.
107. Mr. Pallett stated that he did not enter into a contract with a media company for
advertising nor did he provide written authorization to anyone else to incur costs on behalf
of the campaign. He is not familiar with the company Retail Media.
108. Mr. Pallett stated that his assumption was that since the scheme of transferring funds
emanated from the Conservative Party of Canada, it was a legal process.
109. 1 have reviewed the return filed by Mr. Mailer with Elections Canada and note an
invoice dated December 23, 2005 from the Conservative Fund Canada in the amount of
$9,999.15, issued to the Dan Mailer campaign. An entry in the Candidate's Electoral
Campaign Return, Part 2h, shows a transfer of $9,999.15 to the campaign account from the
Conservative Fund Canada on January 6, 2006. On January 10, 2006, $9,999.15 was
transferred from the Official Agent's campaign account to the Conservative Fund Canada
bank account in Ottawa.
Goldstein
interviewed Mr. Sam Goldstein, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the
electoral district of Trinity-Spadina in the 391h federal general election. Mr. Goldstein did
not confirm or deny his involvement in the media funding program.
111. Mr. Goldstein also indicated that he would respond to our questions in writing. As at the
time of swearing this Information, he has not yet provided a response,
Lowry
112. On September 10, 2007 , I along with Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville,
interviewed Mr. Douglas K. Lowry, the Official Agent for Mr. Sam Goldstein, the
Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the electoral district of Trinity-Spadina in the
39'h federal general election.
113. Mr. Lowry stated that during the election period, on or about December 1, 2005, he was
contacted by Ms. Suzanne McArthur of the Conservative Party of Canada and asked if he
was expecting to exceed his spending limitation cap during the election period. He
indicated to her that he expected to be approximately $50,000 below the campaign election
spending limit. Ms. McArthur then proposed to him that the Conservative Party of Canada
would deposit approximately that amount into the campaign account, and if the candidate
Page 29
received at least 10% of the vote, the campaign would receive a rebate of 60% of eligible
election expenses. Mr. Lowry said he recognized that adding this amount to the election
expenses amount would increase the reimbursement by an additional $30,000. I do not
know the role played by Ms. McArthur.
114. Mr. Lowry stated he received written instructions from Ms. McArthur as to the means
through which the funds were to be deposited into the campaign account and how they were
to be returned immediately to the Conservative Party of Canada. There was no discussion
pertaining to the advertising or its benefit to the Goldstein campaign. Mr. Lowry was
simply instructed to post the funds as an advertising expense, and he did so.
115. Mr. Lowry has no knowledge whatsoever of the company Retail Media.
116. I have reviewed the return filed by Mr. Goldstein and Mr. Lowry, with Elections Canada
and note that on December 28, 2005 the sum of $49,989.88 was transferred by wire from
the Conservative Fund Canada to Mr. Goldstein's campaign account. I note as well that on
January 3, 2006, $50,049.98 was transferred by wire out of the campaign account to the
bank account of the Conservative Fund Canada. This movement of funds was related to an
invoice in the amount of $49,999.88, dated December 23, 2005, issued to the Goldstein
campaign by the Conservative Fund Canada.
Halicki
117. On September 12, 2007, I along with Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville interviewed
Mr. Steven Halicki , the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the electoral district of
York South-Weston in the 39`h federal general election.
118. Mr. Halicki stated that campaign media advertising during the election period consisted
of advertising in the local newspaper, community papers, lawn signs and hand-outs /
brochures in the electoral district. The campaign manager, Mr. Rom Cimaroli looked after
the advertising.
119. Mr. Halicki stated that the deposit of almost $40,000 into his campaign account and the
transfer of the same amount back to the Conservative Party of Canada "stemmed from Parry
Headquarters" and was dealt with by his campaign staff. He has no recollection of any
conversation with anyone concerning the amount of room remaining in his campaign
spending limit, but stated several times during the interview that finances were not an area
he concerned himself with and left those details to his campaign management team.
120. He stated he believed that the potential for a 60% rebate from Elections Canada on
election expenses was a creative means through which the Conservative Party of Canada
intended to assist with funding for various campaigns.
Page 30
Soderberg
121. On September 10, 2007, I along with Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville interviewed
Ms. Barbro Soderberg, the Official Agent for Mr. Steven Halicki, the Conservative Party of
Canada candidate for the electoral district of York South-Weston in the 39'h federal general
election.
122. Ms. Soderberg indicated that she did not provide written authorization to anyone to incur
expenses on behalf of the campaign . She stated that campaign advertising relied on
advertising in local newspapers.
123. Ms. Soderberg stated that in December, 2005 she was approached by the Conservative
Party of Canada, through the campaign manager, Mr. Rom Cimaroli, concerning a proposal
to deposit funds totalling approximately $40,000 into the campaign account, which would
be immediately transferred back to the Conservative Party of Canada. The funds were to be
recorded as an advertising expense for the campaign. Ms. Soderberg stated she spoke with
Ms. Hanh Tran and Ms. Susan Kehoe; two financially literate persons, both of the
Conservative Party of Canada, and was assured by each that this process was legal. I know
Ms. Kehoe to be the current Interim Executive Director of the Conservative Party of
Canada. I do not know Ms. Tran's title.
124. Ms. Sodenberg stated that she has no knowledge whatsoever of Retail Media. She went
on to state:
"...I had contacted the Conservative Party in Ottawa and was re-assured that this
was. OK As a bookkeeper I know that sometimes you have to use creative
accounting between two small companies, but I found this move was being a little
too creative."
125. I have reviewed the return filed with Elections Canada by Mr. Halicki and Ms.
Soderberg and note that banking records included show that on January 13, 2006, the sum
of $39,999.91 was deposited by wire payment from the Conservative Fund Canada into the
campaign bank account. Bank records also indicate that on January 18, 2006, the sum of
$39.999.91 was withdrawn by bank wire transfer. This transfer of funds is related to an
invoice of $39,999.91, dated January 4, 2006, from the Conservative Fund Canada, relating
to the media buy.
Laberge
126. On September 19, 2006. Elections Canada Assistant Chief Investigator A. Thouin and
Assistant Chief Investigator R. Lincourt interviewed Mr. Yves Laberge, the Conservative
Party of Canada candidate for the electoral district of Montmorency-Charlevoix-Haute Cote
Nord in the 39'h federal general election. Mr. Laberge said he became a candidate on
December 8, 2005, after the writ of election was signed on November 29, 2005, by
Page 31
contacting the Conservative Party of Canada and offering to run. He was assigned to the
Electoral District of Montmorency-Charlevoix-Haute Cote Nord. Mr. Laberge had no
political experience prior to this involvement and only became a Conservative Party of
Canada member during the year 2006. Mr. Laberge realized that he had no chance of being
elected but entered the campaign as a personal experience.
127.. Mr. Laberge advised the Elections Canada investigators that he informed the
Conservative Party of Canada that he had no financial resources . Mr. Laberge met with and
had several exchanges with Mr. Robert Loranger , a Conservative Party organizer for the
eastern part of the province of Quebec . Mr. Loranger also introduced and provided Mr.
Henri Gagnon as the Official Agent for Mr. Laberge. Mr. Loranger told Mr. Laberge that
the Conservative Party of Canada would look after his publicity , which would consist of
advertisements in local newspapers and radio stations.
128. In December 2005, Mr. Laberge was informed by Mr. Loranger that the publicity
campaign had been developed and was to be launched in the near future . Mr. Laberge
indicated that he heard regional messages during the campaign, which he took to be
advertising placed by the Conservative Party of Canada, in which the name of his Official
Agent was mentioned along with other Candidates or Official Agents in his region. He did
not have any input regarding the content nor did he enter into any contract or any form of
agreement for that publicity pursuant to section 446 of the Canada Elections Act.
129. Mr. Laberge indicated to Assistant Chief Investigator Thouin that Mr. Michel Rivard, a
Conservative Party of Canada organizer for the Province of Quebec , told him (Mr. Laberge)
that there would be a transfer of money into his campaign bank account and this would
allow him to purchase his signage.
130. The Laberge campaign received two invoices from the Conservative Fund Canada. The
first was dated 31 December 2005, for signage totalling $3,985. The second was dated 3
January 2006, for publicity totalling $24,641.34. The two invoices totalled $28 ,626.34
(Appendix 50).
131. On January 13, 2006 the Conservative Fund Canada wire transferred $28,611.34
($28,626.34 less a $ 15 bank fee ) into the Laberge campaign bank account and on the same
date, by way of wire transfer, $28,701.34 ($28,626.34 plus a $75 bank fee) was transferred
back to the Conservative Fund Canada bank account (Appendix 50).
132. Mr. Laberge informed Assistant Chief Investigator Thouin that there was no mention to
him from Conservative Party of Canada officials of the fact that he could be eligible to
receive a 60% reimbursement to his campaign from Elections Canada for his election
expenses.
133. Mr. Laberge stated that his Official Agent, Mr. Gagnon, had the Candidate's Electoral
Campaign Return reviewed by Mr. Rivard to ensure its accuracy . Mr. Laberge felt that the
regional publicity was favourable to his campaign.
Page 32
134. Assistant Chief Investigator Thouin sought to interview the Official Agent, Henri
Gagnon, however Mr. Gagnon refused to be interviewed by Elections Canada investigators.
135. I have reviewed the return filed by Mr. Laberge and Mr. Gagnon with Elections Canada
and note that included banking records show that on January 12, 2006, the sum of
$28,611.34 was (wire) deposited to the campaign bank account and on the same date,
January 12, 2006, the sum of $28,701.34 was (wire) transferred from the campaign bank
account to the Conservative Fund Canada. These transfers were related to 2 invoices from
the Conservative Fund Canada. The first, dated January 3, 2006, was in the amount of
$24,641.34. This included $20,100.35 for the candidate's share of media buy costs and
$4,540.99 for the candidate's share of advertising production (totalling $24,641.34). The
second invoice, dated December 31, 2005 was in the amount of $3,985, and indicates it was
for signage for the 2005-2006 election campaign. The total of the two invoices is
$28,626.34. (Appendix 50)
136. I was advised by Mr Kumpf of Retail Media that Retail Media does not carry out
production of advertising (paragraph 65), therefore the item pertaining to production costs
noted in the Conservative Fund Canada invoice (paragraphs 49, 53, 93, 146, 148, 224)
must relate to a separate contract for production. No such contract has been filed with
Elections Canada by the candidate. I have no knowledge of the nature of the production
costs charged to Mr Laberge by the Conservative Fund Canada.
Caldwell
137. On September 17, 2006, Assistant Chief Investigator R. Lincourt and Assistant Chief
Investigator A. Thouin interviewed and obtained a statement from Mr. Gary Caldwell,
candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the electoral district of Compton-
Stanstead.
138. Mr. Caldwell stated that he was aware that the permitted campaign limit of election
expenses for his electoral district was approximately $74,000.00, but Mr. Caldwell's
objective was to limit the expenditures of the campaign to less than $15,000.00 and his plan
was to limit electoral campaign advertising to regional newspapers and two radio stations.
139. Mr. Caldwell indicated to Assistant Chief Investigator Lincourt that in the second half of
his campaign he received a call from Mr. Michel Rivard , a Conservative Party of Canada
organizer for the Province of Quebec, who stated that the Conservative Party of Canada had
money for French radio and television advertising in the Province of Quebec. Mr. Caldwell
stated that the advertising did not focus on him as the candidate for Compton-Stanstead, and
that both he and his Official Agent , Mr. Fauteux, were of the opinion that this advertising
initiative from the Conservative Party of Canada focused on Mr. Harper, as leader, and the
Conservative Party of Canada itself.
Page 33
140. Mr. Caldwell told Assistant Chief Investigator Lincourt that Mr. Rivard instructed him
(Mr. Caldwell) that he would receive money and then return it to the Conservative Fund
Canada. According to Mr. Caldwell "It u,as clear that the money came from the Party and
u,as returning to the Party. " Mr. Caldwell stated that he and his Official Agent were told
by Mr. Rivard that they would receive a reimbursement of 60% of the advertising expenses
from Elections Canada. Mr. Caldwell told Assistant Chief Investigator Lincourt that when
Mr. Rivard called him, Mr. Caldwell agreed to pay a share of the National Party Advertising
with the funds forthcoming from the Conservative Fund Canada, however Mr. Caldwell did
not contract directly with any advertising or media agency.
141. The Caldwell campaign received two invoices from the Conservative Fund Canada. I
have reviewed the documents as filed with Elections Canada. The first was dated
December 31, 2005, for signage totalling $3,985. The second was dated January 3, 2006, for
media buy $27,125.16 and advertising production of $6,128.01, totalling $33,253.17. The
two invoices totalled $37,238.17 (Appendix 51).
142. I was advised by Mr Kumpf of Retail Media that they did not carry out the production of
advertising (paragraph 67), therefore the item pertaining to production costs noted in the
Conservative Fund Canada invoice (paragraphs 49, 53, 93, 136,146, 148, 224) must relate
to a separate contract for production. No such contract has been filed with Elections
Canada by the candidate; I have no knowledge of the nature of the production costs charged
to this campaign by the Conservative Fund Canada.
Fauteux
143. On September 18, 2006, Assistant Chief Investigators R. Lincourt and A. Thouin
interviewed and obtained a statement from Mr. Rejean Fauteux, Official Agent for Mr. Gary
Caldwell, candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the electoral district of
Compton-Stanstead.
144. Mr. Fauteux stated that he had received two invoices from the Conservative Fund
Canada, one of which, in the amount of $3,985.00 was for the electoral signs, and another
invoice in the amount of $33,253.17 for the candidate's share in the national advertising
campaign.
145. Mr. Fauteux indicated to Assistant Chief Investigator Lincourt that he did not contract
with any advertising or media agency with regards to these invoices. Mr. Fauteux did not
provide written authorisation to anyone to incur any expense or enter into any contract on
behalf of the campaign as per section 446 of the Canada Elections Act.
146. I have reviewed the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return tiled by Mr. Caldwell and
Mr. Fauteux with Elections Canada and note that bank statements indicate that on January
20, 2006, the sum of $37,238.17 was deposited by wire transaction into the campaign bank
account by the Conservative Fund Canada. The return also verified that on the same day,
Page 34
January 20, 2006, the sum of $37,243.17 ($37,238.17 plus a $5 bank fee) was transferred
from the campaign account by way of a wire transfer to the Conservative Fund Canada bank
account. This action was related to the two invoices (noted at paragraph 141) submitted to
the Caldwell campaign by the Conservative Fund Canada. The first, dated December 31.
2005, in the amount of $3,985, for signage, and the second. dated January 3, 2006, in the
amount of $33,253.17, for media buy and advertising production costs. The second invoice
indicates that $27,125.16 was the candidate's share of the media buy cost and allocated
$6,128.01 for the candidate's share of advertising production costs. The two invoices total
$37,238.17 (Appendix 51).
147. On March 1, 2007 Mr. Fauteux filed with Elections Canada an amended Candidate's
Electoral Campaign Return, withdrawing the $37,243.17 as an election expense. Since this
action resulted in the expense being no longer eligible to qualify for the 60% reimbursement
from Elections Canada, the Official Agent sent a cheque for approximately $4,000.00 to
Elections Canada to reimburse the 15% advance that the campaign had previously received
pursuant to subsection 464(1)(c) of the Canada Elections Act.
148. I was advised by Mr. Kumpf of Retail Media that Retail Media does not carry out
production of advertising (paragraph 67). The item pertaining to production costs noted in
the Conservative Fund Canada invoice (paragraph 49, 53, 93, 142, 146, 224) must relate to
a separate contract for production. No such contract has been filed with Elections Canada
by the candidate. I have no knowledge of the nature of the production costs charged to Mr.
Caldwell by the Conservative Fund Canada.
McDonald
interviewed and obtained a statement from Mr. Perry McDonald, the Official Agent for Mr.
Garreth McDonald, the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the electoral district of
Winnipeg-North in the 391h federal general election.
150. I reviewed the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return filed with Elections Canada by
official agent Perry McDonald, and noted that there was no claim for the candidate's
participation in the media buy initiative.
151. During our interview, Mr. McDonald remembered "signing on to something to do tivith a
local radio station called CJOB." Mr. McDonald stated that this was possibly arranged
through Mr. Jim Moore. Conservative Party of Canada organiser for Manitoba. Mr.
McDonald could not remember any cost for this ad on CJOB radio , since he did not receive
an invoice from CJOB. In my presence he reviewed the Candidate ' s Electoral Campaign
Return that he completed as Official Agent and confirmed that no such invoice had been
reported.
152. Mr. McDonald was not aware of and could not recall receiving any invoice or invoices,
Page 35
from either Retail Media or the Conservative Fund Canada, with regard to a media buy for
the 2006 election. When asked if he remembered the Conservative Fund Canada forwarding
money to his campaign bank account. which he then returned to the Conservative Fund
Canada, he replied that this seemed familiar. Mr. McDonald said
"I do seem to recall a wash in and out of our account. I do seem to recall an entry of
S6,500 and then it ows taken out again. This is what 1 mean by a wash. It meant SO
for me in my calculation of the cost of the campaign."
153. On instructions from Mr McDonald, the Assiniboine Credit Union. Charleswood Branch
on January 8, 2008 faxed to Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville, banking details for the
period of December 31, 2005 to September 30, 2006, pertaining to the campaign bank
account. I noted that on January 11, 2006 , $ 10,833 . 75 was wire transferred into the account
and on January 12, 2006, $ 10,800. 62 was wire transferred out of the same account. This
deposit corresponds with the Registered Party Financial Transactions Return for 2006
(paragraph 154). I note also that the banking records indicate the withdrawal of $10,800.62
left a zero balance in the account . The account did remain active thereafter , however.
154. The annual Registered Party Financial Transactions Return for 2006 was filed with
Elections Canada by the chief agent for the Conservative Party of Canada. In part3b, titled
"Statement of Transfers to a Candidate , a District Association , a Leadership Contestant or a
Nomination Contestant" (Appendix 52, at page 4 of 37) the return indicates $ 10,833.75 as
having been transferred on January 11 , 2006 to the campaign of electoral district 46012,
Winnipeg-North. The Return further indicates that the transfer was to Mr. James Court. I
was told by Mr. Perry McDonald that his accountant and campaign auditor was Mr. James
Court.
155. On March 18, 2008 I, along with Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville, met with Mr.
James Court . Mr. Court stated that, contrary to Mr . McDonald ' s assertion, he (Mr. Court)
was not and is not the accountant for Mr. McDonald personally nor was he the accountant
for the McDonald campaign . Mr. Court said he agreed to be the auditor for the McDonald
campaign only after being approached by Mr. Jim Moore, an organizer for the Conservative
Party of Canada in Manitoba who is also a client of Mr. Court.
156. In the aggregate invoice # 1101868- 1 (Appendix 20. and paragraphs 79, 169, 228),
obtained from Retail Media pursuant to a Production Order , I note that the electoral district
of Winnipeg-North is listed as being billed $10,833.75 (including GST). Also among the
documents I received pursuant to the execution of the Production Order , I note that an
individual invoice #1101868-1, also dated January 1, 2006 in the amount of $10,833.75
(including GST), pertaining to the Electoral District of Winnipeg North was included
(Appendix 19). Each of these invoices is addressed to "The Official Agents for
Conservative Party Candidates, 41720 - 130 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, KIP 5G4,
Attention : Susan Kehoe".
157. As noted at paragraph 150, the amount was not claimed by the candidate as an expense,
Page 36
nor was the invoice submitted to Elections Canada by the campaign. I do not know who
actually paid the amount invoiced by Retail Media.
TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS
Brownridse
158. On June 28, 2007, Assistant Chief Investigator P. Pottier was in telephone conversation
with Mr. Ken Brownridge , the official agent for Mr. Dick Harris, the Conservative Party of
Canada candidate in the electoral district of Cariboo-Prince George ( British Columbia) for
the 39`h federal general election. Investigator Pottier explained that he was contacting Mr.
Brownridge regarding media buys , referred to in the January 12, 2007 letter from the Chief
Electoral Officer to Mr. Brownridge (Appendix 7 and paragraph 37). Mr. Brownridge
stated that this was a National Advertising Program sponsored by the Conservative Party of
Canada and that the campaign opted to participate . He stated that this would save the
campaign from running ads locally and as far as he was concerned , nothing wrong was
done. Mr. Brownridge stated "we were asked and said it was OK if it didn't cost anything. "
He also advised the Elections Canada investigator that he had submitted his resignation as
official agent to the president of the Electoral District Association in the last month.
159. I am advised by Assistant Chief Investigator Pottier that Mr. Brownridge refused to be
personally interviewed by Elections Canada investigators and that Mr. Harris did not return
telephone calls by Elections Canada investigator Pottier.
160. I have reviewed the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return filed with Elections Canada
and note it indicates that this campaign was invoiced $29,999.95 on December 23, 2005 by
the Conservative Fund Canada for `2005-2006 Candidate share of media advertisement.'
161. I note that Part 2h of the same Return indicates a transfer of $29,999.95 to the campaign
by the Conservative Fund Canada on January 6, 2006. Listed in part 3a of the Return is an
expense paid by the campaign of $29,999.95 to the Conservative Fund Canada on January
3, 2006. This expense was identified as being paid as a result of an electronic (bank)
transfer.
162. In my review of Mr. Harris' Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return, I note that details
contained therein are in error. This was confirmed by comparing bank records submitted by
the campaign to Elections Canada against the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return. The
bank records indicate that the Conservative Party of Canada transferred $29,997.65 to the
official agent's campaign bank account on January 3, 2006 and that $30,024.95 (the
invoiced amount of $29,999.95 plus $25 bank charge) was withdrawn from the official
agent's bank account by way of a wire transfer on January 9, 2006.
163. Mr. Harris' campaign was among the 14 from which the Chief Electoral Officer
requested additional information (Appendix 7). The package provided by Mr . Harris (part
of Appendix 8) contains a copy of an invoice bearing the Retail Media logo, and indicates
Page 3 7
that the media buy share of the expense to Mr. Harris was $28 ,037.34. I am unaware of the
reason for this discrepancy . It would appear the difference might be accounted for by
adding GST to the invoiced amount.
ELECTIONS CANADA
Naoufal
164. On August 2, 2007, Elections Canada Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville

interviewed Mr. Rani Naoufal, an auditor employed in the Political Financing and Audit
Directorate at Elections Canada. Mr. Naoufal confirmed that on October 20, 2006 he had a
telephone conversation with Mr. Denny Pagtakhan, official agent for Conservative Party of
Canada candidate Elizabeth Pagtakhan in the electoral district of Vancouver East, because
Mr. Naoufal sought additional information with respect to a $29,999.70 invoice, dated
January 4, 2006 from the Conservative Fund Canada for media advertising, submitted in the
Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return (Appendix 5).
165. Mr. Naoufal made note of the fact that in the course of their conversation, Mr. Pagtakhan
said, "1 think we contributed to TV national advertising. There was noway we can spend
our limit so we were asked by the parry if we can help contribute."
166. Based on this conversation, Ms. Marion Hamel, Acting Director, Political Financing and
Audit Directorate at Elections Canada, began the review of the filings of candidates of the
Conservative Party of Canada, and identified the 67 campaigns involved in the media buy
(paragraph 3 5).
REVIEW OF RECORDS PRODUCED BY RETAIL MEDIA
167. An application for a Production Order was submitted to Nordheimer, J of the Superior
Court of Justice for the Province of Ontario. On December 14, 2007 His Honour signed the
Production Order, which I then served on counsel for Retail Media the same date. His
Honour also issued a sealing order with respect to the Production Order and supporting
documentation. That sealing order remains in effect as of the date of this Information. The
documents referred to in paragraphs 78, 80, 156 and 167 - 222 reference records produced
pursuant to this Production Order.
168. On January 14, 2008 I took possession of the records produced by Retail Media pursuant
to the Production Order. I have conducted an analysis of these records. The Retail Media
records show that invoices issued by Retail Media are addressed either to the Conservative
Party of Canada or to "Official Agents for Conservative Party Candidates" and sent to the
attention of Ms. Susan Kehoe (at that time the Chief Financial Officer of the Conservative
Party of Canada and currently the Interim Executive Director of the Conservative Party of
Canada) at National Headquarters.
Page 38
RETAIL MEDIA INVOICES
169. Although officials of Retail Media indicated in our meeting (paragraph 63) that four
invoices were issued to the Conservative Party of Canada (paragraphs 69 - 71), invoices
bearing a total of 7 separate invoice numbers were produced by Retail Media pursuant to the
Production Order. The invoices are described as follows (Appendix 19):
a. Invoice 1101867 dated November 30, 2005 was created on Retail Media
letterhead and was addressed to the "Conservative Party of Canada, # 1720 -130
Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K 1 P 5G4, Attention Susan Kehoe". The amount
of the invoice was $2,934,600 (including GST). The detail read "December
2005 media expenditure";
b. Invoice 1101868 dated January 1, 2005 (it is possible the date should read 2006
since the detail of the invoice concerns "January 2006 media buy"), was created
on Retail Media letterhead and was addressed to the "Conservative Party of
Canada, #1720 -130 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1 P 5G4, Attention Susan
Kehoe". The amount of the invoice was $3,631,890 (including GST). A revised
version of this invoice was also provided. The sole change to the revised version
is that the amount read "$6,566,490" (including GST). No other detail was
provided to explain the discrepancy in amounts or the reason for the re-issuance
of the invoice;
c. Invoice 1101868-1 , dated January 1, 2006 . This invoice was 42 pages in total.
The first page appears to be a summary of the following 41 pages in that it lists
41 Electoral Districts (not candidate names ) and the media buy amount to be
attributed to each Electoral District campaign (each named Electoral District is
outside Quebec). The following 41 pages were separate invoices capturing the
same media buy amounts identified on the page 1 summary and attributed to the
41 Electoral Districts identified;
i. Each of the invoices (i.e. each of the 42 pages) was on Retail Media
letterhead and each was addressed to "The Official Agents for
Conservative Party Candidates, #1720 - 130 Albert Street, Ottawa„
Ontario, K 1 P 5G4, Attention: Susan Kehoe". Each of the 42 pages bore
the invoice number 1101868-1. On each page, the word "Invoice" was
mis-spelled as "nvoice". The mis-spelled word accords with the
invoices provided by candidates who submitted additional
documentation as requested by the Chief Electoral Officer (Paragraph
42, 43 and Appendix 8);
d. Invoice 1101868-2 dated January 1, 2006 was created on Retail Media letterhead
and was addressed to the "Conservative Fund Canada , #1720 - 130 Albert
Street, Ottawa, Ontario , K 1 P 5G4, Attention Susan Kehoe". The amount of the
invoice was $158,579 (including GST and Quebec tax). The detail reads
Page 39
"Quebec January 2006 Media Expenditure";
e. Attached to invoice 1101868 -2 were 28 additional invoices (for a total of 29

pages ), all bearing the root invoice number 1101868 which were numbered
sequentially from 1101868 -4 to 1101868 -32. Each was dated January 1, 2006
and each was on Retail Media letterhead . I have not received an invoice
numbered 1101868 -3. Candidate names as well as Electoral Districts (each is in
Quebec) appear on the detail line of the invoices along with the media buy
amount to be attributed to each Electoral District campaign;
i. Each of the invoices numbered 1101868-4 to - 32 was addressed to "The

Official Agents for Conservative Party Candidates, #1720 -130 Albert
Street, Ottawa„ Ontario, K 1 P 5G4, Attention Susan Kehoe". On each of
the 28 pages the word "Invoice" was mis-spelled as "nvoice". The mis-
spelled word accords with the invoices provided by candidates who
submitted additional documentation as requested by the Chief Electoral
Officer (Paragraph 42, 43 and Appendix 8);
ii. Included as well is an e-mail dated January 3, 2006 from Ms. Kehoe,
(then) Chief Financial Officer of the Conservative Party of Canada to
Ms. De la Courneuve , Vice President Corporate Controller at The Media
Company (Retail Media). Ms. Kehoe said she had reviewed the invoices
numbered 1101868 -1 to 31 and provided comments to Ms. De la
Courneuve in which she instructed Retail Media to change the names of
several candidates on the invoices;
f. Invoice 1101874 dated December 28, 2005 was created on Retail Media
letterhead and was addressed to the Conservative Party of Canada, # 1720 -130
Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, KIP 5G4, Attention Susan Kehoe. The amount
of the invoice was $426,921.44 ( including GST). The detail reads "January
2006 media expenditure";
9. Invoice 1101875 (Revised) dated January 4, 2006 was created on Retail Media
letterhead and was addressed to the Conservative Party of Canada, # 1720 -130
Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, KIP 5G4, Attention Susan Kehoe. The amount
of the invoice was $400,000 (including GST). The detail reads "Radio
incremental media buy";
i. Attached is an e-mail from Ms. Kehoe to Ms . De la Courneuve

indicating that Mr. Miele had received approval from the Campaign
Director (whom I believe to be Mr. Douglas Finlay (paragraph 180,
181)) to incur additional radio advertising of $400.000 (Appendix 24 and
paragraphs 174, 175);
h. Invoice 1101878 dated January 16 , 2006 was created on Retail Media letterhead
and was addressed to the Conservative Party of Canada, # 1720 - 130 Albert
Page 40
Street, Ottawa, Ontario. KI P 5G4, Attention Susan Kehoe. The amount of the
invoice was $200,000 (including GST). The detail read "Radio incremental
media buy";
L The account appears to have been reconciled via invoices 1101932 and 1101933,
each dated June 12 , 2006 . Invoice 1101932 was addressed to "The Official
Agents for Conservative Party Candidates, while invoice 1101933 was addressed
to the Conservative Fund Canada. Each of these invoices was sent to the same
location, i.e. # 1720 - 130 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K 1 P 5G4, Attention
Susan Kehoe. Each of these invoices included GST and Quebec tax;
i. Invoice 1101932 indicates that the total media buy attributed to Official
Agents for Conservative Party of Canada Candidates was $698,226 for
television and $477,229 for radio advertising. When pre-billed amounts
(the amounts billed via the invoices noted above in this paragraph) were
taken into account, the purchase of broadcast air time attributable to the
Official Agents for Conservative Party of Canada Candidates indicates
that Retail Media overbilled the Conservative Fund Canada by
$125,502.63. Retail Media issued a credit note for this amount;
ii. Invoice 1101933 indicates that the total media buy attributed to the
Conservative Fund Canada was $6 ,522,331. 10 for television and
$649,907. 34 for radio advertising . When pre-billed amounts (the
amounts billed via the invoices noted above in this paragraph ) are taken
into account, the purchase of broadcast air time attributable to the
Conservative Fund Canada indicates that Retail Media under-billed the
Conservative Fund Canada by $92,759.45. The invoice advised the
Conservative Fund Canada of its outstanding liability.
RETAIL MEDIA E-MAILS
170. Paragraphs 170 - 222 refer to documents produced via the Production Order . In an e-
mail to Mr. Perry Miele of Beringer Capital , dated December 6, 2005 and titled "Subject:
Riding Media" (Appendix 21), Mr. Kumpf (noted at paragraph 63 as Vice President,
Broadcast Operations , Retail Media) states that Retail Media is the media "purchasing
agent" for the Conservative Party of Canada. He suggested that consideration be given to
approaching the Broadcast Arbitrator (paragraph 14) to seek a ruling on the purchase of
media advertising time by a representative of the Conservative Party of Canada or by
candidates themselves instead of Retail Media. Mr. Kumpf states:
"6I'hile our thinking is that this option would be legal ire are not certain of this
beyond all reasonable doubt. Therefore, with your permission we'd like to contact
the Broadcast Arbitratorfirst thing this morning and enquire. "
He goes on to state:
Page 41
"From our standpoint this would be the most preferable option. The massive
logistics of R II handling widespread local-based media is not something that we
could entertain at this late date. The coordination involved in this type of project is
something that we it-ould have needed a good deal of advance time to prepare.for. "
(Emphasis added.)
171. Mr. Miele replied to Mr. Kumpf in an e-mail also dated December 6, 2005 (Appendix
21) and stated:
"Hold tight until I ask Mike in Ottawa, tine may not want anyone talking to them. "
172. In Mr. Miele's e-mail referred to above , I believe "Mike in Ottawa" refers to Michael
Donison, (then) Executive Director of the Conservative Party of Canada , and "them" refers
to the Broadcasting Arbitrator.
173. I do not know the role played by Mr. Miele in the media buy, nor do I know why Mr.
Kumpf sought Mr. Miele ' s advice . From the nature of the request and Mr . Miele's
comments, however, I believe that Mr. Miele is a person of influence with or within the
Conservative Party of Canada.
174. This belief is supported by an e-mail dated January 4, 2006 (Appendix 24) from Ms.
Kehoe to Ms. Linda de la Courneuve, with copies to Ms. Marilyn Dixon , Pat Miguel and
Mr. Kumpf, all at MBS , a company affiliated with Retail Media, advising that:
"Perry Miele has received approval from the Campaign Director to incur an
incremental radio media buy in the amount of ,$400, 000 (GST included). You are
therefore authorized to proceed with his instructions up to that amount. "
175. This belief is further supported by an e-mail dated May 4, 2006 from Mr. Kumpf to
Linda de la Courneuve and Marie Gibson , both of Retail Media , stating that Retail Media's
client with respect to the media buy is not the Conservative Party of Canada , it is "Perry"
(Appendix 22 ). I believe "Perry" refers to Mr. Miele.
176. In an e-mail dated December 8, 2005 (Appendix 25) from Mr . Campbell (referenced
above at paragraph 63). President and CEO of GroupM Canada , to Mr. Kumpf and copied
to Mr. Miele, Mr. Campbell states:
"Received a call from Irving Gerstein...

They, may be spending up to their legal limit on this campaign. lye are to verify any
additional requests for spending with him before they, are actioned
Mr. Campbell goes on to state:
They also are thinking of "sit-itching " some of the items over to the ridings. It
Page 42
sounded like the reason was to legally maximize advertising expenditures. This
follows oarr preliminary conversations with Perry. Apparently I brill get a call, from
Mike Donison and Susan Kehoe. Details are sketchy and 1 ant not sure how
national or regional tv could constitute a riding expense unless all the ridings in a
region pooled expenses. I also reiterated that we need payment from the party
only. "
177. In the quotation above, Mr. Campbell refers to the following persons:
a. I believe Irving Gerstein to be the Chair of the Conservative Fund Canada, the
chief agent of the Conservative Party of Canada. Mr. Gerstein is registered with
Elections Canada in this role (Appendix 1);
b. I believe Perry to be Perry Miele of Beringer Capital, the person referred to in
paragraph 170, see also paragraphs 173 and 174;
c. I believe Mike Donison refers to the (then) Executive Director of the
Conservative Party of Canada;
d. I believe Susan Kehoe refers to the current Interim Executive Director of the
Conservative Party of Canada. During the period of the 39th federal general
election, Ms. Kehoe was the Chief Financial Officer of the Conservative Party of
Canada.
178. In an e-mail dated December 9, 2005 (Appendix 26) from Ms. Erin Cluett, Broadcast
Negotiator, Retail Media to Ms. Janice Barnett, CBC English TV Sales, National Network,
Ms. Cluett stated:
"As the designated purchasing agent for the Conservative Party of Canada we need
to shift dollars from the currently placed statutory paid time allotment and replace
these dollars under "The Official Agents for Conservative Party Candidates ". As
such, this is not part of the Party's statutory allotted time. "
179. In her response to Ms . Cluett, also on December 9, 2005 (Appendix 26), Ms. Barnett
stated:
"We do not accept buys.from individual candidates ... as part ofthe rules imposed
upon us as the National Broadcaster. You, as the registered party, must buy on
behalf of the candidates. "
180. The response from Ms. Barnett was provided to Mr. Kumpf who, also on December 9,
2005 sent an e-mail (Appendix 26) to Mr. Doug Finley, Mr. Donison and Ms. Rebecca
Thompson, all at Conservative Party of Canada e-mail addresses, as well as to Mr. Miele,
forwarding the e-mail from Ms. Barnett. Mr. Kumpf stated:
"Please see negative response below from the CBC election sales representative
regarding our request to change the current booking over to "Candidates "... (It)
may be an indication of it-hat we can expect from SRC (ie, the French CBC) and
Page 43
possibly some of the other broadcasters come Monday after a more extensive review
of our request. "
He went on to state:
can and it-ill respond to C'BC upon receipt of your input. "
181. I believe Mr. Finley to be the Campaign Director for the Conservative Party of Canada.
Nis. Thompson's role in not known to me.
182. The issue of the purchase of advertising air time arose again on December 20, 2005
when Ms. Judy Strathman, an Advertising Consultant for the French language Radio
Canada television network wrote to Mr. Kumpf and stated (Appendix 26):
"I can only accept bookings for "The Conservative Party ofCanada ". I have 3
contracts currently booked as The D f cial Agents for the Conservative Party
Candidates... which I will need to either change to The Conservative Party of
Canada or else cancel... "
183. Ina series of a-mails dated December 9, 2005 (Appendix 27), Mr. Donison exchanged
comments with Mr. Don. Plett concerning the involvement of Manitoba campaigns in the
media buy. Mr. Donison asked Mr. Plett to:
"... call the Manitoba campaigns right away- and get back to me as soon as you
can- we will try to bring them in if we can. "
The exchange of messages continued with Mr. Plett providing Mr. Donison with a list of 8
electoral districts in Manitoba and accompanying amounts of media buy participation. The
amounts ranged from $10,000 to $40,000.
184. Based on the nature of the a-mails and the fact that all electoral districts pertain to
Manitoba, I believe that Mr. Plett is an official of the Conservative Party of Canada in
Manitoba. He is currently listed as the President of the National Council of the
Conservative Party of Canada on the Conservative Party of Canada web site -
htta://www.conservative.ca/EN/2991 /.
185. From my review of the records produced to me by Retail Media, I believe that effort was
expended by Retail Media on amending contracts with various broadcasters. In a series of
e-mails dated December 12, 2005 (Appendix 28), primarily between Mr. Kumpf and Mr.
Donison, discussion centred on re-allocating funds to local campaigns from the
Conservative Party of Canada broadcast contracts. Only the CBC declined to amend their
contracts to move funds from national Conservative Party of Canada advertising and
allocate it to the official agents of candidates. In a further series of a-mails between Ms.
Cluett of Retail Media and several broadcasters, Ms. Cluett indicated a need to "...shift
dollars from the currently placed statutory paid time allotment and replace these dollars
Page 44
under "The Official Agents for Conservative Party Candidates" (Appendix 26).
186. Also on December 12, 2005 Mr. Kumpf and Ms. Dixon exchanged a-mails (Appendix
29) and discussed funds which had already been paid to broadcasters for time and which
Retail Media now wished to transfer from national advertising for the Conservative Party of
Canada to local campaigns . Mr. Kumpf stated:
"...the cheque situation going forward is straightfonvard (as we will outline the
"candidate " portion) however, what about where we've already paid and it is now
transferred. Frankly, the reason we need to know this is if the sales reps ask us... "
Ms. Dixon responded:
"Can the suppliers apply whatever payment they have received to the two
campaigns? Otherwise they will need to give us a refund for one and we will issue
another cheque. Since we are the only one paying, they should be able to transfer
the funds internally. "
187. When Ms. Dixon speaks in paragraph 186 above of "the two campaigns", I believe she
refers to the national Conservative Party of Canada advertising.campaign, and the effort to
switch funds from that campaign to the local candidate campaigns.
188. In further e-mail correspondence on December 12, 2005 (Appendix 30), Mr. Kumpf
advised Mr. Donison that:
"We have just received a fax from SRC (the Francophone CBC) that shows our
booking having been changed to reflect the new title. This is a great relief as they
will account for approximately 15-20% of our TV investment in Quebec.
The only negative response received then is on CBC in Atlantic Canada for the
relatively miniscule booking amount of $3, 474. It's your call of course but I suggest
for your consideration that we let this one lie as it appears that SRC and CBC,
which for all intents and purposes are one company, never checked in with each
other to see what the other was doing. If we go after CBC on the $3K then we may
run the risk of having SRC pull back from their current decision... and as stated, we
have a lot more invested with SRC (roughly S80-100, 000). "
189. Records produced by Retail Media indicate that CBC subsequently recanted the position
of non-acceptance of advertising in the name of the Official Agents for Conservative Party
candidates and broadcast the ads. The CBC took the position that the decision not to accept
advertising in the name of Official Agents of Conservative Party Candidates was a
misunderstanding and "a matter of semantics'"(Appendix 31).
190. On December 12, 2005, Ms. Dixon sent an e-mail to Ms. Kehoe (Appendix 32), and
stated:
Page 45
"Just to confirm our conversation and next steps:
i. You are confirming that there will be a separate creative piece

for the candidate advertising (today)
ii. lFe will provide you with a summary of the riding dollars that we
have been able to allocate (tomorrow)
iii. You will take these allocations and confirm there is room in each
of the riding (candidate's) budget then get back to us with.final
confirmation that the allocations are okay
iv. You will provide us with the Quebec ridings and allocations then
we will provide you with the amounts we have been able to
allocate. "
191. The initial estimated total of media buy advertising "that will be allocated to the
ridings" was $1,468,800 according to an e-mail sent on December 12, 2005 by Mr. Kumpf
to Ms. Thompson . Copies were sent to Mr . Miele, Mr. Finley , Mr. Donison, Mr. Muttart
(paragraph 222), Mr . Campbell and Ms. Dixon (Appendix 33).
192. On December 13, 2005 Mr. Donison sent Mr. Kumpf an e-mail (Appendix 34) to which
was attached a listing of electoral districts indicating the maximum election expenditure for
each electoral district. Mr. Donison stated:
"As discussed last week, 30K would be about the very maximum that could be
attributed to any one candidate regardless of the amounts they pledged last week-
with 10-20K being the norm. "
193. On December 14, 2005 Ms. Kehoe wrote to Mr . Donison and Mr. Paul Lepsoe, legal
counsel to the Conservative Party of Canada and the Conservative Fund Canada, about
Quebec media advertising (Appendix 35). She asked:
"... if one assumes 18 ridings to share the $800,000 buy is it unreasonable to

assume that a media buy of S45, 000 is too rich for any one ridings (sic) limit? "
Mr. Donison then wrote to Mr. Kumpf and said that:
"...We need another 8 ridings on top of the 18 you have chosen. Which are the next
8 ridings or so that would be most likely, to receive any gl'these ads- we should go
with them. "
Mr. Kumpf responded:
"The final one that looks applicable is St. Hyacinthe-Bagot. The eastern
portion... gets some Sherbrooke TV... That leaves us 1 shy. 1 am not sure is,here to
turn to on this. "
Page 46
Mr. Donison replied:
"[Yhy not just chose a riding that borders on one oj'these and go.lor it? "
194. In an e-mail dated December 14, 2005 (Appendix 36) from Mr. Kumpf to Mr. Doni son
(with a copy to Ms. Kehoe), Mr. Kumpf stated:
"Just so I fully understand - I am still to work with the column marked

"Contribution" and that is what we will be billing each of these candidates -
despite the fact that the actual media buy for that region will be less? "
195. On December 15, 2005 Mr. Kumpf exchanged a-mails with Mr. Donison (Appendix 37).
Mr. Donison stated:
"I have just received a call from Republik... They tell us that the 25 candidates you
have selected to assign the media buy to are the very campaigns in Quebec who are
planning to spend most of their limit- and that at this point only 3 or 4 have
indicated to the Quebec campaign that they have cap room and are therefore in a
position to participate. Obviously, the initial media buy decisions made right at the
beginning of the campaign have determined which candidates are on your list to
participate. However, it is those very candidates, given that they are more targeted
that expect to spend their limits.
1 was faced with a decision from Republik. Option A was that they had until
tomorrow to indicate to the broadcasters which candidates were included in this
media buy to meet the scheduled broadcasting of these ads in Quebec... Option B
... was to delay broadcast for a few days giving them until first thing Monday
morning to provide the list of candidates.
...I had no choice but to instruct that we proceed with Option B. "
Mr. Kumpf responded:
"... David (upon his return), Marilyn and myself w ill discuss the situation from the
media buy perspective and see if there are any angles we can come up with. "
196. I believe " Republik" mentioned in the e-mail above refers to a production company
engaged to create advertising for the Quebec campaign . I believe "David" refers to Mr.
Campbell , President and CEO of GroupM. I believe "Marilyn" refers to Marilyn Dixon,
Chief Operating Officer of Retail Media and Mediacom (paragraph 63).
197. On December 15, 2005 Mr. Kumpf and Mr. Donison exchanged additional a-mails
(Appendix 38) with respect to attributing funds to various campaigns in the Montreal
Page 47
District. Mr. Donison stated:
"I have been speaking to Paul Lepsoe. He has suggested that surely there are
contiguous ridings that we could include on the list -for instance what about all the
Montreal South Shore? 1Vone of those campaigns can or tivill spend very much- and
could make their caps available. "
198. Mr. Kumpf responded:
"The Montreal South Shore could be attributed but we are planned for purchase of
Montreal English radio and, as 1 told Susan, this will be roughly +S50Kso you only
need 2 or so ridings from Montreal area in total. With no TV planned 1 cannot add
those riding Ss to the television roster as they will not be seen except on RDS and
we need a solid viewing % to make this attribution legitimate. "
199. I know Mr. Paul Lepsoe to be legal counsel to the Conservative Party of Canada and to
the Conservative Fund Canada. I believe "Susan" refers to Ms . Susan Kehoe, Chief
Financial Officer of the Conservative Party of Canada at that time.
200. On December 19, 2005, Mr. Donison wrote to several Conservative Party of Canada
officials and copied Mr . Kumpf ( Appendix 39), concerning a situation in which only one
Quebec. candidate would benefit from a specific radio advertisement. He stated:
"...only the candidate in Beauce will benefit from this- it is not a case where we
could simply shift the ad buy to other benefiting candidates in the same market
area ... Beauce will simply have to agree to pay for something on this radio ad. "
201. I note that the candidate in the Electoral District of Beacuce, Mr. Maxime Bernier, was
issued an invoice , numbered 1101868 -25, dated January 1, 2006 in the amount of $6,277.00
(Appendix 19). Mr. Bernier claimed $5,000 as an election expense for media advertising
(Appendix 6).
202. Also on December 19, 2005 Mr. Donison wrote to some of the same persons referred to
in paragraph 200 concerning participation in the media buy scheme (Appendix 39). He
stated:
"... We have a commitmentfrom Montmagny-L 'Islet but there is no candidate which

makes this very problematic but we need to know the name by today; "
Mr. Donison continued:
"... There were only two outright refusals- Beauce and Brome-Mississguoi. Me have
discussed and understand Beauce but what is with Brome? Why .should they be
allowed to just outright refuse? "
Page 48
203. A series ofe-mails was exchanged January 3, 2006 (Appendix 40) between Ms. Kehoe
and Ms. de la Courneuve of Retail Media. Nis. de la Courneuve advised Ms. Kehoe:
"I accidentally sent to (sic) complete.file, so attached are the single invoices you
requested "
204. Ms. Kehoe responded , and copied Chan Chow, whom I believe was working in the
finance department at the Conservative Party of Canada:
"Thank you Linda... Chan these are the last of the invoices needed to prepare the
bank transfer. "
205. On January 4, 2006, Ms. Kehoe sent an e-mail to Ms. Dixon and Ms. de la Courneuve
(Appendix 41) to advise that:
"The bank has confirmed both wire transfers sent to you via SR#1-3040919.... The
transfers are for 55,063,511.77 the balance of the original media buy re: 32
invoices beginning with 1101868 for the incremental media buy of last week on
invoice #1101874. "
206. I note that a Toronto Dominion Bank Incoming Credit Advice Sheet dated January 4,
2006 (Appendix 42) indicates a payment of $5,063,511.77, less a handling fee of $10.00, in
favour of Retail Media . The ordering customer is stated to be the Conservative Party of
Canada. Payment details recorded on the Advice Sheet indicate that the payment refers to
the total of 32 invoices starting with 1101868.
207. The campaign of Mr. Don Gillis, Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the
Electoral District of Cardigan is listed in invoice 1101868 -1 (Appendix 20), dated January
1, 2006 as having participated in the media buy campaign for a total of $7,385.50 plus GST
for a grand total of $7,902.49. I have examined the Candidate' s Election Campaign Return
(Appendix 43) as filed by Mr. Gillis and his official agent, Mr. Joe Koughan, as well as the
campaign's banking records and find no record of participation in the media buy. From the
review of records relating to the Gillis campaign, I note that this candidate spent 95.44% of
his expenses on advertising ($59,895 out of $62,756.67). The filing shows that Mr. Gillis'
campaign was only $358.08 short of the electoral expenses spending limit.
208. I have reviewed a series of a-mails (Appendix 44) between Mr. Michael Donison, then
Executive Director of the Conservative Party of Canada, and Mr. Dennis King whom I
believe to be a Conservative Party of Canada organizer in Atlantic Canada because the
Conservative Party of Canada web site indicates that Mr. King was elected as the Prince
Edward Island representative to the Conservative Party of Canada's National Council at the
March 2005 National Convention.
209. On January 4, 2006, Mr. Donison advised Mr. King that campaigns in two Prince
Edward Island Electoral Districts, Malpeque and Cardigan, had not yet faxed in their forms.
Page 49
I believe the forms referred to are the wire transfer instructions to transfer media buy funds
from the campaign account back to the Conservative Fund Canada.
210. Mr. King advised that both of these campaigns sensed victory and no longer wished to
participate in the media buy because they intended to spend close to their election limits.
Mr. Donison responded that both campaigns were committed and said that if they balked,
they may:
"...be hit with this as an election expense. You better read them the riot act on
this.
211. On January 5, 2006 Mr. King advised Mr. Donison that Malpeque "is on board" but not
Cardigan (Mr. Gillis' campaign). Mr. King asked if the media buy funds could be switched
from Cardigan to the campaign in the Electoral District of Egmont instead . Mr. Donison
agreed with this strategy and told Mr. King:
"If you can get Egmont instead that should work".
He went on to tell Mr. King:
"... the amountsfor each of the two PEI ridings are $7902.49 each.
212. I have examined the return filed by the candidate of the Egmont Electoral District and
I found no record of an"in -and-out" transaction. Given that Mr. Gillis's campaign was billed
for the advertising as noted at paragraph 207 but did not participate in the media buy, I do
not know who paid the invoice.
213. Each of the 15 candidates (paragraphs 38 - 46) provided, as part of their filing of
additional documentation , CDs of the television and/or radio media buy advertising, which
affected their electoral districts. I note, in reviewing one such ad (Appendix 9), that the
official agent for Mr. Don Gillis , the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the
electoral district of Cardigan ( Prince Edward Island), is mentioned in the "tag line" of the ad
(the information at the end of an ad which indicates who authorized, and presumably paid
for, the advertising) as having authorized media buy advertising . Mr. Gillis is not one of the
67 candidates identified as being part of the media buy. The Gillis campaign did not report
to Elections Canada having financially participated in such advertising . Several official
agents of a number of other campaigns in Atlantic Canada, which did report having
financially participated in the media buy scheme , are also listed in the "tag line" as having
authorized the ad . Appendix 9 is an image taken from a CD mentioned earlier in this
paragraph which was filed (Appendix 8) in response to the Chief Electoral Officer' s request
for additional information (Appendix 7) by the Khosla campaign (The Conservative Party
of Canada candidate in the Electoral District of Halifax West) with Elections Canada
pertaining to media buy advertising in Atlantic Canada. The "tag line " lists a number of
Official Agents, including the Official Agent for the Cardigan campaign,. as having
authorized the advertising.
Page 50
214. The e-mail from Mr. Kumpf to Mr. Miele dated December 30, 2005. (Appendix 45)
indicates that radio advertising for the Conservative Party of Canada and candidates in
English Canada began on January 2, 2006.
215. E-mails were subsequently exchanged (Appendix 46) between Mr. Kumpf and Alaina
Comazzetto, the assistant to the Conservative Member of Parliament for the electoral
district of Desnethe -Missinippi-Churchill River . The a-mails indicate that the local
campaign appeared to have no knowledge of the advertising taking place in the district,
although the electoral district is recorded as having participated in the media buy.
216. On January 4, 2006 Mr. Kumpf wrote to Ms. Comazzetto, with a copy to Mr. Donison
and stated:
"As per your request via the e-mail to Mike, please be informed that the radio
stations purchased for the media campaign in your area are... " Mr. Kumpf then
listed two radio stations, one in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan and the other in La
Ronge, Saskatchewan.
217. Ms. Comazzetto then asked Mr. Kumpf:
"What is the text of the ads? "
218. Mr. Kumpf then forwarded Ms. Comazzetto ' s e-mail to Ms. Nicole Polivka at Yield
Communications and stated:
" 1 don't know whatyour release policy on this is but the following is a request from
the assistant to the Conservative MP for this particular riding enquiring as to what
the creative is...
1 had supplied her with the radio stations the ad is playing on as per request from
Mike Donison. "
219. Based on my review of documentation provided pursuant to the Production Order, I

believe Yield Communications is one of the companies which created the advertising for
the campaign. I believe that the word "creative" above refers to the text of the ads,
including the "tag lines" which indicate who has approved of and paid for the advertising.
220. On January 5, 2006 Mr. Donison exchanged correspondence with Mr. Bruce Hallsor, a
lawyer in Victoria. British Columbia who appears to be connected to the media buy process,
with respect to having the wire transfer instruction forms faxed by the campaigns to the
Conservative Fund Canada. The following a-mails were exchanged (Appendix 47):
... Nanaimo Cowichan i sending i one . for S4, 000 only. They have heard the first
Page 51
ad running, and it is an anti libeal ad and they are really piled of since the liberals
are not d./actor i any of the three idings in their area. " (sic)
221. Mr. Donison forwarded the e-mail to Mr. Kumpf and copied Mr. Patrick Muttart and
Mr. Miele . Mr. Muttart responded:
"The Liberals continue to poll well on Vancouver Island regardless of what ive are
seeing on the ground. 6Ve do have an anti-NDP ad for television that is being
finalized. "
222. I believe Mr. Muttart is the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister for Strategic
Planning and a senior Conservative Party of Canada strategist. He is identified as such in
various media articles I have reviewed on the internet, such as
btti)://www .niaeleans.ca/article. 4sy?content=20060306 122403 122403
OBSERVATIONS
223. I had never met any of the executives of Retail Media prior to our meeting, nor had I
previously met any of the candidates or official agents interviewed by me or by my
colleagues. In considering the reliability of the information provided, however, I have no
reason to doubt the truthfulness of any of the interviewees. As noted at paragraph 64, I have
confirmed that Mr. Kumpf is listed as the Authorized Agent for the purchase of
broadcasting time for the Conservative Party of Canada. In terms of assessing the reliability
of information provided by other persons interviewed I have, to the extent possible, aligned
the information provided by them with available documentation. I know personally each of
the Assistant Chief Investigators who conducted interviews referred to in this my
Information, and I consider each of these Assistant Chief Investigators to be reliable and to
have represented the nature of the interviews conducted by them truthfully.
224. In her letter (see paragraph 49 and Appendix 11) dated January 25, 2006 to Ms. Marion
Hamel, Acting Director, Political Financing and Audit Directorate at Elections Canada, Ms.
Ann O'Grady, Chief Financial Officer of the Conservative Fund Canada stated that costs of
media advertising were calculated by Retail Media for individual campaigns "based on the
advertising performed and invoiced to the Conservative Candidates at the Conservative
Party national office". She goes on to say that time is of the essence in media buys,
advertising time must be paid for in advance and that the Conservative Fund Canada
facilitated the payment to Retail Media on behalf of the participating candidates to pay for
"their respective media bity and the associated allocation of production costs. These are
the invoices that Elections Canada is being presented by the candidates ' official agents to
support their media buy during the ivrit. "
225. I note that Ms. O'Grady mentions "allocation of production costs". Only the
participating Quebec campaigns filed invoices or documentation with Elections Canada
pertaining to campaigns for which production costs were allocated. No such allocation has
Page 52
been filed by participating campaigns outside Quebec, each of which received a media buy
invoice from the Conservative Fund Canada (Appendices 8, 19 and paragraphs 93, 136,
142, 146, 148, 224, 225, 227).
226. Ms. Susan J. Kehoe , the current Interim Executive Director of the Conservative Party of
Canada, in her letter to the Chief Electoral Officer (see paragraph 50 and Appendix 12)
stated that candidates were invited to participate in the media buy, and affirms that the
media buy supplier (Retail Media) determined the group market area and what combination
of TV and radio in each market was best to target the audience for each participating
candidate.
227. The statements in paragraphs 224 - 226 are at odds with the available evidence because:
a. I was told by Mr. Andrew Kumpf of Retail Media that no contract exists
between Retail Media and any candidate (paragraph 67). This is supported by
Mr. Donison' s letter (paragraph 48), which stated that no contract exists between
Retail Media and any candidate;
b. I was told by Mr. Kumpf and by Ms. Dixon that Retail Media conducted its
billing of the Conservative Party of Canada by calculating the total of
advertising costs for the time purchased and provided this amount as an invoice
to the Conservative Fund Canada. The allocation of funds on an electoral
district basis was predicated on instructions received by Retail Media from Ms.
Susan Kehoe or other officials of the Conservative Party of Canada or the
Conservative Fund Canada. I believe that any analysis or assessment conducted
by Retail Media of amounts to be . allocated to advertising for any given
candidate was intended to place advertising funds into various campaigns based
on the amount of available space between the amount spent and the election
spending cap of each participating campaign to achieve a maximum amount
spent. I note as well the apparent disparity in allocation of advertising costs
among electoral districts which are contiguous or in the same geographic region
(paragraph 74);
c. I was told by Mr. Kumpf that Retail Media does not become involved in the
production of advertising; the sole function of Retail Media is to purchase
advertising air time (paragraph 65). This is contrary to Ms. O'Grady ' s statement
that part of the cost allocated to campaigns was for production costs (Appendix
11 and paragraph 49);
d. I was told by Ms. Dixon that the Retail Media invoice shown to her as
representative of the 15 invoices filed with Elections Canada does not resemble
the invoices provided to the Conservative Fund Canada by Retail Media
(Appendix 19, 20 and paragraph 75). Ms. O'Grady confirms that these invoices
are intended to be relied on as emanating from Retail Media when she states in
her letter that:
Page 53
"These are the invoices that Elections Canacla is being presented by the
candidates 'official agents to support their media buy during the ivrit."
(paragraph 49);
e. E-mail traffic mentioned in paragraphs 170 - 222 and interviews of candidates

and official agents (paragraphs 81 - 163) do not support these statements.
228. As I have noted , documentation provided by Retail Media via the Production Order
indicates that Retail Media did create an invoice (# 1101868- 1 at Appendix 20) which
contains a listing of 41 electoral districts outside Quebec involved in the media buy scheme.
The invoice bearing Retail Media letterhead which was shown to Ms. Dixon (paragraph 75
and Appendix 23) appears to be similar to invoice 1101868 - 1 as created by Retail Media,
however the invoice shown to Ms . Dixon (Appendix 23 ) shows only that candidate's
amount, i.e. information pertaining to the other 40 candidates which appears on the version
of the invoice at Appendix 20, has been blocked out. Based on the comments of Ms. Dixon
of Retail Media (paragraph 75), I believe this alteration was carried out by the Conservative
Fund Canada or the Conservative Party of Canada because it did not appear to conform to
the appearance of the invoices issued by Retail Media to the Conservative Party of Canada
or Conservative Fund Canada (Appendix 19 and paragraph 169) with respect to the
purchase of media airtime during the 391h federal general election.
229. The documentation received from Retail Media supports the contentions that:
a. The media buy plan as initially conceived and subsequently adjusted for election
advertising was conceived by the Conservative Party of Canada;
b. Senior officials of the Conservative Party of Canada and / or the Conservative
Fund Canada consciously chose not to seek a ruling from the Broadcasting
Arbitrator prior to "switching" advertising expenses to the electoral districts (see
paragraph "d." below);
c. The media buy plan for election advertising was contracted for with Retail
Media and put in place before any of the Conservative Party of Canada
candidates were contacted to participate;
d. The media buy was known to and implemented by the most senior officials of
the Conservative Party of Canada and the Conservative Fund Canada. For
example, Mr. Gerstein, the Chair of the Conservative Fund Canada told Mr.
Campbell , the President and CEO of the media buying group that because the
Conservative Party of Canada ' s election expense limit may be reached, it may be
necessary to "switch" advertising expenses to the electoral districts (candidates)
(paragraph 176, Appendix 25). Mr. Donison, (then) Executive Director of the
Conservative Party of Canada and Ms. Kehoe, ( then) Chief Financial Officer of
the Conservative Party of Canada were also aware of the media buy planning:
e. Efforts were made to re-distribute media buy funds to other electoral districts
when candidates declined to participate;
f. Payments for the media buy were made by both the Conservative Party of
Page 54
Canada and the Conservative Fund Canada;

g. Invoices addressed to''Otficial Agents for Conservative Party Candidates" were
received and paid for by the Conservative Fund Canada;
h. The billing of candidates for media buy election advertising by the Conservative
Party of Canada / Conservative Fund Canada was not based on the extent of
advertising saturation of an Electoral District and the benefit or support that the
advertising might generate for a particular campaign . It was based on the need
to distribute advertising costs to candidates with room in their election budgets
to absorb such costs within the election expenses spending limit and to create the
appearance that the candidates had incurred the advertising costs;
i. When candidates declined to participate in the media buy plan , other electoral
districts were selected by senior Conservative Party of Canada officials to
participate based on the availability of room in their election budgets to absorb
additional advertising costs irrespective of benefits received from the
advertising.
230. Pursuant to paragraphs 81 to 163 I have participated in and am aware that investigators
from Elections Canada have conducted a series of face-to -face interviews and telephone
conversations with 14 persons directly involved in the- media buy , ranging geographically
from British Columbia to Quebec (paragraphs 81-163). Interviewees stated that they had
no dealings whatsoever with Retail Media, nor did they authorize anyone else to contract
with Retail Media on their behalf. A number of candidates / official agents said they had
discussions with or on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada concerning:
a. Whether their campaign intended to spend to its election spending limit;

b. Whether they wished to contribute to national advertising by allowing space
remaining
in their campaign spending limit to be used by the Conservative Fund Canada to deposit
funds into their campaign accounts , which would almost immediately be transferred back
to the Conservative Fund Canada (resulting in a 60% windfall reimbursement to the
campaign).
231. I have noted a consistent pattern created by the Conservative Party of Canada or the
Conservative Fund Canada to deposit funds into the accounts of various campaigns, only to
have the same or similar amounts transferred, always under the control of the Conservative
Party of Canada or the Conservative Fund Canada, back to the Conservative Fund Canada,
the chief agent of the Conservative Party of Canada.
232. My review of the Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return forms as provided by

Elections Canada for the 67 campaigns involved indicates that it was only the 14 campaigns
from which additional information was requested by the Chief Electoral Officer (plus the
unsolicited 15 ` h candidate) which filed with Elections Canada, in response to those requests.
invoices on Retail Media letterhead (paragraphs 37 - 46). Executives of Retail Media did
not recognize the one invoice shown to them (as representative of the 15 invoices) as
Page 55
coming from their company (paragraph 75). In all 15 cases referred to in paragraphs 37 - 46
the retail media invoices were addressed to "The Official Agents for Conservative Party
Candidates, # 1720 -130 Albert St., Ottawa" (Appendix 8, 19). All of the 67 participating
campaigns tiled invoices from the Conservative Fund Canada.
REASONABLE BELIEFS
233. Based on the entirety of the information above , I have reasonable grounds to believe
that:
a. Through its chief financial agent (the Conservative Fund Canada) the
Conservative Party of Canada established the `media buy' program to allow the
Conservative Party of Canada to enhance its election advertising spending and
pass the expense to candidates with spending room between their anticipated
election expenses and their election spending limit;
b. None of the regional media buy advertising time was a cost incurred by the
candidates or their official agents;
c. It is the Conservative Party of Canada and/or the Conservative Fund Canada

rather than the official agents of the candidates that actually incurred and paid
the expense of the media buy , through purchase arrangements with Retail Media;
d. The Conservative Party of Canada exceeded its election expense spending limit
for the 39`h federal general election;
e. 65 of the 67 candidates of the Conservative Party of Canada who participated in

the media buy program claimed expenses for advertising that they did not incur
(two candidates received less than 10% of the vote and were ineligible to claim).
Each of the claims was supported by an invoice provided to the candidate by the
Conservative Fund Canada . These expenses were improperly claimed in their
electoral campaign returns for the 39`h federal general election;
f. The purpose of the transfers of funds from the Conservative Fund Canada to the
candidates and back again was to give the appearance that the expenses had been
incurred by the Conservative Party of Canada on behalf of its candidates and
paid for by the campaign involved;
g. No contract existed between Retail Media and any official agent or candidate in
which any official agent or candidate incurred an expense of purchasing
advertising time from Retail Media for the 39`h federal general election;
h. There is no evidence that any of the involved Official Agents authorized the
Conservative Party of Canada or the Conservative Fund Canada, in writing to
incur candidate' s electoral campaign expenses on behalf of their campaign. (as
Page 56
required by subsection 438(5) of the Canada Elections Act);
i. Retail Media was never. in contact with the candidates or their official agents,
but only had dealings with Conservative Party of Canada or Conservative Fund
Canada personnel;
j. The money used to make payments from the campaigns to the Conservative
Fund Canada was provided by the Conservative Fund Canada to the
participating campaign accounts and the official agents and candidates exercised
no control over the funds;
k. It is the Conservative Party of Canada and/or the Conservative Fund Canada,

rather than the participating candidates or their official agents, which incurred
the media buy expense , accepted the legal obligation to be indebted to Retail
Media and paid the media buy expense . The payments by the campaigns for the
media buys were, pursuant to instructions from the Conservative Fund Canada,
directed to the Conservative Fund Canada , not Retail Media . Retail Media
insisted on being paid prior to any broadcasts of advertising;
1. The statutory election expense spending limit of the Conservative Party of

Canada for the 39`h federal general election was $18 ,278,278.64 (Appendix 2).
The Conservative Party of Canada spent $18 ,019,179. 28, leaving it $259,099.36
short of its maximum election expenses spending limit (Appendix 13). Had the
Conservative Party of Canada included the amount of $1,375,451.91 (Appendix
6) that it spent for the `media buy' as a Party election expense, it would have
exceeded its spending limit by $1,116,352.55. It also improperly generated a
potential reimbursement of 60% of the media buy related election expenses
(obtainable by candidates who received at least 10% of the votes in the electoral
district contested , as per subsection 464(1)(b) of the Canada Elections Act)
declared by the 65 of the 67 participating campaigns (two candidates did not
receive the mandatory 10% of the electoral vote to qualify for reimbursement).
These media buy expenses were not incurred by the participating campaigns;
m. $1,375,451.91 was subsequently allocated according to available spending room,

by or on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada or the Conservative Fund
Canada, to the 67 various participating candidate' s campaigns;
n. Funds were transferred by or on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada or

the Conservative Fund Canada to the campaign bank accounts of the 67 various
participating candidates and within a very short span of time these funds or
funds closely approximating the amounts deposited were transferred back out of
those accounts . This was done under the direction of the Conservative Fund
Canada and the funds were returned to the account of the Conservative Fund
Canada (paragraphs 57 - 63);
o. Media advertising costs were incurred by the Conservative Party of Canada or
Page 57
the Conservative Fund Canada and not the participating candidates;
P. The amounts allocated by or on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada to

the 67 various participating candidate ' s campaigns were allocated according to
the remaining amount of available spending room for expenses within the
spending limits;
q• The Conservative Party of Canada and the Conservative Fund Canada maintain
records of the corporate transactions pertinent to this investigation and there are
reasonable grounds to believe that these records are available at or accessible
through the place to be searched and will afford evidence respecting the
commission of the offences named in this Information;
r. The offences listed above under the heading "Offences" have been committed.
AND FURTHER:
234. No other investigator has attempted to obtain and been refused any other Warrants to
Search or judicial authorizations with respect to this investigation . I have noted above that
a production order was obtained and served on Retail Media on December 14, 2007 with
respect to this investigation.
AND FURTHER:
235. In the event that a claim of solicitor - client privilege arises with respect to things to be
examined, copied or seized during the search , I intend to deal with the claim in a manner
akin to that indicated in subsection 488.1 of the Criminal Code, altered as circumstances
and reason require.
GROUNDS TO BELIEVE THE LOCATION TO BE SEARCHED IS THE SAME

LOCATION NAMED IN THE WARRANT
236. I believe that the head office of the Conservative Party of Canada is located at 130
Albert St, Suite 1204, Ottawa, Ontario. This is the address registered with Elections
Canada (Appendix 1) and is the address listed on the web site of the Conservative Party of
Canada as its Headquarters . The Ottawa, Ontario telephone book lists 130 Albert Street as
the address of the Conservative Party of Canada (no suite number is specified). The address
is the same as the return address indicated in Ms . O'Grady's letter to the Chief Electoral
Officer (paragraph 49). Assistant Chief Investigator R. Lincourt visited the address on
March 14, 2008 and confirmed that the Conservative Party of Canada maintains offices at
that location.
237. I believe the Conservative Party of Canada also maintains an office at 130 Albert Street,
Suite 1720, Ottawa, Ontario . Assistant Chief Investigator R. Lincourt advised me that on
Page 58
the door of 130 Albert Street, Suite 1720, Ottawa, Ontario is a sign in both official
languages indicating that any deliveries should be taken to Suite 1204 at that address. In
addition. on that same date I called the main number for the Conservative Party of Canada
and the female receptionist I spoke with confirmed that the Conservative Party of Canada
maintains an office on the 171h floor at 130 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario. She did not
specify Suite 1720, however I believe this address to be correct given that the sign on the
door of Suite 1720 referred to in this paragraph directs deliveries to Suite 1204, which I
know to be occupied by the Conservative Party of Canada (paragraph 235).
238. I have reviewed the registrations filed by the Conservative Party of Canada with
Elections Canada for the years 2005 to 2007 inclusive. The address listed for the
Conservative Party of Canada and the Conservative Fund Canada until the February 2007
registration is 130 Albert Street, Suite 1720, Ottawa, Ontario. As noted above ( paragraph
45) this is the address (130 Albert Street, Suite 1720) to which Retail Media sent its
invoices addressed to "The Official Agents for Conservative Party Candidates". Assistant
Chief Investigator Lincourt advised me that to reach Suite 1720 he exited the elevator on
the 17`h floor at 130 Albert Street, turned left and followed the hall to a corner where he
turned left again and followed the hall to the last door where a sign indicated Suite 1720.
239. The building is a multi -storey office tower. I have examined the occupant registry
located in the lobby of the building and note that the building houses various businesses,
embassies and other organizations . The search is to be restricted to only those parts of the
building occupied or under the control of the Conservative Party of Canada or the
Conservative Fund Canada.
GROUNDS TO BELIEVE THAT THE THINGS TO BE SEARCHED FOR ARE

CURRENTLY AT THE LOCATION TO BE SEARCHED
240. As noted throughout the body of this Information, a considerable amount of

documentation has been created and filed with Elections Canada by candidates and by the
Conservative Party of Canada as required by the Canada Elections Act. In addition,
documents received from Retail Media via a production order demonstrate that numerous e-
mails and other means of correspondence have emanated from and been received by the
head office of the Conservative Parry of Canada.
241. Letters and a-mails emanating from senior officials at the head office of the
Conservative Party of Canada, indicate the address of the places to be searched as the
location at which they maintain office space . I believe that relevant documents and data are
present at that location.
242. I am aware that persons named in this Information have made considerable use of e-mail
as a means of exchanging information relevant to my investigation . In addition, I believe
that the records and other documents I have referred to in this Information have been
created using computers and that although I believe they are also stored in paper format,
Page 59
they are stored either on computer systems present at or available to computers located at
the place to be searched.
243. 1 believe I will be required to use or cause to be used any computer system at the place to
be searched in order to reproduce or copy the data contained in or available to those
systems.
244. Given that the place to be searched is the head office of the Conservative Party of
Canada and the Conservative Fund Canada, I believe it is reasonable to conclude that the
documents, records and data comprising the things to be searched for are at the place to be
searched and will be recovered.
GROUNDS TO BELIEVE THE THINGS TO BE SEARCHED FOR WILL AFFORD

EVIDENCE OF THE OFFENCES NAMED
245. Correspondence and a-mails between or among representatives of'the Conservative

Party of Canada (including candidates, official agents and regional organizers), the
Conservative Fund Canada, Retail Media and its related companies and production
companies including Yield or Yield Integrated, MIJO Corporation, Pirate Toronto, Look
Communication Inc, Republik Publicite + Design Inc, Howling Dog Productions Ltd with
respect to the creation, broadcast, financial arrangements or allocation of ,funds
concerning media advertisingfor or on behalf ofthe Conservative Party of'Canada during
the 39'h federal general election:
a. I believe this documentation will provide evidence of the planning, process and
timeline through which the media buy .was created and carried out.
246. Invoices, purchase authorizations, work orders, receipts, accounts, records of

payment, transfers ofpayment, directives, contracts, instructions, minutes of meetings,
records of decisions authorizing work or reflecting negotiations, meetings or
discussions concerning the production or purchase of media advertising by or on behalf
of the Conservative Fund Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada and Conservative
Party of'Canada candidates or their official agents for the 39'4 federal general election.
a. I believe these records will afford evidence of payments , flow of funds,

timing, contractual obligations , directions / instructions , and evidence of how
and by whom the advertising costs were incurred,
b. I believe these records will also provide evidence that the advertising was
national in scope, rather than advertising promoting a specific candidate.
247. Advertisement scripts and recordings of media advertising pertaining to the

Conservative Party of Canada during the 39h. federal general election.
a. I believe these records will afford evidence that the advertising was
actually created and afford evidence of the claimed "tag line", i.e. the person or
Page 60
entity identified in the ad as having approved and paid for it.
248. Time schedules, details of broadcast coverage, date and time of broadcast of
advertisements pertaining to the Conservative Party cif Canada during the 39,h federal
general election.
a. I believe these records will afford evidence that the advertising was
actually broadcast, the timing of the broadcasts and the geographic areas covered
by the advertising.
249. Records indicating electoral districts, locations or geographic areas which benefited
from the above broadcast advertisements and any analysis or allocation offunding relating
thereto.
a. I believe these records will afford evidence of the pattern of the

advertising broadcast and assist in determining the degree of benefit for a given
candidate in a geographic location or region and the process and rationale
through which amounts attributable to media advertising were allocated to
specific candidates.
AND FURTHER:
250. Due to the nature of the searches to be conducted, it is my intention to seek assistance
from peace officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in carrying out this
search. I will require assistance from the RCMP at the place to be searched to conduct:
a. The search of the offices of the Conservative Party of Canada and the
Conservative Fund Canada;
b. The search of the computer systems used by the Conservative Party of Canada
and the Conservative Fund Canada;
c. Copying of data on the computer systems used by or available to the computers
at the place to be searched;
d. Analysis of the data copied;
e. Conducting video taping of the place to be searched at various times during the
search, including:
i.Video taping the place to be searched when control of the premises is

acquired, prior to entry into the place by the majority of the persons to
participate in the search;
ii.Video taping the place to be searched when the grid mapping is
completed prior to the commencement of the actual search process in
order to be able to identify the numbering or identifying features
associated with various rooms, offices, etc and associate them with any
exhibits seized;
iii.Video taping the place to be searched upon completion of the search
Page 61
immediately prior to relinquishing control of the premises.
251. I require this assistance because:
a. I anticipate that the search will necessitate a detailed review of a large

volume of files and records;
b. In addition to myself, only three other investigators from the Office of
the Commissioner of Canada Elections are available to assist me;
C. I believe additional assistance is required to conduct the search in a
reasonable amount of time;
d. I do not, nor does anyone else in the Office of the Commissioner of
Canada Elections , possess the specific skills necessary to access or search
computer systems or to analyse the data once it has been copied.
252. With respect to the forensic imaging of computers or computer related equipment at the
place to be searched, I believe it to be true that:
a. The computer technician(s) to be involved has experience with computer

systems, including data storage and retrieval, and has been involved in
numerous searches conducted by "A" Division Integrated Technological Crime
Unit, involving computerized records and documents;
b. The computer technician (s) to be involved has experience in the

planning and coordinating of computer search and seizures and also provides
technical advise, guidance and training to investigators specialized in computer
search and evidence recovery;
C. The documentation and data as described in paragraph 7c of the "Things

to be searched for", the computer programs as described in paragraph 7b of the
"Things to be searched for" and the computer system and computer component
as described in paragraph 7a of the "Things to be searched for" are required to
access, make intelligible , reproduce, transfer, communicate or receive data
contained in data storage media described in paragraph 6 of "Things to be
searched for";
d. RCMP protocol is that the data storage media is examined by or under

the supervision of an informatics investigator of the RCMP , who has been
trained in the forensic analysis of computer systems and electronic data
retrieval;
e. RCMP Integrated Technological Crime investigators take appropriate

measures when seizing items as described under paragraphs 6 to 8 of "Things to
be searched for" to conduct a forensic recovery , examination and disclosure of
data. The investigator considers the facts and circumstances , including the
properties relating to the data and media , technical and accessing limitations to
determine which of the items described in paragraphs 6 to 8 of "Things to be
Page 62
searched for" are required in the circumstance;
f. Depending on the facts and circumstances, the computer system and

computer components may be seized because of technological constraints and
barriers, for example:
i.Data storage media may contain extraordinary amounts of data, which

includes data that may be mislabelled, encrypted, stored in hidden
directories, deleted or embedded in unused space. This data may
require a specific environment, in order to be accessed or made
intelligible, including the usage or the presence of a specific computer
system, computer component or computer program. To search and
process all this information at a search location may not be feasible
from a technical aspect. Therefore, the recovery of data described in
paragraph 6 of the "Things to be searched for" may require a meticulous
analysis by an informatics investigator in a controlled environment;
g. If a computer system is seized as described in sub-paragraph f. above, the

RCMP conducts the following procedures:
i.The computer system is removed from the premises , secured and

transported to the RCMP secure processing centre or other secured
location;
ii.The original data storage media is copied , removed from the seized
computer system and placed in the evidence room of the RCMP;
h. On March 17, 2008, Staff Sergeant John Keuper of the RCMP "A"
Division Integrated Technological Crime Unit advised the Office of the
Commissioner of Canada Elections that he is a member of the Integrated
Technological Crime Unit, which investigates computer crime and specializes
in the search, seizure and analysis of computer systems and as such he is aware
of the information contained in paragraphs 251 (1 to n) and paragraph 252:
i.Staff Sergeant Keuper said that members of the Integrated

Technological Crime Unit could forensically analyze a computer system
and retrieve a wide variety of information from it. This information
includes, but is not limited to:
1.. Copies of web pages created on the computer or downloaded

from the Internet;
2.. Copies of electronically created documents (e.g. letters and

journals);
3.. Copies of a-mails received and sent from the computer

system;
Page 63
Page 64
4.. Records of instant messaging and chat conversations (e.g.

ICQ, IRC , MSN Messenger);
i. The forensic analysis can retrieve data that may be hidden or previously
deleted, including prior drafts of web pages, documents and e-mails. Further, it
may assist in identifying when a web page or document was created or
modified, when an e-mail was sent or received, or when a chat conversation
occurred;
j. Deleted tiles or file fragments may exist for an extended period of time
on the computer system due to the design of most common computer operating
systems. Files that have been deleted by the user are not physically erased.
Rather, the operating system merely marks the area of the storage disk where
the file was stored as available to be used in the future. If that space is not re-
used prior to seizure, forensic programs can retrieve these deleted files or file
fragments;
k. Typically, the data sought is found on the hard disk drive(s) contained
within the seized computer system - the primary storage device of a personal or
business computer. The Integrated Technological Crime Unit will make an
exact copy, called an " image", of the entire hard disk drive, and conduct all
subsequent forensic analysis on that drive. During the acquisition process and
the subsequent forensic analysis, members of the Integrated Technological
Crime Unit use specialized hardware and software to ensure that the original
data remains intact and is not modified at any stage of the investigation. The
original hard disk drive is re-installed in the computer and dealt with through
s.490 of the Criminal Code;
1. The analysis will include searching the entire hard disk drive and any
seized storage media for the elements important to the investigation. Further,
the analysis will include examining any e-mail or other forms of
correspondence showing that the subject canvassed assistance from others;
M. There are a wide variety of techniques available to even the novice

computer user to resist the casual examination of data saved on a hard disk
drive. These include but are not limited to:
- Password protection
- Encryption
- Renaming files
- Steganography (hiding files inside other files);
n. Time, experience and computer resources are required to defeat these and
other techniques. As such, it is necessary to examine the entire physical disk to
complete a comprehensive search for electronic evidence.
Page 65
. INFORMATION TO OBTAIN A SEARCH WARRANT
253. Members of the RCMP "A" Division Integrated Technological Crime Unit will be
present at the search , and will assess, based on the aforementioned reasoning , whether it is
.gccessary to seize peripherals or software. Items that are not required will not be seized.
AND FURTHER:
ASSISTANCE ORDERS
GILLES ROBILLARD
254. My grounds to believe it is necessary to order Mr. Gilles Robillard, CA, pursuant to
section 487 .02 of the Criminal Code, to provide whatever assistance may reasonably be
considered necessary to give effect to the warrant are as follows:
a. The things to be searched for include accounting and financial records

including invoices , receipts, accounts , contracts, and other related documents.
Neither I nor the other investigators who will be present have a background in
accounting or finance and as a result we are unable to precisely identify and
seize all of the relevant documentation;
b. To address this deficiency, I require the services of a person having the

necessary accounting and finance background and skills who will be present
during the search in order to:
i.Assist in the search of the place with respect to accounting and financial
records, such as financial data, entries, payments or transfers of money,
payments of accounts , payment schedules and other similar records,
whether recorded on paper or as data stored on or available to a
computer;
ii.Enable me to consult on a real -time basis as the search proceeds to
ensure that all relevant records are identified.
255. Mr. Robillard is a Chartered Accountant and a partner with the firm RSM Richter in
Montreal, Quebec. Mr. Robillard is experienced in conducting forensic accounting
engagements and has been retained by Elections Canada to assist by objectively analysing
financial data obtained during this investigation.
256. I believe an Assistance Order is necessary to allow Mr. Robillard to be present during
the search because his accounting skills will assist investigators to focus on the relevant
aspects of the search . He will assist by identifying and assessing the financial or accounting
nature of the "Things to be searched for". In addition, he will provide consultative insight
into the evidentiary nature of the things of a financial or accounting nature in the place to be
searched and will provide investigators with information pertaining to other related and
relevant evidence which may also be available at or through the place to be searched as the
warrant is executed.
Page 66
DATA ADMINISTRATOR
257. Idly grounds to believe it is necessary to order the person responsible for data
administration at the place to be searched, pursuant to section 487.02 of the Criminal Code,
to provide whatever assistance may reasonably be considered necessary to give etTect to the
warrant are as follows:
a. The identity of the person responsible for data administration at the

location to be searched is unknown to me at this time;
b. As indicated elsewhere in this Information, I have reasonable grounds to

believe that many of the things I seek pursuant to this warrant relate to records
produced by computer systems. I am advised by Staff Sergeant John Keuper of
the RCMP "A" Division Integrated Technological Crime Unit, that upon
execution of the search warrant assistance will be required from the person
responsible or in control of the administration of the data system or systems at
the place to be searched to identify and provide access to computers and /or
servers available at or accessible to the computers at the place to be searched.
Such assistance will allow the search for electronic data to be more focussed and
reduce the time necessary to conduct the search.
CONDITIONS
It is requested that the search warrant grant authorization to enter the place to be
searched between 7:00 o'clock AM on April , 2008 and 6:00 o'clock PM on April
, 2008, and that the warrant continue in force for a period of 72 hours from the
time of entry into the place.
The search will be conducted by day. During the period of the validity of the warrant, I
will ensure that during night hours adequate personnel are posted to maintain security at
the place to be searched in order to preserve evidence and protect the integrity of the
premises.
GROUNDS FOR SEALING ORDER
I believe the disclosure at this time of the Search Warrant, this Information to Obtain a Search
Warrant and the material filed in support of this application, would subvert the ends of justice
by compromising the nature and extent of an ongoing investigation. The investigation is
proceeding but a considerable amount of work remains to be completed, including interviews of
numerous persons of interest to the investigation. I believe that should the information
contained in my Information become public knowledge, the ability to carry out the remainder of
the investigation would be compromised because:
Page 67
1. The outline of the investigation and the evidence obtained to date would be
known to potential interviewees; and
2. I believe such knowledge would tend to have a chilling effect on cooperation of

potential witnesses and could allow interviewees to tailor their evidence to
achieve a desired result.
As a consequence I am requesting an order denying access to and the disclosure of any

information relating to the warrant and the documentation tiled in support of this application for
a period of three months from the date of the execution of the warrant, for the following reasons:
1. To provide time to conduct a review of the things seized and arrange and conduct
interviews;
2. To avoid compromising the nature and extent of the ongoing investigation, and;
3. I believe that the ends of justice would be subverted by the disclosure of the
information. In seeking this order I rely upon on.the authority of section 487.3(1) of
the Criminal Code.
WHEREFORE the Informant prays that a search warrant may be

granted to search the said location for the said things.
Sworn before me this q1*4 day of A.D. 2008

(Signature cif nformant)
at Toronto, Ontario 4
(A Commission r for Oaths in and for the

Province of Ontario)
4^C `r i `^'^ C ^' X74 ^ c C^?D(_
Page 68
w
..

Stephentaylorca Warrant

Diunggah oleh

Informasi Dokumen

Judul Asli

Hak Cipta

Format Tersedia

Bagikan dokumen Ini

Bagikan atau Tanam Dokumen

Opsi Berbagi

Apakah menurut Anda dokumen ini bermanfaat?

Apakah konten ini tidak pantas?

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Stephentaylorca Warrant

Diunggah oleh

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Superior Court of Justice

In the Matter of an Application

An ex parte application for a Search Warrant, pursuant to Section 487 of the

• Information of Ronald Lamothe with attached appendices;

Dated at Toronto, Ontari

RELEVANT LAW .................................................................................................................................................5

GROUNDS FOR BELIEF ......................................................................................................................................6

REVIEW OF RECORDS PRODUCED BY RETAIL MEDIA .......................................................................... 38

REASONABLE BELIEFS ................................................................................................................................... 56

GROUNDS TO BELIEVE THE LOCATION TO BE SEARCHED IS THE SAME LOCATION NAMED IN

ASSISTANCE ORDERS ..................................................................................................................................... 66

GROUNDS FOR SEALING ORDER .................................................................................................................67

INFORMATION TO OBTAIN A SEARCH WARRANT

THIS IS THE INFORMATION OF:

Mr. Ronald Lamothe , Assistant Chief Investigator , Office of the Commissioner of

(Name and occupation of Informant)

of the CITY OF Ottawa, in the PROVINCE OF Ontario, hereinafter called

the Informant, taken before me.

THE INFORMANT SAYS THAT:

THINGS TO BE SEARCHED FOR:

1. Correspondence and a-mails between or among representatives of the Conservative

2. Invoices, purchase authorizations , receipts, accounts and accounting records,

3. Advertisement scripts and recordings of media advertising for radio or television

4. Time schedules , details of broadcast coverage , date and time of broadcast of

5. Records pertaining to broadcasts in electoral districts, locations or geographic

7. Things required to access , make intelligible , reproduce, transfer, communicate or

(a) Computer system and computer components , including hardware,

8. Data or other recorded information which may provide indicia of use,

a) The Conservative Party of Canada,

And by so doing committed an offence under subsections 497(1)(1) and 497(3)(g) of

2. The CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA, being a registered party whose

And by so doing committed an offence under subsection 497(3)(m)(ii) of the Canada

Section 437(3) - "All financial transactions of the candidate in relation to an electoral

Section 446 - "A contract involving an expense in relation to a candidate's electoral

2. Similar provisions relating to the reporting of election expenses are imposed on

GROUNDS FOR BELIEF

3. I, Ronald Lamothe , the Informant herein , am an Assistant Chief Investigator in the

4. The purpose of this Information to Obtain a Search Warrant is to seek judicial

b. It allowed the approximately 67 candidates involved to increase their reported

a.Equity, through the imposition of election spending limits, so that no candidate

compliance measures, so that public confidence in the system's intrinsic fairness

GROUNDS FOR BELIEVING THAT THE OFFENCES DESCRIBED HEREIN HAVE

REFERRAL TO THE COMMISSIONER OF CANADA ELECTIONS

ALLEGATIONS CONTAINED IN THE REFERRAL

30. The Referral alleged that the scheme operated as follows:

c. The Conservative Fund Canada issued an invoice to the participating campaigns

REVIEW OF MATERIALS PROVIDED WITH THE REFERRAL

CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA COMMENTS ON MEDIA BUY

"...there is no single contractual document between the registered party, or the

Later in the same letter he indicates:

"Costs were calculated by Retail Media by individual campaigns based on the

REVIEW OF RECORDS PROVIDED BY ELECTIONS CANADA

MEDIA BUY TRANSACTIONS AS DESCRIBED IN DOCUMENTS PROVIDED BY

It is to be recorded as a Transfer, from the Registered Party and gill be recorded on

She goes on to state:

61. In his e-mail noted in Appendix 15, Mr. Hudson states:

He also indicated in his letter:

4'...appropriate invoices reflecting goods and services rendered were separately

INTERVIEW OF SENIOR OFFICERS OF RETAIL MEDIA

1) Media Buy - Rest of Canada (excluding Quebec) - Registered Party

2) Media Buy - Participating Candidates, and

INTERVIEWS OF PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES and OFFICIAL AGENTS

164. On August 2, 2007, Elections Canada Assistant Chief Investigator S. Neville