Newly-appointed Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Peter Penashue is sworn in at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 18, 2011. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae is calling on Elections Canada to launch a formal investigation into the election spending of Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue during the last federal election.
In a letter to the Commissioner of Canada Elections, Rae says "a number of serious allegations" have come to light and if proven to be true, "they constitute serious infringements of the Canada Elections Act and may even bring into question the validity of the election result in a very close race."
Records obtained by CBC News, show that Penashue's campaign spent $24,711 in flights during the 2011 election campaign, but an airline in his Labrador riding wrote off most of that amount under an agreement that appears to have been made months after the election was over.
The cost of the flights that were written off would have put Penashue well over his spending limit. CBC News has previously reported that Penashue's campaign spending records show he was already nearly $4,000 over his limit.
It also appears Penashue still owes $15,000 plus interest on a loan provided by Innu Development Limited Partnership, a company run by two Innu communities to develop business partnerships. Penashue's brother-in-law, Paul Rich, was the CEO of IDLP but he stepped down after the community expressed outrage that Rich earned more than $1 million in salary over two years.
Candidate travel isn't subject to spending limits under Canadian election laws, but the travel expenses of a candidate's family, staff and volunteers are. That means the airline invoiced Penashue for $18,163 of travel that falls under campaign expense limits.
A calculation by CBC News of the travel expense invoices, the previous overspending and a portion of a flat rate charged by the airline for travel shows that Penashue's campaign overspent its limit by $17,469.06, or about 21 per cent.
In his letter, Rae said this matter is "quite serious because, taken together, these irregularities could have certainly had an impact on the election in Labrador."
Penashue won the 2011 federal election over Liberal incumbent Todd Russell by 79 votes.
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Liberals ask watchdog to probe Tory MP campaign spending
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