Apolitical Staples

Looks like both the federal Conservatives and Ontario Liberals have tried "creative" ways to get around campaign finance restrictions. First the federal Conservatives.

...In the 2006 campaign, the cash-flush Tories spent the $18.3-million they were allowed under Canada's electoral law - a limit imposed to even the playing field between rich candidates and those that were not so rich.
The court documents show that, largely through local candidates, the Conservatives also spent $1.2-million plus $121,000 in production costs to purchase what they call a "regional media buy."

It appears that Elections Canada is disputing if these were truly "regional" and are refusing to reimburse 60% of the cost (leaving aside the insanity of taxpayers funding parties to the tune of $1.75/vote/year and then funding the majority of their campaign expenses). Seems that this one should be pretty easy to resolve - either the "regional media buy" was not an expense of the candidates who claimed it but an expense of the party or it was a candidate expense. Don't ask me what it means if the Conservatives are over-ruled and are found to have over spent their limits. Would the taxpayers be on the hook to pay any fine levied?

And now the Liberal "creativity".

...The Ontario Progressive Conservatives have asked Elections Ontario to investigate a group called the Working Families Coalition because of its close ties to Premier Dalton McGuinty's office.
...Key figures linked to the coalition play or have played senior roles for the Liberals, including re-election campaign director Don Guy, a pollster and former McGuinty chief of staff, and veteran Grit strategist Marcel Wieder.

If Elections Ontario determines that these are Liberal ads and not "third-party ads" then the cost would be deducted from the Liberal spending limit (setting aside the insanity of not letting third-parties advertise during a campaign in the first place).