This article has been edited to adjust a spelling error.
CORNWALL, Ontario – On Tuesday, April 30, City of Cornwall Clerk Manon L. Levesque released a financial statement (found here) pertaining to 2018 Municipal Election contributions, complying with various sections of the amended Municipal Elections Act (88.23, 88.34 and 88.36).
The statement discusses whether each candidate complied with section 88.25 and filed a financial statement within an allocated span of time. It also reports that no contributor exceeded contributions to a candidate, and no contributor on a local board exceeded any limits to a candidate — both in accordance with section 88.9. Additionally, no contributor to a registered third party exceeded any contribution limits outlined in section 88.13.
Levesque and General Manager of Corporate Services Geoff Clarke stated that the report does not relate to Mayor Bernadette Clement’s recent announcement of exceeding a personal contribution limit by approximately $4,000, which was previously reported on here.
Levesque and Clarke reiterated that the City Clerk is not required to make a statement concerning candidate’s personal contributions, and that a statement likely will not be made on the matter.
“Pursuant to section 88.9.1 (8), section 88.34 does not apply to contributions made by a candidate for an office on a council or his or her spouse to the candidate’s own election campaign,” reads a note at the end of the Clerk’s statement.
“We’re letting the process work the way it is supposed to,” said Clarke. “It’s not our position to make any comments either way…right now we have a process we have to follow…and we are putting that together. (We will) communicate those items (determined by a compliance audit committee) when in a position to make those notices.”
A formal complaint concerning Mayor Clement’s over contribution was made and has been referred to a compliance audit committee, which was formed last week during a City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 23. The committee has 30 days to decide whether the claims in the complaint should or will be investigated further.
