Political donations: Martin Francoeur under investigation by the Commissioner of Elections

MONTREAL – Liberal candidate for Trois-Rivières, Martin Francoeur, is under investigation by the Commissioner of Canada Elections for soliciting political contributions from former colleagues through their life partners.

The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the correspondence between the office of Commissioner Yves Côté and the Conservative Party of Canada, which filed the complaint.

He specifies that “the circumstances described could potentially contravene certain provisions of the [Canada Elections] Act ”and that the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections will conduct its own investigation.

Francoeur, former columnist for the daily The Nouvelliste has been in hot water since former colleagues revealed that they had been approached for political donations and that, if the request provoked unease, to do so on behalf of their spouses.

The Liberal candidate has always maintained that he made an honest mistake.

This is not the first time that the Conservatives have filed a complaint in this election; they also asked the commissioner to examine a truncated video of Erin O’Toole on the privatization of health posted by liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland on Twitter.

Côté ultimately determined, in a ruling on Wednesday, that he had not broken the law.