Compliance Agreements


Commissioner Of Canada Elections

Canada Elections Act

Compliance agreement

This notice is published by the Commissioner of Canada Elections, pursuant to section 521 of the Canada Elections Act, S.C. 2000, c. 9 (hereafter referred to as the "Act").

On October 24, 2013, and pursuant to section 517 of the Act, the Commissioner of Canada Elections entered into a compliance agreement with Mr. Aly Salim Hirji (hereafter referred to as the "Contracting Party"), of the city of Toronto, in the province of Ontario. The Contracting Party was the financial agent of Theodore John Opitz, a contestant in the 2008 Conservative Party of Canada nomination contest in the electoral district of Mississauga South (the "2008 Opitz nomination campaign"), and remains the financial agent of the contestant under the terms of the Act.

The compliance agreement between the Commissioner and Mr. Hirji includes provisions related both to Mr. Hirji as the Contracting Party and to his assistance to Mr. Opitz in carrying out a separate compliance agreement.

Filing requirement for nomination campaign return

The Contracting Party has acknowledged that paragraph 478.23(1)(a) of the Act requires that a financial agent of a nomination contestant who has accepted contributions of $1,000 or more in total, or has incurred nomination campaign expenses of $1,000 or more in total, provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a nomination campaign return in the prescribed form.

The Contracting Party has acknowledged that he is now aware that the 2008 Opitz nomination campaign received $9,000 in contributions from Mr. Opitz and incurred nomination campaign expenses in an amount that exceeded $1,000, and that the criteria triggering the requirement to submit a return were met. He further acknowledged that he did not provide the Chief Electoral Officer with a campaign return for the 2008 Opitz nomination campaign, as required by paragraph 478.23(1)(a) of the Act.

The Contracting Party has acknowledged and has accepted responsibility for this omission, and is now aware of paragraph 478.23(1)(a) and the offence provision at paragraph 497(1)(z.28) of the Act.

Receipt of contributions exceeding contributor's personal contribution limit

The Contracting Party acknowledges that he is aware that nomination contestant Theodore John Opitz contributed $9,000 to the 2008 Opitz nomination campaign, an amount $6,900 in excess of the 2008 contribution limit of $2,100 applicable to an individual who is a nomination contestant. The Contracting Party acknowledges that no return or remittance of any of the excess portion of the contribution was made and that the original nomination campaign bank account was closed in November 2008.

In addition, the Contracting Party has acknowledged that section 405.4 of the Act requires that a financial agent, within 30 days of becoming aware of a contribution to a nomination campaign that was made in contravention of a limit under subsection 405(1), either return the contribution unused to the contributor or, if that is not possible, pay the amount in excess of the contribution limit to the Chief Electoral Officer, who shall remit it to the Receiver General.

The Contracting Party has also acknowledged that, in a separate compliance agreement, Mr. Opitz has agreed to use his very best efforts to enable the Contracting Party to remit to the Receiver General the greatest possible portion of the amount of $6,900, being the portion of Mr. Opitz's contributions that exceeded the contribution limits in the Act.

Under the compliance agreement, the Contracting Party agrees to

The Contracting Party acknowledges that the nomination campaign return and updates are subject to audit by the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer and will be posted on the Elections Canada Web site as submitted.

The Commissioner agrees that the fulfillment of the undertakings in the agreement by the Contracting Party will constitute compliance with the agreement.

Ottawa, February 3, 2014

Yves Côté, QC
Commissioner of Canada Elections



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