By Stephen Vance, Staff
On July 14, a joint compliance audit committee (JCAC) denied a request from 2014 Meaford mayoral candidate Ray McHugh to have an audit conducted of Mayor Barb Clumpus’s campaign expenses, while at the same meeting the committee granted a request from McHugh to have mayoral candidate Jim McPherson’s campaign expenses audited.
McHugh told the committee of three – Phil Cant of Meaford, Don King of Georgian Bluffs, and Ray McKelvie of Owen Sound – that in his opinion the campaign expenses of both Clumpus and McPherson were under-reported in an effort to avoid an automatic audit of campaign expenses that would have been initiated, and paid for by the candidates, if either campaign had reported more than $10,000 in expenses.
The maximum allowable campaign expenditures for mayoral candidates in Meaford for the 2014 municipal election was slightly more than $16,000. McPherson’s reported expenses amounted to $9,462.85, and Clumpus reported expenses of just $6,362. McHugh, who finished third after the votes were tallied in October of last year, reported a miniscule $732.59 in campaign expenses.
In addition to his accusation of intentional under-reporting of campaign expenses, McHugh told the JCAC panel that in his opinion both candidates should have reported fuel and travel expenses that resulted from the 2014 campaign – though it was noted that McHugh himself did not report any travel expenses for his own campaign – and that a video-recorded interview with candidate McPherson for an Owen Sound media outlet should have been reported as an in-kind contribution to McPherson’s campaign. As part of his rebuttal to McHugh’s allegations, McPherson noted that a reporter conducting an interview of a political candidate should not constitute an in-kind campaign contribution.
While answering questions from the JCAC members, McHugh also shared his views about Meaford’s media.
“In Meaford, we have basically two media outlets that do not serve us very well. They refuse to hold council’s feet to the fire. In fact there has been no mention in the Meaford media of expense returns from the 2014 election, and you have to dig your way through the Meaford website to find them. Whereas, for instance, the Sun Times in Owen Sound, they actually had a half page article covering the expenses of candidates elected in Owen Sound, it was quite well done, it even mentioned the major contributors to certain people. As far as the Meaford media is concerned, just stay away from it, it’s not worth touching,” said McHugh.
“I appreciate the education about the press, but that was not the intent of my question,” responded JCAC member Don King of Georgian Bluffs.
At the conclusion of the meeting, McHugh would not answer questions from Meaford media, and only spoke to media from Owen Sound.
When asked about his own campaign expenses in 2014, and the fact that after his failed 2010 bid for a council seat McHugh filed an expense report that did not include any campaign expenses at all in spite of the fact that every candidate has one expense in common – the required candidate filing fee paid to the Municipal Clerk’s office when submitting the paperwork required to run for office – McHugh had little to say.
“You ran in 2010 as a councillor (candidate), sir?” asked King of McHugh.
“That’s correct,” replied McHugh.
“And what did you report?” asked King.
“Zero,” responded McHugh.
“Are you happy with that? Didn’t you donate anything? Your nomination fee for example?”
“Oh yes, my only expense was my nomination fee,” McHugh replied.
“You didn’t report that,” countered King.
“I can’t recall,” responded McHugh.
“It’s a public record, so I took the time to read it,” advised King.
“Yes, but sir, we are dealing with a specific case. You want to attack me on this. Someone should have protested my expense form, but we are dealing one case here, you’re going all over the spectrum,” responded McHugh.
The panel rejected McHugh’s request for an audit of the campaign expenses of Mayor Clumpus, and while they approved the request for an audit of McPherson’s expenses, King advised McHugh that the audit, which will be conducted at taxpayer expense by BDO, will not likely produce anything other than what is already known.
“I don’t think you’re going to get a clear answer from BDO that this was a deliberate intent to understate (expenses). You’re just going to get another opinion. The auditor will no doubt be able to look at all the receipts and say yeah, all the receipts that were issued are in that report. What the auditor will not be able to certify about facts that we don’t know. I do not believe that the auditor has the power to demand of a donor to that question of whether they did give a donation, or did not give a donation,” advised King.
McHugh’s push for audits of the campaign expenses for Clumpus and McPherson has attracted some disturbing support from an anonymous emailer. Using names and email addresses like Syd Enham (sydenham2015@gmail.com), Nanuk North (nanukresolute@gmail.com), and Rhaj Mahal (ownsnd@gmail.com), the anonymous individual or individuals sent many email messages to members of the media, municipal staff, and Meaford residents that contain profanity and derogatory language while expressing support for the audit of campaign expenses, and making accusations about Jim McPherson. The Independent published one of those letters on July 10. (https://themeafordindependent.ca/letters/47-letters/4707-reader-has-choice-words-for-editor-with-regard-to-campaign-expense-audit-editorial-warning-profanity)
While McHugh would not answer questions from Meaford media at the conclusion of the meeting, The Independent did attempt to seek comment from McHugh by email about the nasty tone of email messages from the person or persons clearly expressing support for McHugh’s audit requests, and whether he supports such tactics. At the time of publication McHugh had not responded to our email request for comment.
After the meeting had concluded, Mayor Clumpus told The Independent that she was pleased with the decision of the panel.
“Given the type of campaign we ran, and (campaign treasurer) Laurie Bennett’s integrity and extremely tight management of the finances, I was fully confident that my expense forms were in compliance with the election act. So I am pleased that the adjudicators felt the same way. This has been a highly unusual experience for all concerned, I believe. As I stated, while I believe in the democratic process that brought us to this day, I am curious about the motives that precipitated this action in my case. I will be watching closely the progress of this decision. With this behind me, I’m pleased to get on with the important business of the municipality,” said Clumpus.
McPherson was less than pleased with the panel’s decision, and he was particularly frustrated about a letter that McHugh presented to the panel as the proceedings began. The Independent has requested a copy of the document from the municipality, however they are seeking legal counsel before making the document public.
“The audit process is fine, I don’t have any problem with that. I do have difficulty with a letter being submitted that makes false accusations against me, that’s inflammatory,” said McPherson after the meeting. “As the committee members indicated, they don’t think the audit will be able to define what is an in-kind donation. I struggle with the idea that a renowned editor, publisher, and reporter is also subject to aspersions by McHugh that somehow they made a donation in-kind. I think a reporter conducting an interview in the process of his job during an election campaign should not be construed as a donation in-kind, and I suspect that BDO will find that to be the case.”
In addition to the cost of the audit by BDO, the three members of the JCAC are entitled to a per diem of $150 per day plus mileage, paid for by Meaford taxpayers.
The decisions of the committee can be appealed within 15 days. Failing a successful appeal, BDO will conduct an audit of McPherson’s 2014 mayoral campaign expenses and report its findings to the JCAC.
