The Green Party in Ottawa Centre cannot pay its expenses.
A spokesperson for Tom Milroy’s campaign, who does not want to be named, has confirmed the party doesn’t have a bank account.
On Elections Canada’s website, rules state a candidate’s official agent must “open a separate bank account to be used exclusively for the candidates campaign,” and that the official agent must be the account holder.
Milroy officially appointed Patricia Brush as his agent late last week, but she has been acting in the position for weeks. The Ottawa Centre Green Party spokesperson says Brush has made several unsuccessful attempts to open an account. He adds the bank would not open an account until the party provided documents showing Milroy had been officially confirmed as a Green Party candidate by Elections Canada. He says the documents were presented to the bank on Monday, and the party expects a bank account will be open within a day.
In a written statement, Serge Fleyfel, a spokesperson for Elections Canada, says he cannot comment on the case. He did indicate candidates must follow the specific election rules outlined in the Political Financing Handbook for Candidates and Official Agents, if they want to spend money.
“So in theory, if all the steps are not completed (such as opening a bank account), it is possible that the candidate’s agent cannot, per example, ‘spend’ money,” he writes.
The Ottawa Centre Green Party spokesperson says not having access to funds has been frustrating because they haven’t been able to contract out further services such as producing new election signs. He says they don’t want to write cheques they can’t pay.