Tories ignored subpoenas to appear at ad hearings, MPs are told

The chair of the Commons ethics committee also identified a fourth former Conservative campaign agent who informed a House official that he and others who worked on the 2006 election campaign were instructed by the party not to testify.

Combined with earlier comments from yet another Conservative - who said a party official informed him and other potential witnesses from Toronto that they could ignore the summonses if they wished - the news fuelled angry reactions from opposition MPs.

Wednesday marked the first time Liberal committee chair Paul Szabo has identified the specific agents whose comments have sparked accusations of a "conspiracy" in Conservative ranks to subvert the inquiry into $1.3 million in campaign advertising expenses.

Szabo quoted from a report he received from a bailiff firm the committee hired in an attempt to compel the former campaign agents and defeated candidates to appear.

It said a Conservative who was the official agent for Heritage Minister Josee Verner, another who was the campaign agent for Tory MP Sylvie Boucher, a parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and another who was official agent for Conservative MP Daniel Petit were all served summonses by Aug. 6.

Szabo also read from a report prepared by the committee's chief clerk that quoted another official agent, Marc Duval, saying he and others had been told to stay away.

"He informed me that the party has told them to decline all invitations," the report quoted Duval as saying. Duval, who was the campaign agent for Tory MP Luc Harvey, could not be reached by summons-bearing bailiffs after that because he left for vacation, said Szabo.

The latest disclosures, which came on top of similar statements the previous day from the official campaign agent for a Toronto riding, prompted calls from opposition MPs for sanctions against those who failed to turn out for the hearings.

"It sets a terrible precedent for the committee, that people can just thumb their noses at us," said NDP MP Pat Martin. "Somebody co-ordinated this, it was a boycott of our committee."

More than a dozen witnesses who were scheduled to appear Wednesday afternoon also failed to show, including Patrick Muttart, a close aide to Harper, and other senior party officials or former party officials.

The committee was into its third day of intermittent testimony over a Conservative advertising scheme that allegedly allowed the party to exceed its 2006 election spending limit by $1.1 million.

The party transferred thousands of dollars into the campaign bank accounts of 67 selected candidates and quickly transferred the money back out, ostensibly in payment for radio and television advertising on behalf of the candidates.

But executives with the advertising firm that placed the ads testified Wednesday that they dealt only with the national party.

They also said that at one point during the campaign they were so concerned about the legality of the transactions that they held two conference calls with party officials and their lawyer.

One of the Conservative candidates who did show up for the hearing told MPs that he and his official agent withheld their participation in the program until they were convinced it was legal.

Steve Halicki, the defeated Conservative candidate in the Toronto riding of York South Weston, nonetheless admitted it was presented as a way for his campaign to fill its coffers with money it could not raise in the riding. At the same time, it stood to add $24,000 to the amount Halicki could claim in campaign expense rebates.

Another defeated Conservative candidate from Newfoundland and Labrador and her official agent insisted they received no benefit from a $7,700 transfer from the party to their campaign, and they were never informed what it was to be used for.

The candidate, Cynthia Downey, told the committee she did not see any television advertising or hear radio ads promoting her in the campaign, and believed that if her campaign had been allowed to use the cash she might have won the election.

One of the ad executives from Retail Media, the firm that placed all the advertising for the Conservative election campaign, disclosed that Muttart was his main contact for the media buying program. Andrew Kumpf also testified that Muttart is the party's main advertising contact for the coming campaign.

The NDP's Martin said Muttart's involvement suggests control over the advertising plan went "all the way to the top" of the party.

Partisan bickering in the three days of committee hearings this week has sparked insults from both sides, rare even for the wrangling that has become characteristic of this minority Parliament.

At one point Wednesday, Tory MP Dean Del Maestro angrily denounced Martin for swearing during the hearings.

"I shouldn't have to put up with this, neither should anyone else at the table," said Del Maestro, telling the committee he had been brought up "not to take the Lord's name in vain".

Szabo told reporters the committee may decide to appeal to the full Commons to order the witnesses to appear when Parliament resumes in the fall, or recommend a separate investigation into the failures to appear.

That investigation, however, would be conducted by a separate rules committee of the House - which has been paralyzed since February because the Conservatives refuse to nominate an MP for election as chairman.