Even Tory MPs agree bill to reform political loans a complex mess

OTTAWA – A bill aimed at closing loopholes in the law governing political loans is such a complicated mess that even Conservative MPs are suggesting the government go back to the drawing board.

Chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand says Bill C-21 does not accomplish its goal of ending the ability of candidates to bypass strict limits on political donations by taking out hefty loans that often go unpaid for years.

He says it’s too complex, fails to close some existing loopholes and actually creates some new ones.

After listening to Mayrand’s detailed analysis of the bill’s flaws, even Conservative members of a Commons committee seem to think it’s not salvageable in its current form.

Tory MP John Williamson, a former communications director for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, says the bill appears to take the law on loans “from a real mess into a swamp.”

And fellow Tory Tom Lukiwski, parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, says the government may want to consider going back to the drawing board.