So which Progressive Conservative – maybe a member of the current House of Assembly - got the benefit of Ed Byrne’s constituency allowance to get elected?
Some time between August 2000 and April 2004, Ed Byrne used $3,000 of public money that was supposed to go toward Byrne’s constituency-related business to pay a campaign worker for work on a provincial by-election somewhere in Newfoundland and Labrador.
By-election finance statements before 2005 aren’t available at the Elections Newfoundland and Labrador website so someone will have to troop along to Paul Reynolds’ office to get a look at the documents to see if the money was reported.
Plus, we can’t be sure that is the only such payment made out of the money Byrne is supposed to have misappropriated. His agreed statement of facts recently in answer to fraud and corruption charges only accounted for a fraction - 25% or so - of the total.
Then there’s things like the building supplies – lumber? – he bought and shipped up to his cabin in the woods. Did anyone check to see if it was dry-wall and two by fours? If there was a raft of two by twos in there, as well as washers and roofing nails and the timing was right, that might also turn out to be election-related purchases. Two by two lumber, washers and roofing nails are used to hold up the ever-popular two foot by two foot election sign.
But what provincial by-elections were held in that time?
Trinity North (April 25, 2000)
Humber West (June 19, 2001)
Port de Grave (June 19, 2001)
St. Barbe (January 30, 2001)
The Straits and White Bay North (January 30, 2001)
Bonavista North (July 24, 2002)
Conception Bay South (November 12, 2002)
At least one of the Progressive Conservatives in those by-elections got a boost from public funds.
Which one was it?
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