Free ride

The Globe finds six NDP MPs who were elected on the cheap.

The Globe finds six NDP MPs who were elected on the cheap.

Another one of the NDP no-spenders is Philip Toone, a lawyer and a first-time MP for Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine. “I had me and my orange tie,” Mr. Toone remembered, saying he relied on word-of-mouth to spread news of his campaign. “Miracles are rare.”

Mr. Toone didn’t put up lawn signs or billboards and recorded no campaign expenses – though he did make note of $12.50 in auditing work that was marked as received in August, four months after the election.

Three of those MPs are from the McGill Four, who I profiled last fall. Another is Ruth Ellen Brosseau, who I wrote about here and here.