Ottawa

Rejected by voters, paid for by the public

Irwin Cotler notes that the Conservative candidate in his riding now works for the government.

Mr. Cotler said the Tory candidate, now employed in the office of Heritage Minister James Moore, is performing the duties of a member of Parliament. He said ex-opponent Saulie Zajdel is now offering to help municipal politicians in his Montreal riding secure federal grants and services.

“We have had information conveyed to us that, in fact, he has had meetings with mayors and councillors in this riding, in which he has held out to them that he, in the course of his work, can confer a benefit upon them,” Mr. Cotler said in his office Tuesday. “What has he been hired to do and what is he, in fact, doing? … The question is whether a defeated candidate seeks to perform the duties of an MP, as a kind of shadow MP on the public purse.”

See previously: Puppet MPs

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