The party quickly reversed its position on the use of prepaid credit cards on Thursday, after the Poilievre camp demanded that they be banned and the party cancel any subscriptions it bought with them from February 2.
Read more: Poilievre camp raises concerns about Conservative members’ ‘fraud’
“The party (and the Conservative Fund) will not accept prepaid participation or donation cards for this leadership race,” wrote Wayne Benson, the party’s executive director, in a note on Global News leadership campaigns. Benson said the party would cancel subscriptions purchased with prepaid cards by February 2, as requested by the Poilievre camp. The story goes on under the ad “We will soon be directing campaigns on a partnership plan to resolve legal subscriptions that are canceled as a result of this retrospective change.” It was a major upheaval for the party, which on Monday told leadership campaigns that it would continue to accept prepaid cards. Benson gave no reason in his memorandum for the overthrow. Asked to comment Thursday night, Benson told Global News he had nothing to add to the note. 1:37 CPC Leadership Race: Poilievre Faces Harder Than Expected Competition CPC Leadership Race: Poilievre Faces Harder Than Expected Competition – March 26, 2022 On Tuesday, Global News reported that the Poilievre campaign had sent a letter to a lawyer in the Conservative Party warning of possible fraud as a member through the use of prepaid credit cards. Trending Stories
Do you have to rent or buy a house? Because this calculation can change Russian warship Moskva sinks after fire, marking major setback in Ukraine war
To join the Conservatives – and be eligible to choose their next leader – Canadians must cut a $ 15 check or a credit card payment at the party. Using prepaid credit cards to buy subscriptions has been a long-standing concern, for fear that a leadership campaign could buy “fake” subscriptions and tilt the scales of the competition. The story goes on under the ad The Poilievre camp offered no evidence of fraud, but hinted strongly that it was worried about Brabton Mayor Patrick Brown, who had previously likened the subscription market to “jaywalking”. A Brown campaign spokesman said Thursday that they “do not accept subscriptions using prepaid cards” and that the move does not “affect the sales” of our subscriptions.
Read more: The biggest winner in the Liberal-NDP deal may be the next Conservative leader
But Jeff Silverstein said the fact that the party was making “retroactive changes to the rules” at Poilievre’s request was “interesting”. “The Poilievre campaign will be disappointed to learn that it will not be able to block any of our subscriptions,” Silverstein wrote in a statement to Global News. “Patrick Brown’s campaign focuses on enrolling thousands of new members of the Conservative Party as opposed to the Poilievre Group, who are looking for ways to exclude Canadians from participation.” However, it does not seem that Poilievre was the only candidate concerned about prepaid cards. A Conservative leadership source close to Poilievre’s campaign told Global News that the move was “good news for the fairness of the election and the integrity of the membership list”. Candidates for the Conservative leadership must submit $ 300,000 in fees and guarantees by the end of the month to end up on the ballot, and by June 2 they must register members to vote for them. The next Conservative leader will be elected on September 10. © 2022 Global News, part of Corus Entertainment Inc.
