Kash Heed reported $5,578.90 in supplemental expenses, but his former campaign manager says about $40,000 was unaccounted for.

A former NDP candidate has asked B.C.'s chief electoral officer, Keith Archer, to conduct a new investigation into a report filed with Elections B.C. by Vancouver-Fraserview Liberal MLA Kash Heed.

Heed's opponent in the 2009 election, Gabriel Yiu, wrote an October 30 letter to Archer highlighting a recent CBC News story, in which Heed's former campaign manager claimed that close to $40,000 in campaign expenses were not accounted for.

Heed's supplemental report, which was filed after spending irregularities were discovered, added $5,578.90 to the overall amount.

His campaign manager, Barinder Sall, entered a guilty plea on October 28 to violating the campaign-financing law and misleading investigators. He was fined $15,000, put on probation for a year, and ordered to do community service.

"I do apologize for my actions and my behaviour,” Sall told CBC. “I have accepted full responsibility for my actions and errors. But I did not act alone."

Sall did not name who acted with him in committing the offences.

Earlier this year, B.C. Supreme Court chief justice Robert Bauman fined Heed $8,000 for violating the campaign-spending limit in Election Act. Bauman did not order Heed to vacate the Vancouver-Fraserview seat, even though the judge had the option to do so under the law.

Gabriel Yiu's letter to the chief electoral officer

30th October, 2011

Dr. Keith Archer,

Chief Electoral Officer

Elections BC

PO Box 9275 Stn Prov Govt

Victoria, BC V8W 9J6

Dear Sir,

Re: New revelations concerning excessive spending by Kash Heed’s 2009 campaign

As a candidate who participated in the 2009 provincial election in Vancouver-Fraserview, I am writing to make a formal request for a new investigation into the supplementary report filed with Elections BC by the BC Liberal Party candidate Kash Heed on September 28, 2011.

On October 28, Kash Heed's former campaign manager Barinder Sall revealed on CBC TV news , that the campaign he managed in 2009 exceeded the statutory spending limit by some $40,000, seven times the amount ($5,578.90) which Heed had declared in his recently filed supplementary report.

As you may be aware, Special Prosecutor Peter Wilson concluded and released his investigation report on April 2011 into Heed’s campaign report filed on August 7, 2009, while Chief Justice Bauman delivered his judgment on August 31, 2011.

Based on the serious allegations made by Sall, and on other information I have obtained through various sources, I respectfully submit that there are reasonable grounds to question the truthfulness of the supplementary report filed by Kash Heed on September 28 with Elections BC.

According to the Elections Act, Section 226, filing a false or misleading report is a serious offence, on commission of which “the member ceases to hold office and the seat of the member becomes vacant.”

In order to uphold public confidence in the integrity of our democratic system, I hereby request that Elections BC launch a new investigation into the supplementary report recently filed by Kash Heed.

Sincerely yours,

Gabriel Yiu

New Democratic Party Candidate

Vancouver-Fraserview 2009 BC Election

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