UPDATE JULY 10: The election audit committee decided today that they will not proceed with a compliance audit on Qadri’s financial statement. A compliance audit will be done on the financial statements for Mark Taylor and Eli El-Chantiri.
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Shad Qadri has filed a revised financial statement with the City Clerk due what the councillor calls “an arithmetic error”.
In a cover letter included with the revised statement, Qadri writes:
“On June 17, 2015, I became aware that the audited Form 4 Financial Statement for my campaign contained an arithmetic error. In Box D: Calculation of Surplus or Deficit, on the line to ‘deduct any refund of candidate’s or spouse’s contributions to the campaign’, the $6,620 figure presented reflected the total contributions to the campaign from the candidate and his spouse, not the total actually refunded at the conclusion of the campaign. The attached revised Form 4 Financial Statement correctly reflects that line on the actual amount refunded by the campaign of $89.18. The resulting surplus (deficit) for the campaign is nil.”
The revised statement also includes a note from auditing firm BDO Canada acknowledging the change.
LINK: Here is the original return and the revised return.
Qadri’s original return is the subject of a election compliance audit request filed by Pat Ready, a private citizen who believes the personal campaign refund as originally stated was against the rules.
The city has a special election audit committee that will meet before July 16 to review Ready’s request to decide if it has merit and if a compliance audit is required on Qadri’s financial return.
“The (Election) Act is clear when it states that a refund may only be made that does not exceed the lesser of the relevant contributions, or the surplus. As the campaign surplus was $89.18 (being the lesser amount), I believe that is all he was permitted to refund to himself or his spouse,” wrote Ready in an email to StittsvilleCentral.ca.