Fees fray

The Conservative government is proposing to open a loophole in its vaunted accountability act by declaring that party convention fees not be counted as political contributions under the law. The issue is a sensitive one for the Conservative party, which is under investigation by Elections Canada for failing to declare almost $2 million in fees paid by delegates to the party's 2005 convention... "The Tories seem to be now admitting that they have broken the law," said Steven MacKinnon, national director of the Liberal party. "They're trying to use the blunt instrument of Parliament as a form of pardon for their violation of the law and trying to fix these mistakes retroactively."

Correct me if I'm wrong -- and I don't mean to minimize any possible Tory misdeeds here -- but isn't this exactly what the Liberals were demanding should be the policy with regard to the fees for their own upcoming convention, ie that they should not count as contributions?