OTTAWA - A political party asking a candidate to step aside to make way for a bigger name is nothing particularly new -- but should those negotiations and the possible money they involve be considered secret?
That issue will be debated in an Ottawa courtroom this week in the second chapter of the Conservative party's ongoing legal battle with former party member Alan Riddell.
The Tories maintain that they understood a deal to have Riddell step aside in 2005 for another candidate in exchange for paying for his expenses was to be kept under wraps. They argued that the agreement became void when Riddell spoke to the media about it.
But last January a judge disagreed, saying Riddell was owed his money -- an amount he estimates at $50,000 plus legal fees. There was also no mention of confidentiality in any of the written documents exchanged between the parties, and even if there had been Power said that would not make it acceptable to renege on the deal.
Justice Denis Power went on to say that if the parties wanted to pursue the issue of confidentiality, they could do so in a separate trial.
And so Riddell and the party find themselves in court again, with Riddell arguing that such deals have a precedent of being out in the open.
The party, meanwhile, will urge the judge Tuesday to postpone the proceedings pending an appeal of the Powers ruling before the Court of Appeal of Ontario.
"Am I going to ask that the matter be postponed? Yes, the principal reason being it is under appeal and shouldn't go forward right now,'' said party lawyer Robert Houston. "There is absolutely no urgency in this matter proceeding at this time.''
Riddell's lawyer Tom Conway says the party is likely reluctant to start going through the details of other deals it has made with candidates. For example, British Columbia MP Jim Hart's agreement to step aside for Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day, or candidate Ezra Levant's departure to make way for Day's successor Stephen Harper in Calgary Southwest.
"It doesn't make sense for them when this party has insisted on transparency and accountability, and here they are saying an agreement they made with a candidate should be secret,'' Conway said Monday. "There's no reason to keep that kind of agreement secret.''
Harper himself has retained an Ottawa lawyer in the matter.
Riddell has separate suits filed against Harper and party president Don Plett for allegedly defaming him in the media. Both men were quoted in the media as saying there was no agreement to pay Riddell.
Riddell's dispute goes back to last winter's election.
He wanted another shot at running in the Ottawa South riding, after an unsuccessful bid in 2004. Initially, the party disqualified him as a candidate.
Riddell went to an arbitration panel and was eventually cleared to run.
But soon after, he was persuaded to step aside for sponsorship whistleblower Allan Cutler, under threat of being publicly disqualified again. The party told Riddell that he was considered a potential liability, and he should step aside to save the party embarrassment.
Cutler did not win the riding.
