A growing list

The Citizen's story on Conadscam from earlier today adds ones more set of candidates whose 2006 results are apparently tainted by illegal advertising - including another of the Cons' most prominent cabinet ministers:

A further Citizen review of TV ads broadcast in the Toronto area has revealed the ads may also have allowed candidates with little support and few donations in ridings dominated by the Liberals and NDP to bankroll costly television advertising that likely benefited star Conservative candidates...

Seven candidates with no chance or little chance of winning, including those in ridings such as Trinity-Spadina, Toronto-Danforth and York-South Weston, paid tens of thousands of dollars each for advertising that was broadcast in the ridings of three Tory stars in the Metro Toronto region. The three, who were not among those paying for the ads through the transfer scheme, were now-Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in Whitby-Oshawa, former TV anchor Peter Kent, who ran against prominent Liberal Carolyn Bennett in St. Paul's, and John Capobianco, a former organizer for onetime Ontario premier Mike Harris who ran against Liberal Michael Ignatieff in Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

All three had received tens of thousands of dollars in individual and corporate contributions -- Mr. Capobianco's war chest included a $5,000 transfer from Mr. Harper's riding association in Calgary -- and ended the campaign with overflowing bank accounts.

Fortunately, the Cons apparently only managed to win one of the seats in question despite the ads - making for significantly less impact on the overall election outcome than their similar scheme in Quebec. But with more and more of the Cons' ridings and cabinet members now caught up in the scandal, it's worth wondering just how much strength the Cons would actually have in a legal campaign - and how far the Cons have to fall if they have to answer for their abuses next time Canada goes to the polls.