A member of parliament accused of trying to skirt Canada's political funding laws by accepting donations from children was forced on Thursday to refund the donations after a public outcry.
Liberal MP Joe Volpe, in a race to lead the beleaguered Liberal Party, itself reeling from a patronage scandal a few years ago, was forced to refund thousands of dollars in donations from 11-year-old twins, their 14-year-old brother and two others not yet old enough to vote.
"We gave back to persons under the age of 18 the total of C$27,000 [US$24,528]," Volpe's spokesman Corey Hobbs told reporters.
"Last night, he learned that some of his donors were quite young and ... this morning it was determined that because of public perception it's best to return these donations," he said.
The parents of the children also contributed to Volpe's leadership campaign, prompting accusations that Volpe supporters had tried to circumvent Canada's election law.
There is no age limit on donors in Canada, but the act prohibits people from making donations on behalf of others. And, each individual donation is limited to C$5,400.
New Democrats demanded a probe into the matter.
"We are in compliance with the law and we did not break any rules," Hobbs countered.
But Volpe's critics remained cynical.
"Just when I had decided that today's youth were hopelessly consumerist, interested only in iPods and designer jeans, along come the children ... who have donated their babysitting and paper-route money en masse to Joe Volpe's Liberal leadership campaign," the Globe and Mail newspaper wrote.
An Ottawa Sun columnist said: "Teenagers with a few hundred grand to burn are asking themselves: `Do I buy a new sports car or support a long-shot for the Liberal leadership? Ferrari or Volpe?'"
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