Robert-Falcon Ouellette: Wasylycia-Leis, Firefighters' Union need to Clarify Support For Immediate Release - Sept 23, 2014 WINNIPEG - Mayoral Candidate Robert-Falcon Ouellette said that the Firefightersâ€™ union needs to clarify exactly the support they are providing Judy Wasylicia-Leisâ€™s campaign to reassure the public that they are not offside with civic campaign finance legislation introduced in 2010. On Monday, Sept 22, Wasylycia-Leis held a press conference with IAFF head Alex Forrest, along with members were wearing shirts and signs saying â€œIAFF Fire Fighters for Judy.â€ Forrest told the media that he would provide 250 volunteers and that the IAFF would provide help with â€œstrategyâ€ for the campaign. Ouellette says that if the firefighters' union is spending its funds on shirts, signs and union executives' salaries to support Wasylycia-Leis' campaign, the amounts must be disclosed. Union and corporate donations to campaigns for Mayor - including donations in kind - are now banned, and only personal donations are allowed. â€œI want to be clear: endorsements and volunteering are essential expressions of freedom of speech in a democratic society. Union leaders should be free to endorse candidates. Rank-and-file members of the Firefightersâ€™ union, as city employees, can and should be free to support, donate to, and volunteer on whatever campaign they choose,â€ said Ouellette. â€œHowever, the new campaign finance legislation is also very clear: neither businesses nor unions can contribute to political campaigns - not money, or donations-in-kind like shirts, signs, or paid employees' time, and yesterdayâ€™s announcement appeared to involve all of the above.â€ Ouellette said that Wasylycia-Leis and Alex Forrest also have a moral obligation to the public to clarify whether union officials working on the campaign are taking paid leave from their positions or not. â€œIf a developer or business were paying its executives to work full-time on a campaign, and buying shirts and signs, this wouldn't be considered acceptable,â€ said Ouellette. â€œThis may be the way things were always done in the past, but the rules have changed since 2010 and campaigns need to catch up.â€ Ouellette has been posting the names and amounts of donors to his own campaign on his website, and challenged his opponents to do the same. http://falcon2014.com/donation-list/ On August 22, Ouellette proposed extensive ethics and election financing reforms that would require real-time disclosure of donations by candidates for council and Mayor, stronger conflict of interest rules, and Integrity Certification for contractors to bid on City projects. http://falcon2014.com/2014/08/22/cleaning-house-restoring-public-integrity-in-elections-and-at-city-hall/ -30- MEDIA CONTACTS Dougald Lamont, Campaign Director of Communications

media@falcon2014.com 204-391-1670 cell



Malcolm Bird, Campaign Director of Logistics

m.bird@uwinnipeg.ca 204-421-0015



Robert-Falcon Ouellette



http://falcon2014.com



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