The NDP is asking federal watchdogs to investigate a series of individual contributions to the governing Liberal Party where the amounts recorded in quarterly financial filings with Elections Canada exceed donation limits under Canadian law.

NDP ethics critic Nathan Cullen has written a letter to Canada's Chief Electoral Officer and the Commissioner of Canada Elections requesting they probe 30 donations in 2016 to the Liberal Party that exceed the maximum $1,525 contribution. These donations appear in quarterly financial reports filed by the Liberals with Elections Canada.

"Regard and respect for the law must be treated with the utmost importance by Canadians and the political parties that seek to represent them," Mr. Cullen said in the Feb. 14 letter.

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Twenty-seven of these contributions were in amounts of $1,800 or $1,806 – figures that are hundreds of dollars beyond legal limits. In 2016, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident was allowed to donate $1,525 to a registered political party. That limit has risen to $1,550 in 2017.

The Liberal Party say the amounts recorded in their quarterly filings with Elections Canada do not in fact reflect the precise donations being made in each instance. They say the figures include more than just the contribution; they also include money to cover the cost of a fundraising event such as food.

Liberal spokesman Braeden Caley said the donations of $1,800 or more stem from cases where supporters bought multiple tickets for an April 27, 2016 fundraiser in Vancouver featuring Finance Minister Bill Morneau.

The amount paid – and recorded by the Liberals in quarterly financial filings – includes both the contribution and the event cost. There is an allowance made in Canadian federal fundraising rules where at ticketed fundraisers, parties can collect a separate "the fair market value of the benefit received" that reflects the food and entertainment and venue rental cost. This fee is not a donation.

Mr. Caley said the precise amount of political contributions received from each Liberal supporter will be reflected in the year-end financial return for 2016.

An Elections Canada spokesman, however, said Wednesday that parties should not be combining event cost fees and donations together in their filings with the election agency.

"Contributions reported in registered party returns should not include the fair market value of the benefit received from a ticketed fundraiser," spokesman John Enright said.

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He said quarterly returns are not reviewed by Elections Canada but are posted for public perusal "as received." Mr. Enright said Elections Canada scrutinizes year-end returns.

Mr. Caley accused the NDP of trying to "disingenuously … score political points" with the Liberal filings.

As The Globe and Mail first reported in January, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to crack down on cash-for-access fundraising by passing legislation that addresses criticism the Liberal Party has been offering privileged access to wealthy donors who pay as much as $1,500 for tickets. It would require future fundraisers featuring cabinet ministers to be transparent, open to public scrutiny and reported to Canadians.

The Liberal reform initiative was in response to a series of revelations in The Globe and Mail that showed Mr. Trudeau and senior cabinet members were raising millions of dollars through private fundraisers with tickets as high as $1,500 that gave donors access to his cabinet outside of the glare of public scrutiny.

Mr. Enright said the agency will be auditing parties' annual returns for 2016 within a matter of months. "During the review, Elections Canada auditors sometimes find errors or omissions that require corrections," he said.

"If the party fails to return the contribution, or if there are other contraventions of the Act, it is the role of the Commissioner of Canada Elections to investigate," Mr. Enright said.

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If a party discovers it has received an over-contribution, it is supposed to return the money within 30 days and make a report of it.

In 2015, the Conservative Party determined it had to return $170,266 in contributions. That year, the NDP calculated it had to return $237,407 and the Liberals determined they had to return $222, 289.

Mr. Caley later wrote The Globe to say his party has not received any word from Elections Canada that it needed to revise its quarterly filings. "The Liberal Party of Canada has not received any indication from Elections Canada that these particulars of quarterly donation reports will need to change." He said the Liberal Party of "has sought clarification to ensure that all Elections rules and guidance will continue to be followed in every way."