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Scheer noted, however, that NDP House leader Peter Julian brought a complaint about this only after Mulcair was called before the committee.

The House has no way to collect the money owed Canada Post but Raitt, the minister responsible for the post office, promised to take steps to collect on the debt.

“Rest assured, every single penny that was misspent by the NDP will be paid back to hard-working Canadian taxpayers,” Raitt said in a statement, adding she would be discussing with the head of Canada Post what its plans are to recover the money.

The NDP insists its mailings were allowed under House of Commons rules and has denounced the board as a “kangaroo court.” The party said it plans to challenge the board’s decision in Federal Court.

A document prepared by House of Commons staff for the board last month found evidence of mailings that breached the rules against promoting political parties.

“In short, it would appear that the mailings were not messages from the individual Members as Members, but rather were prepared by and for the benefit of the NDP as a political party and to advance electoral purposes,” the report said.

All the mail included references to the NDP’s website, ndp.ca, and some listed “Tom Mulcair MP” as the return address on the return address for a survey form included. The House found “these documents demonstrate an activity orchestrated on behalf of a political party for which House resources (envelopes and frank) were used.”