Cloverdale-91原创 City Conservative MP Tamara Jansen spent close to $5,000 over six months on contracts with a communications company run by the party leader鈥檚 deputy chief of staff, Steve Outhouse.
Two detailed contract expenditures reports show Jansen鈥檚 office made five payments in the second and third fiscal quarters to totalling $4,983.20 between July 1 and Dec. 30 of 2020, with two payments of $750 and $2,250 described as 鈥淐ommunications Officer.鈥�
In response to a request for comment, Jansen鈥檚 office issued the following statement:
鈥淪teve鈥檚 contract work did not overlap with his role as Deputy Chief of Staff. He provided communications support for my office.鈥�
Outhouse has drawn criticism for continuing to operate his communications company after becoming the second-most senior staffer in party Leader Erin O鈥橳oole鈥檚 office, in particular for Intercede鈥檚 reported involvement in the nominating campaigns of nine Conservative candidates.
O鈥橳oole鈥檚 office has reportedly said the leader was aware of the involvement, and has checked to make sure all rules were followed.
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Before he was hired as deputy chief of staff, Outhouse was campaign manager for Conservative party leadership hopeful Leslyn Lewis, who was supported by Jansen.
Lewis, a Toronto lawyer who had the backing of many social conservatives, placed third in the contest that selected O鈥橳oole, despite never holding office and entering the race as a near-total unknown.
At the time, Jansen noted that in her riding, Lewis 鈥渂eat out all three [rival party leader] candidates in the riding of Cloverdale 鈥� 91原创 City by a wide margin.鈥�
In a social media posting Jansen expressed 鈥渟pecial thanks to Steve Outhouse for being such a principled guy. You are an inspiration.鈥�
Former Cloverdale-91原创 City Liberal MP John Aldag, who will be running to regain his seat from Jansen in the next election, said Outhouse is known to be socially conservative on issues such as abortion and LGBTQ rights, and paying him to handle communications work from an MP鈥檚 taxpayer-funded budget 鈥渂egs the question, what files was Mr. Outhouse working on?鈥�
鈥淕enerally, parties try to keep a separation between the parliamentary side and the partisan side,鈥� Aldag added.
鈥淢r. Outhouse has his feet on both sides.鈥�
91原创 Advance Times has reached out to Intercede and O鈥橳oole鈥檚 office for comment.
Have a story tip? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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