Halifax arts and culture activist and New Democrat Andrew Terris weighs in on the union donation flap:
As I understand it, there are two critical factors: 1. Are the members of the [Building and] Construction Trades Council separately incorporated bodies?  If they are, their donations are not illegal. The [Members and Public Employees] Disclosure Act says "a trade union and all its members and affiliates are considered to be one organization." But it looks to me like the Council is an association of unions rather than a single, inclusive entity under the act. 2. Given #1, the NDP could well have accepted the donations in good faith. The real problem was the offer of the Council to reimburse the unions, an offer about which the NDP might well have known nothing until it was leaked to you and other media bloodhounds...
07 June, 2009
iuec
Contrarian reader Garland Ingraham, former Business Manager for the Mainland Nova Scotia Building & Construction Trades Council and former Business Representative for International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 125, thinks the media are making too much of the dubious council donations to the NDP that were returned following inquiries by contrarian.
Prior to the Mainland building trades meeting held on April 9, 2009, the Mainland council had made political contribution to all three main parties, Tories, Liberals, and NDP . A motion in the Council's books, which had been there for some time  basically stated that if political contributions were to be made that all parties receive an equal amount. As a past Business Manager for the Mainland Building Trades Council, I have personally written out checks, signed by the signing officers, for payment to various candidates of all three parties, Tories, Liberals and NDP. No checks were ever returned durning my term with the council. So if the NDP is tainted so are the other two. With all this political bull in the air, I am thinking its a great time to plant my garden.
03 June, 2009

Reader Jean McKenna thinks the mainstream media have overlooked a critical detail in the union minutes contrarian published Monday The date on this document is very interesting - long before the NDP, acting on information apparently from yourself, decided to give the money back. I am curious as to why the Herald didn't reproduce this; I wouldn't have known about it without reading to the distant, page 2, end, of their article. Where is investigative journalism? Why hasn't there been some follow-up from someone on the possible ties between the various "brothers" and Mr. Dexter, et al?...

03 June, 2009

Minutes of the April 9 meeting of the Mainland Nova Scotia Building and Construction Trades Council confirm that the council tried to circumvent statutory campaign limits. A member of another political party described the minutes to Contrarian Saturday evening, and agreed to forward copies, on condition of anonymity. While waiting for the minutes to arrive, Contrarian sought reaction from NDP campaign director Matt Hebb, who said he had no knowledge of the donations. Today, the original source forwarded the minutes shown above, shortly after the NDP announced it was returning $45,000 in Trades Council donations. The source ascribed the delay in sending...

01 June, 2009