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“I don’t want to be the backdrop to someone’s rally that I don’t support,â€� Mary Hynes told the Star. “It was misrepresented as being an opportunity to hear what he had to say … (but) what I heard was nothing but a partisan presentation,â€� said the 81-year-old, who’s already voted for the Liberals. “It’s not even costing his campaign money? If this is true, this is terrible. Elections Canada needs to hear about it.â€�

Although the event was billed to CARP members in the Greater º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøArea as an invitation to hear directly from the Conservative leader and ask him questions, the event was highly controlled. 

CARP chairman Moses Znaimer, who is also the CEO of Zoomer Media, appeared to endorse Poilievre from the stage. Those asking questions, including the Conservative candidate for a nearby riding, were pre-selected, and Marissa Lennox, the host of The Zoomer on Vision TV, told guests gathered at CARP’s headquarters in Liberty Village — seniors but also millennials and Gen Zs who were invited — that the event was being broadcasted on Zoom to CARP’s 300,000 members and covered by Zoomer’s publications in º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøand Western Canada in an effort to share “Mr. Poilievre’s messageâ€� to as “many of the 18.5 million plus Canadians Zoomer media speaks to every month through all of our media platforms.â€�

Most of the Conservative-friendly crowd seemed pleased with the presentation. “I just hope that if we get him that he’ll keep his promises, but I like the promises that he made,â€� said a woman who would only give her first name as Lisa Maria. But a few seniors, some undecided, others decidedly on the progressive side, who’d come to hear from a man who might become prime minister, voiced their complaints to the media.

“I wanted to hand in some questions and maybe have them choose the best. They’d obviously staged who they were gonna have talk,â€� said Gail Brown, who had not voted and still hasn’t made up her mind.

Carolyn Johnson came to ask Poilievre whether he supports allowing jets to land at Billy Bishop Airport. “I’ve heard that he’s in support of the damn things coming back,� she told the Star. Like Hynes, she also felt the event should count as a campaign expense. 

Barry Weisleder, a well-known New Democrat, who chairs the party’s socialist caucus, said Znaimer should be “ashamed.�

“The Canadian Association of Retired Persons has some explaining to do,� he said.

Outside the studio, Weisleder and Znaimer, who had walked into the debate as the media’s cameras rolled on, went at it.

Weisleder: “This was a very partisan event.�

Znaimer: “That’s right. 

Weisleder: “One-sided.�

Znaimer: “Why can’t you stand another point of view?�

Weislder: “That’s not the point. Why can’t he answer questions? … Why do you feel the need to give a glowing introduction to a politician?�

Znaimer: “Because I agree with him.�

When the Star asked Znaimer whether CARP was registered as a third-party with Elections Canada — since Znaimer acknowledged he had organized Monday’s event to help sway the vote for the Conservatives — he said no. 

“I’m just making the point that the whole mass of mainstream media has been arrayed against the Conservative party and against Poilievre, so we’re giving him a decent platform,â€� he told the Star.

CARP president Rudy Buttignol told Global News and The Canadian Press that “all the leaders of the parties� were invited to attend the group’s townhall meetings and share their ideas with the membership. 

But the NDP’s Anne McGrath told the Star, “We have no trace of an invitation.� Liberal spokesman Guillaume Bertrand told the Star that the only trace of an invitation they could find was not from CARP but from Zoomer Media, for a one-on-one interview with Lennox.

Setting aside Zoomer Media’s objectives, using CARP’s membership list to court seniors to vote for the Conservatives appears to be a breach of Elections Canada rules.

“A third party is generally a person or group that wants to participate in or influence elections other than as a political party, electoral district association, nomination contestant or candidate,� states Elections Canada’s website. 

“A person, corporation or group must register with Elections Canada as a third party immediately after it conducts one or more … in an election period with combined expenses of $500 or more.�

A “regulated� activity, according to Elections Canada, is a partisan activity if the third party organizes the event independently and on its own initiative. If a party or persons associated with it colludes with a third party to influence its partisan activity, then it’s a contribution and counts towards that party’s election expenses limit. It’s not yet clear whether the commissioner of Elections Canada will investigate Monday’s event.

If the Conservative party, for example, was involved in the planning of the event, CARP should probably be invoicing the candidate’s campaign for the commercial value of the service it provided so that the event does not become an illegal contribution.

On Monday, Znaimer didn’t seem to know or be bothered by the rules. He told Weisleder and Hynes and the Star that he’d platformed Liberal leader Justin Trudeau 10 years ago, and “it worked for him� and “we thought it would be interesting to give Poilievre his chance.�

“It’s one event,” he added. “Relax.â€�

But if third-party rules don’t apply to Znaimer and CARP, then to whom do they apply? And who else is ignoring them?