Senators' partisan mail-outs probed

Runciman told the Toronto Star he mailed his on the request of the national party office but Plett said Friday he sent the flyer of his own accord and it had nothing to do with Runciman's.
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However, Liberal MPs and senators say the recent mailings are nothing more than the Conservatives getting around the recent ban on MPs using taxpayer dollars to send partisan flyers into opposition ridings. The House of Commons barred the practice, known as 10 percenters, earlier this year.

In Manitoba last year, the nine Conservative MPs spent an average of over $54,000 each on 10 percenters. The five opposition MPs (four NDP and one Liberal) averaged a little over $21,000.