Federal Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff continues to tour British Columbia's bluest-blooded hangouts. The most recent addition to his internary: a reception at The Vancouver Club with Liberal parliamentarians Blair Wilson and Stephen Owen. And who's organizing that reception, you may wonder? Well, those wanting to attend are being asked to contact Mr. Wilson's constituency assistant Scott Bardsley on his cell phone or his blairwilson.ca email address.

When asked if that activity was in conflict with the supposed non-partisan nature of constituency offices, Mr. Wilson's legislative assistant Jessica Seck replied, "The email address is an oversight. Scott is very dedicated to the Liberal Party and does a lot of things on his own time. And that was most definitely an oversight...That was most definitely an honest mistake on his part."

And is Mr. Bardsley taking calls about the event on constituency office time? "Absolutely not. We have too much on our plate as it is. And it's definitely not something that would be happening," Ms. Seck replied, clarifiying that the cell phone number belongs to Mr. Bardsley not the constituency office. The following is a complete copy of the aforementioned email.

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From: David Hurford
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 12:37 PM
Subject: Thursday Reception

Blair Wilson and Stephen Owen cordially invite you to meet

Liberal Leadership Candidate

Michael Ignatieff

At the Vancouver Club

915 West Hastings Street

4:45 ? 5:45pm

Thursday, November 9

Tickets: $45 at the door

Tax-deductible proceeds provide assistance to young delegates to attend the leadership convention

To RSVP or for more information, please contact Scott Bardsley at 604-789-7186, sbardsley@blairwilson.ca