The Commissioner of Canada Elections (CCE) has fined David Pretlove, the financial agent for former Liberal MP Han Dong’s 2019 nomination campaign in Don Valley North, for violating federal election financing laws.

Pretlove was issued a $500 penalty after accepting an illegal contribution that exceeded the legal limit. According to the official notice of violation, Pretlove accepted a $1,600 donation from an individual who had already provided a $2,000 loan to the campaign earlier that month.

Under the Canada Elections Act, the contribution limit in 2019 was $1,600, which includes both direct donations and outstanding loans. By accepting the excessive contribution, Pretlove breached subsection 368(3) of the Act.

While the fine may appear minor, it is yet another scandal surrounding Han Dong’s controversial nomination contest.

Dong, who was backed by the Liberal Party establishment, won the September 12, 2019, nomination for Don Valley North under highly questionable circumstances.

Reports from party insiders and election observers revealed that Dong’s campaign, or operatives close to it, allegedly bused in Chinese international students—many under the national legal voting age, although able to vote in the nomination—from a private school outside the riding. 

Han Dong's lawyer and Telford want us to believe that CSIS just doesn't understand that busing in voters is normal during a nomination race.

(What's not normal is a bus full of mandarin speaking foreign national high school students from a private school outside of Don Valley… pic.twitter.com/0E5nQL5GPl

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) April 9, 2024

Despite these allegations, Dong went on to secure the Liberal nomination and later won the seat in the 2019 federal election.

His tenure as an MP was further marred by controversy when reports surfaced alleging he had connections to Chinese consular officials and was a potential beneficiary of Beijing’s foreign interference operations in Canada. Dong resigned from the Liberal caucus in 2023 but continues to deny any wrongdoing.

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