Last October's federal Liberal campaign in Dufferin- Caledon is among those being scrutinized nationwide by Elections Canada.

While the watchdog agency has not questioned the official campaign return of candidate Rebecca Finch, hers is one of all but a handful of the 307 local Liberal campaigns that have had their election expense rebates put on hold as Elections Canada studies whether the party's mandatory $2,500 riding services package (RSP) was worth what each candidate was required to pay.

Ms. Finch, who quit the party in March expressing a distaste for party politics, has an opinion on the matter that clashes with that of the Liberal party's national director, Rocco Rossi.

Mr. Rossi is on record as saying Elections Canada is being extra vigilant in demanding proof of expenditures in light of the so-called "in-andout scandal," where the Conservatives are alleged to have transferred cash into and out of local riding campaigns during the 2006 election. Elections Canada maintains this was an effort to covertly exceed national spending limits.

"We've got nothing to hide," Mr. Rossi told The Canadian Press.

"There is no 'in and out' here. There were legitimate services provided to the riding associations that we can show the costing of."

Ms. Finch disagrees. She does not view the RSP as a scandal, per se, but does find it unethical.

"It's not the end of the world," she said in an interview, "(but) there is a sense of dishonesty.

"If we say this is okay, then we should be asking what was so wrong with the in-and-out. All parties have to live up to the same standards."

Ms. Finch said that prior to the election she had to sign a contract with the federal party that included the wording: "The candidate and the official agent hereby agrees that he or she shall authorize the payment for the Riding Services Package as provided by the agency."

The package, said Ms. Finch, contained posters depicting the Liberal party and then-leader Stéphane Dion, as well as some Liberal buttons, copies of the party platform and some stickers containing platform corrections that were to be affixed to portions of the original where mistakes had been made.

There was no actual reference to Dufferin-Caledon riding in any of these materials.

She said there were also three posters depicting the Victory Fund, which she sees as essentially a Liberal fundraising campaign.

The bulk of the cost of the RSP, Ms. Finch said, was $2,310 for electronic services. This included access to a voter ID database called ManagElect, which she said was of little use to her campaign.

Instead, the local campaign opted to spend less than $100 on Community Zero software, which she said provided "a virtual campaign office," through which volunteers could be managed and a forum for communication and organization was created.

Based on her professional experience as a print and Web designer, Ms. Finch said, in her opinion, the entire Liberal RSP "is worth $300 at the most."

Mr. Rossi, meanwhile, has labelled Election Canada's request that all related party transactions have third-party documentation an "absurdity."

"We feel that this request could be compared to the Canada Revenue Agency requesting a full breakdown, including copies of invoices from suppliers plus internal labour and design costs, from a vehicle manufacturer for the sale of a vehicle to an end user, rather than accepting an invoice from a dealership," he said in a letter to the Dufferin- Caledon Liberal campaign.