The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is accusing Winnipeg city councillor Donald Benham of misleading people about when he repaid money to the city after he ran afoul of rules restricting the use of his city-issued credit card two years ago.

Benham, who says issues related to the credit card have been cleared up to the city clerk's satisfaction, is seeking re-election in the Oct. 25 civic election in the River Heights-Fort Garry ward.

He had used the credit card, meant for city business, when he was elected in 2004.

He racked up more than $2,000 on personal expenses, including groceries and haircuts. However, the city's credit card user agreement stipulates the card be used "exclusively for the benefit of the city."

In July 2005, Benham publicly apologized for misusing the credit card and said he promptly paid the $2,000 back to the city.

But documents the CTF obtained under a Freedom of Information request showed he did not pay all the money back until March of 2006.

And that, CTF Manitoba director Adrienne Batra said Wednesday, was not what Benham said in the media.

Political motive alleged

"The actual documents that we have in front of us show the opposite," Batra said.

She called on Benham to hand over the credit card.

Benham lashed out at Batra Wednesday for having a political motive behind her accusation.
 
"I absolutely cleared up every single thing that could have been in any way on this card," he said.

"It's been completely settled to the city clerk's satisfaction. Everything's passed through city council and so on. And Adrienne Batra, clearly, 13 days before the election, has decided to dig up something that was essentially an old story."

Batra insisted that her organization has no ties to any civic campaign, adding that she had filed the access request in the summer, well before the civic election.

She said the Taxpayers Federation will be examining the credit card records of all city councillors.