Lebanese political organizers have set a new standard for the election tradition of giving voters a free lift to the polls. They've added airliners to the fleet of cars and vans.
Thousands of Lebanese-Canadians have taken free flights to Lebanon to vote in Sunday's election, adding to a tab that reaches into the hundreds of millions for a country of four million people.
By most democratic standards, accepting a free transatlantic flight for a vote would be ethically questionable and probably illegal.
In Lebanon, the ticket is just one more transaction in a campaign described as one of the most expensive, and possibly corrupt, ever held.
Robert Hanna, an Ottawa restaurateur and supporter of a minority Christian party, says he organized travel for 200 voters from Ottawa and Montreal.
A volunteer in his organization, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested closer to 500 people flew in the half-million-dollar effort.
"Some people who could not go to Lebanon donated tickets to people who can't afford to go," said Mr. Hanna, who paid his own way.
Mr. Hanna and his volunteer say their effort was modest compared to the Canadian airlift organized for Saad Hariri's Future Movement, with operations in seven Canadian cities.
Calgary organizer Faouzi Salem said his volunteers organized flights for more than 1,000 people using sponsorships from European and Middle Eastern companies. A similar number flew from Ottawa, Mr. Hanna said.
The total number of sponsored Canadian election travellers reaches beyond 4,000, according to several community members. Mr. Hanna said the figure is double that.
The votes could be key in a handful of ridings split between Sunni Muslims and Christians, political watchers say.
Hezbollah, which is on Ottawa's list of terrorist organizations, has a concentrated voter base in Lebanon and relatively few supporters in Canada.
Reports in Lebanon say 80,000 foreign voters landed in Lebanon this week at a cost of $97-million (U.S.) to political organizations.
Tens of thousands of Lebanese-Canadians are eligible to vote because they have dual citizenship. Lebanon does not allow absentee voting.
Some 15,000 Canadians, many dual citizens, were evacuated from Lebanon in 2006 during a violent clash between Hezbollah and Israel.
Stung then by accusations of divided loyalties, community members say ethical questions about voting are the last thing they need.
Ali Assoum was one of several Montrealers contacted by The Globe who were offered flights to Lebanon from a local Future Movement organizer.
Most said they chose to stay home because the voter travel subsidy is unethical.
"Money that should be spent rebuilding Lebanon is buying votes instead," said Ali Assoum, a Montreal shopkeeper who left Lebanon on his own after the 2006 evacuation.
"I'm against all of them. This stains democracy, it's a dictatorship of money."
Mr. Hanna, who has been in Lebanon for several days, says he has witnessed organizers going door-to-door to buy voting cards from opposition supporters. The going rate is $1,000, he says.
On top of bribes, inducements include free meals, rent, newly paved roads, jobs, school tuition and medical care. Much of the money is said to come from patrons in Saudi Arabia and Iran.
"We didn't get money from outside Canada, we tried to encourage people to help each other to vote on a local grassroots level," Mr. Hanna said.
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Canada's relationship with Lebanon
Strong roots
Canada and Lebanon have a relationship strongly influenced by the 300,000 Canadians of Lebanese origin. There are close to 40,000 Lebanese-Canadians residing in Lebanon.
Diplomatic relations
Canada and Lebanon established diplomatic relations in 1954. The Embassy of Canada at Beirut closed in 1985 because of the civil war and re-opened in January 1995.
Fleeing war
When Israel attacked Hezbollah positions in Lebanon in 2006, the Canadian government evacuated 15,000 people, many of them dual citizens. More than 2,000 evacuees had to get emergency Canadian passports to leave.
Dual citizenship Canada has allowed dual citizenship since 1977, and many immigrants have used the opportunity to go back to their countries while keeping their Canadian passport as an insurance policy. An estimated 2.7 million Canadians live abroad. Roughly 1.7 million of them are believed to be permanent residents of another country.
Staff
Les Perreaux