government was about to be defeated and another election called, Riddell was recruited to run in Ottawa South a second time. In reaction to rumours that he had once worn a World War II German officer's costume to a campus costume party, as a teenage Halloween prank 28 years earlier, Conservative officials initially blocked Riddell's renomination as the Party's candidate. Riddell's disqualification caused a public outcry from Riddell's supporters across Ottawa, and was quickly assessed by the Conservative Party's National Arbitration Committee. In August, 2005, the Conservative party arbitration committee overturned that decision after finding that Mr. Riddell had worn a Sgt. Shultz uniform from the TV show Hogan's Heroes as a prank 25 years ago, and should not be barred for a "youthful indiscretion". This was issued as a binding directive to Party officials, permitting him to be the party's candidate in Ottawa South a second time. Only three days prior to the 2006 election, which the Conservative Party hoped to win by focusing voter attention on the Liberal government's sponsorship scandal, Riddell stepped aside as the Party's candidate to enable Allan Cutler, the public servant who had blown the whistle on the scandal, to run in his stead in Ottawa South. Party officials issued a Press release thanking Riddell for his gesture and confirming that the Party "looked forward to having him run as its candidate in future elections". To compensate Riddell for relinquishing the nomination to Cutler, in a move designed to help them win the national campaign, they undertook to repay him his campaign expenses, pursuant to an agreement which Party Executive Director Michael Donison described in writing as legally "binding". Although Elections Canada later ruled the agreement to be legal, when news of the Party's agreement surfaced in the press, senior Party officials, including Party Leader Stephen Harper, publicly denied its existence. After the Conservative victory in the election, Conservative Party officials refused to honour the agreement, and Riddell was eventually forced to apply to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for a Court Order that it be implemented. On January 11, 2007, after a two-day court hearing, Judge Denis Power of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued a decision confirming that the Party's agreement with Riddell was legally binding, and ordering it to immediately pay Riddell. The Judge ruled that when Riddell had stepped aside for Cutler, he had been "the preferred choice