Volpe responded by promising to return any donations that contravened the letter or spirit of the law. He returned the five cheques from minors after extensive media criticism, and denied that any laws had been broken. The controversy nonetheless damaged his candidacy. Sukh Dhaliwal withdrew his support from Volpe after the controversy broke, saying "I think this thing should not happen in any campaign". Other Liberals requested that Volpe withdraw from the contest due to negative publicity, but he said that this was not an option he was considering. In July 2006, Volpe argued that the Federal Accountability Act should be amended to prevent persons under eighteen from contributing to political campaigns.