Motion filed to investigate MP's election spending

By Alex Veeneman on July 6, 2012


Protesters outside the Canadian MP Dean Del Mastro’s office in Peterborough, Ontario. A motion has been filed to bring the House of Commons’ Ethics Committee back from summer break to investigate Del Mastro’s election spending.
(Photo courtesy of Flickr user leadnow)

The Canadian Liberal MP Scott Andrews has filed a motion for the country’s House of Commons’ Ethics committee to return from their summer break to investigate 2008 election spending of the Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro.

In a statement according to a report from the CBC, Andrews says this meeting would allow Del Mastro to clear his name, something he had pressed for, after court documents from Elections Canada, which oversees elections and election spending in the country, emerged that an investigation had started. “By proposing this meeting, the Liberal Party is providing Mr. Del Mastro the opportunity, with full Parliamentary immunity, to respond to these very serious allegations,” Andrews said. “This is a process that he has been asking for, and we hope that he will put his money where his mouth is, agree to appear and provide the documents that he claims will exonerate him.”

However, there have been questions with regard to if other parties, specifically the ruling Conservative Party and the opposition New Democratic Party, would support the reconvening of the committee. The NDP MP Charlie Angus wrote a letter to the country’s Justice minister Rob Nicholson, asking that the matter be referred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and to Canada’s Director of Public Prosecutions. Angus said according to a CBC report that he was concerned if Del Mastro appeared before the committee that he could not be prosecuted because of a rule in Parliament that protects committee testimony from use in legal cases.

A spokesperson for the NDP did not respond to a telephone message seeking comment. A spokesperson for the Justice Department could not immediately be reached for comment. Andrews could not be reached for comment.

In a statement on Del Mastro’s web site, Del Mastro says that the expenses for the campaign followed the rules, and that Elections Canada certified it. “Elections Canada has a responsibility to ensure that elections in Canada are fair. In this case, their job is to follow up on false complaints from a disgruntled former supplier who sued me unsuccessfully,” Del Mastro said. “While this is not an easy time for me or for my family, I will be fully exonerated.”

A spokeswoman for Elections Canada said it was policy to not confirm or deny investigations for confidentiality reasons. A spokeswoman for Del Mastro declined to comment beyond the statement Del Mastro issued on the investigation.

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