FILE: Dean Del Mastro talks to the media during lunch break for his trial in Peterborough on July 9, 2014. Photo: Glenn Lowson/Postmedia News On the day when MPs are expected to start considering whether to eject MP Dean Del Mastro from the House of Commons, he announced that he will attempt to reopen his defence.
On Friday, Del Mastro was convicted of three Elections Act violations, which together carry a sentence of up to three years in prison and $6,000 in fines.
Del Mastro greeted the news defiantly, telling reporters on the courthouse steps that Justice Lisa Cameron had failed to consider evidence his lawyers presented.
In finding Del Mastro guilty, Cameron said that evidence he offered was “incredible,” full of “inconsistencies and improbabilities,” and that Del Mastro “frequently obfuscated.”
Del Mastro’s lawyer, Jeff Ayotte, told reporters Friday that it is difficult to appeal a judge’s findings on credibility.
But Del Mastro indicated he would like to appeal. In a statement Monday afternoon, he announced that he would act more quickly, seeking to introduce new evidence before his Nov. 21 sentencing.
“There is fresh evidence that was not put before the trial judge because it was not disclosed in a timely fashion by Elections Canada,” he said.
Neither he, Ayotte or Elections Canada could be reached for comment on the legal manoeuvre.
In a weekend interview on CBC Radio’s The House, Del Mastro said that he would not agree to vacate his seat in the House of Commons until after he had a chance to appeal his verdict.
The Elections Act says that anyone convicted of an “illegal practice” as defined by the act is “not entitled” to “sit in the House of Commons” for five years “after the date of their being so convicted.”
This puts MPs in the awkward position of having to decide whether to eject Del Mastro from the House, even as he is loudly proclaiming his innocence.
On Friday, when the verdict was freshly announced, NDP House Leader Peter Julian asked the Speaker to indicate how he planned to proceed. The speaker’s office indicated it would ponder the matter.
Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan issued a statement Friday suggesting the government believes the matter should be referred to the procedure and house affairs committee. It is not yet clear whether opposition MPs will agree with that proposal.
A year ago, the Conservative-dominated Senate voted to suspend three disgraced Conservative senators — Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau — in an expense scandal although none of them have been convicted of any crime, over the objections of some senators who argued that the unprecedented suspension was a violation of due process.
Opposition MPs may remind the government of that precedent if it signals that it will let Del Mastro remain in the Commons while he appeals his convictions.
Del Mastro, the former parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, used to frequently answer questions about ethics and electoral law for Harper in the House of Commons.
The prime minister kept him in that job after Postmedia News and the Ottawa Citizen revealed that he was under investigation for the violations for which he was convicted Friday.
He withdrew from the Conservative caucus when he was charged and has since been sitting as a “Conservative independent.”
In contrast to his legal difficulties, Del Mastro had some happy personal news on Sunday morning when his wife Kelly gave birth to the couple’s first child, Charlotte Grace Del Mastro.
“Both of my beautiful girls are doing great,” Del Mastro said on Facebook. “We feel truly fortunate and blessed in every way and thanks everyone that has been sending along their kind words of congratulations.”
smaher@postmedia.com
@stphnmaher
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