Fundraiser paid ex-MP's legal tab

OTTAWA -- Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin wants the Conservatives to demand former MP Dean Del Mastro repay money raised by his riding association to pay for his legal bills.

Del Mastro, the former Conservative MP for Peterborough, was convicted last month of charges under the Elections Act, including spending more than he was allowed during the 2008 election and falsifying a document to cover it up. He resigned his seat Nov. 5.

Last year, Del Mastro's riding association raised nearly $40,000 for his legal-defence fund at a $600-a-plate dinner featuring former prime minister Brian Mulroney. More than two-thirds of the ticket price was eligible for a tax credit for federal political donations, netting each ticket buyer as much as $357.50 back on their taxes.

Martin, who is still paying off his own legal bills from a defamation suit, said that is unacceptable and Del Mastro should be made to repay the funds.

"I think it's appalling," he told the Free Press. "It never even occurred to me that I could just ask my riding association to raise the money to pay for my legal bills."

Martin last year reached a settlement for an undisclosed sum with an Edmonton telemarketer he accused of involvement in the 2011 election robocall affair, in which more than 7,000 voters were directed by phone to the wrong polling station in Guelph, Ont. The company said it had no knowledge of the calls and Elections Canada found no evidence to suggest otherwise. Former Conservative staffer Michael Sona, who worked on the Conservative campaign in Guelph, is the only one convicted of involvement, although the judge said it was unlikely he acted alone. Sona was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in jail and 12 months probation.

Martin set up a trust fund to raise funds to pay for the settlement. Donations to the fund were not tax deductible and were outside the purview of Elections Canada rules, meaning they could come from unions or corporations, had no limit, and the amounts didn't have to be disclosed.

Only the names of people or entities donating more than $500 were disclosed to the ethics commissioner as required by the conflict-of-interest code for MPs.

Martin is repaying money he borrowed from the NDP. He raised "well over six figures" from donations, mainly from unions and a handful of individual donors, but says he still has a lot more to pay and the donations have dried up.

"I still owe a ton," he said.

He expects it will take him another two years at least to repay the entire amount.

Martin received the go-ahead from ethics commissioner Mary Dawson, Revenue Canada and Elections Canada before launching the trust-fund plan, but it did not stop allegations he is in a conflict of interest. Ontario Conservative MP Erin O'Toole complained to Dawson and asked her to investigate, but she had already given her approval to the plan and rejected his request.

O'Toole said he wasn't planning to complain about the Del Mastro situation because it is totally different than the Martin situation. Del Mastro's donations were restricted by limits on who can donate and how much and both must be made public. Martin's fund allowed him to go around those rules, which O'Toole said goes against the spirit of the law and could allow undue influence of money back into politics.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of the group Democracy Watch, said while Del Mastro's use of taxpayer-subsidized funds to pay his legal fees is unsavoury, there is no law preventing it. Nothing in the Canada Elections Act restricts how money raised from federal political contirbutions can be spent. But Conacher said there should be.

Original Article
Source: winnipegfreepress.com/
Author: Mia Rabson