Investigators Charge Dean Del Mastro under the Canada Elections Act

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The Commissioner of Canada Elections has finally laid charges against Conservative MP, Dean Del Mastro, and a campaign worker, accused of having failed to report $21,000 in expenses after an extensive two-year investigation. A short while before this news, Del Mastro worked as the Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s parliamentary secretary, but now he faces four charges, three of which are shared with official agent Richard McCarthy.

Del Mastro has persisted on an unambiguous statement since the matter first surfaced, alleging that he fully complied with Elections Act and denied ever covering up any spending. However it was reported as early as July that federal prosecutors were considering to eventually lay charges over expenses claimed by Del Mastro’s 2008 election campaign. Consequently an extensively lengthy investigation by Commissioner of Canada Elections, Yves Côté, resulted in the file to the office of Director of Public Prosecutions, Brian Saunders, earlier in the summer.

Court documents filed last year reveal that an Elections Canada investigator, Thomas Ritchie, confessed that he believes the campaign illegally exceeded its spending limit by $17,000 with a payment to Holinshed Research, an Ottawa political consulting company. Mr. Ritchie swore that the campaign reported paying Holinshed $1,575 for campaign work, though it actually paid the firm $21,000, using a cheque drawn on Del Mastro’s personal bank account. It was also revealed that the campaign filed a “false document” with Elections Canada to cover up the overspending. Ritchie alleged violations by both Del Mastro and McCarthy, and said the case had been under investigation since May 2011.