Dean Del Mastro got caught cheating and now he is going to jail.
It could not have happened to a nicer scumbag. I will forever remember with great fondness the image of the former Harper cabinet minister being led into the paddy wagon in handcuffs and leg irons.
What surprised me, is how many of my fellow journalists thought that was over the top. They throught it was inappropriate to shackle him like that even though that is a policy that does and should apply to all prisoners. Just because he used to be an “Honourable” member of the cabinet, just because he may not be a flight risk, does not mean he should get special treatment.
The pundits also thought that even if he had to be shackled, the broadcasters who chose to show the scene did not have to.
I could not disagree more. In my mind, election cheats have committed treason. Not high treason, perhaps, but what else can you call subverting our democracy.
Those in the media who knew him, thought he was a really good guy, that jail time was too harsh. Maybe he is, but he committed a crime, and one we do not take nearly seriously enough.
I know our mayor pretty well and I like him, but I would be at the front of the line calling for jail time if he breached the public trust.
The only problem I have with the judge’s decision is he only gave Del Mastro a month in prison. I am not a big fan of mandatory minimum sentences as anyone who reads this column knows. I do make exceptions for very serious crimes and this, I believe, is a very serious crime indeed.
There should be a mandatory minimum for election fraud and it should be significant, two years at least so offenders can land in federal custody. And not in one of those cushy white collar lockups either. I want them to serve hard time. I am damn sick and tired of there being a double standard for rich people who steal and cheat and bully their way through life.
This crime should also be entrenched in the Criminal Code so it can be properly investigated and prosecuted. When Del Mastro was charged it was covered by the Elections Act. In the future it will be under the (un)Fair Elections Act, which the Conservatives designed to make it easier for them to cheat and harder for the Chief Electoral Officer to enforce.
I am not sure why as citizens we would ever accept such a ridiculously feeble response to such an affront to the fundamental tenets of our democracy.
I hope in the years to come that image of Dean Del Mastro being led away in handcuffs and leg irons gets played over and over and over again.
It is appalling that politicians are allowed to get away with this stuff. Del Mastro, in my opinion, pretty much got off scot-free, but at least it is incarceration. At least, it might send a message that Canadians are getting serious about the unethical and criminal behaviour of our elected officials.
Furthermore, we need to punish the Conservatives for the culture of corruption that proliferates in their party.
We punished the Liberals for similar corruption and arrogance. We didn’t deserve a decade of Harper et al’s bad governance, but we will get a chance to correct that in a few short months.
