Roundup: Getting out the leg irons

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It was the image that launched a thousand attack ads – or probably will, at any rate, as Dean Del Mastro was marched out in handcuffs and leg irons, off to spend the night (at least) in an Ontario prison after being found guilty of breaking election finance laws. “Cheating is cheating,” the judge noted, and that it was a serious enough crime to warrant some kind of jail time, so she decided on a month – though he may get out by tomorrow on bail pending the appeal of his case. Del Mastro’s lawyer also tried to get other exceptions for Del Mastro – jail on weekends, numerous exceptions for the eventual house arrest provisions – because he has a farm and needs to feed the animals, and a job in Toronto, and so on. The judge didn’t appear to be buying it, and made a point about needing a jail sentence onto only to show the severity of the crime (hence denunciation and deterrence), but also the issue of time to reflect on his actions, thought may be asking a lot from Del Mastro, as he walked into the courtroom convinced of his own innocence, and has shown no remorse whatsoever, even though the judge noted that Del Mastro was prepared to falsify his own statements to try and get away with his overspending. Many will argue that leg-irons and jail time are overkill, give that he’s not a dangerous criminal, but it relies on the same logic behind putting white collar criminals behind bars as well – because making them pay a fine or just house arrest aren’t considered punishment enough for the severity of their crimes. Disagree with it all you want, but we have made this choice though our legislative regimes, and if we want to change that, well, there’s an election coming up. Meanwhile, Stephen Maher says the Conservatives’ treatment of the man who testified against Del Mastro leaves a lot to be desired.

Good reads:

  • Conservatives in the Senate look like they’re going to try to force through a change to the rules in order to bring C-377 up to a final vote and stop a Liberal filibuster.
  • While Jason Kenney tries to blame military commanders for not letting opposition critics visit bases, the government made sure it’s the minister’s call.
  • The government’s oldest outstanding Access to Information request goes back to 2009.
  • A smaller version of the planned Victims of Communism memorial was unveiled – but still in the same spot.
  • Ukraine may be looking for weapons to help fend off Russians, but we apparently don’t have any to spare.
  • Apparently HarperPAC ran afoul of the Conservative Party, and is no more.
  • Benjamin Oliphant writes about “originalism” in the Supreme Court of Canada.
  • Kady O’Malley writes about the rules for lobbyists – and the lobbied – during the election.
  • Laura Payton’s Travers Foundation series carries on with the issue of contraception in Canadian foreign aid.
  • I have a piece in the National Post arguing that it’s a good thing for the Senate to be killing more private members’ bills, because many of them are terrible.

Odds and ends:

The NDP have sent out a bizarre Taylor Swift-themed fundraising email. No, seriously.

One of the new appointees to the National Capital Commission board was mayor of a town that fell for a Michael Jackson concert scam.

I was on National Post Radio to debate with Jen Gerson about electoral reform. (I’m not a fan).

Over on Canadaland, I argue why Rosemary Barton should be made permanent host of Power & Politics.