NDP HQ just released this attack ad this afternoon. It rehashes a decade’s worth of Conservative “greatest hits” when it comes the ethics file. For those who need a primer, let’s walk through the accused (and guilty) as they show up in the video:
- IRVING GERSTEIN – Senator Irving Gerstein was and is the head of the fundraising arm of the Conservative Party of Canada. He was put in the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2009. He was charged, along with other party officials, of violating election financing laws related to the so-called “In-and-Out Scandal” in the 2006 general election. This charge is what the NDP ad is referring to. The charges were dropped against Gerstein and the other individuals when the party itself plead guilty and paid a fine. (See below).
- CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA – The Party itself was charged and plead guilty to its role in the so-called “In and Out Scandal” coming out of the 2006 election campaign. The party paid a fine of just over $230,000.
- PATRICK BRAZEAU Brazeau is the senator appointed by Harper who faces charges of breach of trust and fraud related to his Senate expenses. Brazeau’s trial on that matter is scheduled to begin next spring. The NDP ad is referring to this charge. In the meantime, Brazeau is facing other legal problems that are non-Senate related. He is currently on trial for assault and sexual assault and later will have to deal with a separate charge of assault, as well as charges of cocaine possession, uttering threats and breaching court-ordered conditions.
- BRUCE CARSON – Years before Bruce Carson ever started working for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as a senior advisor, he had been convicted of fraud twice. After serving in the PMO from 2006 to 2008, Carson got in trouble with the law on accusations of influence-peddling and prohibited lobbying. Those matters are still before the courts.
- MICHAEL SONA Sona went to a jail for a spell after being convicted in a “robo-call” case. An Ontario judge found him guilty of sending hundreds (thousands?) of robocalls to voters in the federal riding of Guelph (ON) during the 2011 election. The robocalls purported to be from Elections Canada and mis-directed those voters to incorrect polling locations.
- PETER PENASHUE New Democrat Jonathan Genest-Jourdain and Conservative Peter Penashue became the first-ever Innu members of Parliament in the 2011 general election. But Penashue resigned on allegations that his campaign exceeded spending limits. Penashue sought the verdict of voters and voters turfed him, replacing him with Liberal Yvonne Jones as the MP for Labrador. (Genest-Jourdain will seek re-election this fall as the MP for the northern Quebec riding of Manicouagan). Penashue has never been charged with an offence. The NDP ad here is referring to Penashue’s campaign manager Reg Bowers whose trial picks up next month in St. John’s.
- SAULIE ZAJDEL Zajdel was the Conservative candidate in the 2011 general election in the riding of Mount Royal where he lost to Liberal Irwin Cotler. In 2013, Zajdel was arrested and charged with five counts of fraud, corruption, breach of trust and payment of secret commissions, related to construction permits issued between 2006 and 2011, when he was a city councillor. In May 2015 he pleaded guilty to corruption and breach of trust.
- MIKE DUFFY – The Senator from PEI, currently facing 31 charges on breach of trust, fraud, and bribery. Trial unlikely to wrap before the federal election.
- PAMELA WALLIN The Senator from Wadena, SK — and, like Duffy, a former CTV broadcaster — who RCMP investigators believe has committed fraud and breach of trust related to travel expenses. She has not yet been charged.
- “ONE THIRD OF THE SENATE” There are 105 seats in the Senate. A recent Auditor General report flagged the travel, moving and other expenses of 31 senators as being questionable. Though the Auditor General believed about eight were worthy of serious attention from the RCMP, the RCMP said it would review the files of all 31. But this bit of the NDP ad is a bit misleading: There are 31 sitting or retired senators under the gun here — so it’s not technically one-third of the current Senate. And, in an ad that is quite clearly attacking the Conservatives, it should be noted that 31 senators with expense problems are about evenly split between Liberals and Conservatives. Of course, the NDP would have no problem if you were to be reminded of Liberal malfeasance in the Senate. After all, there are no NDP senators, nor has there ever been one.
- DEAN DEL MASTRO -= From a visual standpoint, this may be the gift that keeps on giving to Conservative opponents. Del Mastro was the MP from Peterborough, the parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and his party’s chief defender in the House of Commons and elsewhere whenever Conservatives were accused of acting unethically. Del Mastro was convicted this year for breaking elections laws in the 2008 campaign and subsequently sentenced to a month in jail plus four months house arrest. He spent one night in jail after his sentence before being freed on bail pending an appeal of his conviction. This footage comes from the afternoon of his sentencing when he was treated just like any other prisoner sentenced to jail time and was led from the courthouse to the paddy wagon in shackles and hand cuffs.
So what do you think? Is this ad fair? Is it over the top? Vote!
Walking through the NDP’s latest attack ad on Conservative ethics | David Akin’s On the Hill
Mat Vaillancourt @MVLibertas 
Charles AdlerVerified account @charlesadler 
