[LINK] "Dean Del Mastro, guilty of breaking election laws, resigns"

[rfmcdonald]

From CBC:

Dean Del Mastro, the MP for Ontario's Peterborough riding, has quit less than a week after being found guilty of spending too much on his 2008 campaign and trying to cover it up.

[. . .]

Del Mastro denies having done anything wrong, despite the Ontario Court of Justice finding him guilty. He told the House he would continue to fight. He said Monday that he would appeal to re-open his defence ahead of his sentencing on Nov. 21.

MPs are to vote tonight on whether to suspend him from Parliament. One of the penalties for breaking certain laws in the Canada Elections Act, including the offences for which he was found guilty, is a five-year ban on holding a seat in Parliament or running for a seat.

The Conservatives had suggested having the procedure and House affairs committee look at a number of questions regarding Del Mastro, including whether he should be suspended or expelled and what would happen to his staff and travel budget. But Government House Leader Peter Van Loan said yesterday that they would vote in favour of an NDP motion to suspend Del Mastro immediately.

In resigning his seat, Del Mastro hangs onto his MP pension, for which he's eligible when he turns 55. Del Mastro, who is 44, was first elected in January 2006. MPs have to serve for at least six years to be eligible to collect a pension.