Dean Del Mastro Recognized for Outstanding Creativity on the Campaign Trail

Congratulations to Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro for this special recognition from Ottawa. (From Liberal headquarters in Ottawa, that is.)

Dean Del Mastro matches Cheryl Gallant for craziest falsehood on Liberal Green Shift

OTTAWA - Conservative Candidate Dean Del Mastro has managed to match his colleague Cheryl Gallant for the biggest Conservative fabrication of the 2008 election about the Liberal platform; this time, falsely claiming the Liberal Green Shift plan violates First Nations' Treaty rights.

On September 23, 2008, at an all candidates debate at Curve Lake First Nation, Mr. Del Mastro, the Conservative candidate for Peterborough, claimed that the Liberal Green Shift is "the big red hand of Stéphane Dion that's about to reach into your pocket and tear money out of it for everything that First Nations need. That's an end run around your treaty right." (Peterborough Examiner, September 24, 2008)

After two years in Parliament, Mr. Del Mastro may be surprised to learn that Aboriginal treaty rights are a part of Canada's constitution and will always be respected.

Mr. Del Mastro also outrageously dismissed the Kelowna Accord as nothing more than a press release during the debate. "The Kelowna Accord, there is no such thing," Mr. Del Mastro said. Mr. Del Mastro's irresponsible and dismissive comments clearly demonstrate a lack of concern and understanding of Aboriginal issues.

Two weeks ago, it was revealed that Cheryl Gallant, Conservative MP and candidate for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, claimed that the Liberal proposal would "destroy the lives" of many Canadians by "taxing or banning the use of firewood." The false claims were contained in Ms. Gallant's taxpayer-funded
householder that began arriving on he constituents' doorsteps following the start of the election.

Conservatives have yet to confirm growing rumours that they have launched a party-wide competition to see who can come up with the most ludicrous claim to add to their disinformation campaign against the Liberal platform. That said, given the myriad of the false claims they have made to date, it will
likely take weeks to parse through these falsehoods and fabrications to determine a winner....

Related:
Facing Off at Curve Lake: Election Rivals Challenge Del Mastro on Aborginal Issues