MP Dean del Mastro found guilty of overspending in 2008 federal campaign

Judge Lisa Cameron found Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro from Peterborough Ont. guilty of overspending in the 2008 federal election and falsifying a document to cover this up.

Del Mastro now could lose his seat in the House of Commons, and face a sentence of up to three years in jail, and also $6,000 in fines. However, Del Mastro is considering an appeal of the decision. Prosecutors claimed that Del Mastro had ordered $21,000 in services from Holinshed a now-defunct company. However, his campaign realized that claiming the whole amount would put it over the spending limit and so claimed only $1,575 was spent. Del Mastro however claims that the $21,000 he paid from his personal account was for separate services from Frank Hall, Holinshed's owner, that he had never actually delivered.
The judge countered Del Mastro's claim. She said that the timing of the contract and the language it contained showed that it "is plainly a contract for election services". She also described Del Mastro as not being credible and had a number of inconsistencies in his testimony. In particular, she rejected Del Mastro's claim that Frank Hall had falsified e-mail correspondence. She accepted the evidence of Hall while discounting the evidence of Del Mastro. Del Mastro has repeatedly attacked Hall even once in the House of Commons where he would be protected by parliamentary privilege.
 Del Mastro was once parliamentary secretary to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Del Mastro was convicted of three counts in all, exceeding the spending limit, taking steps to hide this, and finally exceeding his personal donation limit. Michelle Laliberte, a spokesperson for the Office of the Commissioner of Elections said: "Anyone convicted of having committed an offence that is considered to be an illegal practice under the act is not entitled to be elected or sit in the House of Commons for a period of five years from the date of conviction,"
However, Del Mastro said that he was not planning to leave his seat since he had a mandate from people in Peterborough his riding to serve them. He protested that he was innocent and had broken no laws. Del Mastro's lawyer Jeff Ayotte said that credibility issues were "difficult to appeal". There may be more drama if Del Mastro continues to sit in Parliament.

We need to spray this in the House of Commons before Question Period.

This is from the Manila Tribune. To create the spirit of non-partisanship and good spirits this is exactly what we need ,the proper environment in the House.
Perhaps some enterprising entrepreneur can market this to all our politicians. However, we would still need to hold our noses when we vote.



Spritz your way to happiness
By Maripet L. Poso, Staff Writer
01/30/2008
Throw out those Zoloft and Prozac; there’s a new antidepressant in town!
And you don’t need a doctor’s prescription for this one; you don’t even need to worry about side effects as the only proven aftermath is smelling nice and feeling good. And here’s the catch! Product can be consumed without any moderation whatsoever and at any time you want!
We’re talking about smiley perfume, a happiness-triggering slash the very first antidepressant perfume that’s become a cult scent in some parts of Europe and is starting to invade the Philippines.
“When we launched smiley in 2005, it was such an instant hit,” said Juan Cuadrado, area manager of Arthes, the French company behind Smiley, during the launch recently at Rustan’s Essenses, Makati. “The smiley concept defies the whole perfume industry notion down to the packaging,” added Cuadrado.
Designed by ora-ïto, a twentysomething French designer known as the “Prince of Design,” who has been behind many products of well-known brands like Louis Vuitton, Nike, Apple and Levi’s, to name a few, smiley’s packaging is hip, unisex, unique and blatantly nonconformist. It looks like a bottle of medicine so much that it blends beautifully in a medicine cabinet, especially the emergency smiley kit. It carries its signature smiley digital emoticon in (you guessed right) sunny yellow color.
If some fragrances capitalize on seduction, love and power, smiley simply wants to uplift one’s mood, so that everything else follows.
Taking its cue from the concept of the tangible benefits of aromatherapy, “smiley isolated the ingredients recognized for their stimulating capacities and assembled them for the fist time in a perfume.”
At first you get a whiff of the fresh top notes of bergamot, orange and pimento berry. Whether you like the scent or not, it will definitely capture your attention. Right after the the citrusy and somewhat spicy top notes start to fade, you get a hint of the divine pleasures emanating from the cocoa and praline curacao scents, the heart notes of smiley. Responsible for the happy therapy are phenylethylamine and theobromine substances that are found in cocoa. Phenylethylamine is said to help diffuse feelings of giddiness and euphoria, while theobromine has the same effects of stress-decreasing caffeine. Together, they set off a general feeling of happiness that chocolates similary give, without the calories!
Furthermore, bringing intensity to the fragrance would be the base notes. The relaxing hints of patchouli, myrrh and musk ultimately seal the deal with their soothing and calming effects, almost conducive to meditation.
Targetting the young and hip market of 20- to 30-year-olds, smiley’s unisex appeal crosses boundaries, raises skeptics’ brows and defies standards. Ultimately, however, it presents an exciting option to combat one of today’s generation’s number one killer disease, depression.
Maybe it’s not yet time to ditch the pills or another visit to the shrink, but a promise of happiness in every squirt? That’s something worth exploring.
Aside from eau de toilette and eau de parfum, smiley comes in full bath and body care line that includes body deodorant treatment, therapeutic bath (purifying milky pills with health spa side effects), all-in-one washing solution (total solution for body and hair), body rubbing friction (stimulating massage oils) and body gel.
Smiley is available at Rustans Essenses.