With such a fluid situation in Ottawa, what are opportunistic demagogues to do?
Showing posts with label conservative party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conservative party. Show all posts
Thursday, February 17, 2022
Monday, May 11, 2015
A Sign I Would Love To See In Canada
This is how a politically disgruntled Brit is dealing with his frustration over the Tories.
Anyone in Canada up for a little creative protest?
Anyone in Canada up for a little creative protest?
Sunday, March 25, 2012
From The Bottom Of The Swamp: Conservative Reaction to Mulcair's Victory
Why does the Conservative Party's classlessness never really surprise me?
On Saturday, before Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a chance to congratulate the new leader of the Official Opposition, the Conservative party had already released a statement attacking the New Democrat.
"Thomas Mulcair is an opportunist whose high-tax agenda, blind ambition and divisive personality would put Canadian families and their jobs at risk," said a statement by Conservative spokesperson Fred DeLorey.
"Mulcair has said he would bring back a risky, job-killing carbon tax which would raise the price of everything — even though Canadians overwhelmingly rejected carbon taxes," warned DeLorey.
How can any thinking Canadian have any respect for these people?
On Saturday, before Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a chance to congratulate the new leader of the Official Opposition, the Conservative party had already released a statement attacking the New Democrat.
"Thomas Mulcair is an opportunist whose high-tax agenda, blind ambition and divisive personality would put Canadian families and their jobs at risk," said a statement by Conservative spokesperson Fred DeLorey.
"Mulcair has said he would bring back a risky, job-killing carbon tax which would raise the price of everything — even though Canadians overwhelmingly rejected carbon taxes," warned DeLorey.
How can any thinking Canadian have any respect for these people?
Friday, November 11, 2011
A Blow Against Public Morality
Despite the conviction of the Conservative Party of Canada for the illegal financing of its 2006 campaign that brought it to power, a blow has been struck against, not for, public morality.
As reported in The Star, the sophisticated in-and-out scheme, masterminded by the likes of now-Senator Doug Findley, saw the Conservatives shifting "national advertising money, through wire transfers into and immediately out of local riding campaign accounts, in order to claim national ad spending as local." This illegal tactic allowed the party to far exceed legal limits on campaign spending, probably a factor in its electoral victory.
The public immorality resides not just in the act, but also in the punishment, the reason for the punishment, and the spin being placed on that sanction by Conservative Party operatives.
First, the punishment - a mere $52,000 fine.
The reason for that paltry punishment, which made no effort to hold the architects of the fraud, Doug Finley and Irving Gerstein, then-party director Michael Donison, and then-chief financial officer Susan Kehoe. criminally responsible, was explained by Crown attorney Richard Roy. He suggested to Judge Célynne Dorval that it was in the “public interest” to strike the deal that withdrew charges against them. The judge agreed, saying that an expected six-month trial “would not have made any difference” even if there had been convictions because the fines amounted to the maximum penalties that could have been imposed.
Legally, what the judge said may be true, but that failure to prosecute the perpetrators of the crime allows for the following, the spin being placed on the results by the Conservative Party apparatus, who call it a “big victory.”
“Every single Conservative accused of wrongdoing has been cleared today,” said spokesman Fred DeLorey, in a written statement afterwards.
Conservative party lawyer Mark Sandler said the party’s guilty plea is only an admission of “inadvertent negligence” and not an outright or deliberate attempt to flout the law.
The hubris of the Conservatives is such that even this judicial slap on the wrist is contentious as the Conservative party and the Crown still disagree on the exact amount that was involved. The Crown says the national party failed to report $1.24 million spent, while the Conservatives admit only to $680,000.
The biggest victim in all of this sordid mess is the Canadian public, once more being shown by example that immorality and illegality aren't really immorality and illegality, as long as you remain truculent and defiant in legal defeat.
As reported in The Star, the sophisticated in-and-out scheme, masterminded by the likes of now-Senator Doug Findley, saw the Conservatives shifting "national advertising money, through wire transfers into and immediately out of local riding campaign accounts, in order to claim national ad spending as local." This illegal tactic allowed the party to far exceed legal limits on campaign spending, probably a factor in its electoral victory.
The public immorality resides not just in the act, but also in the punishment, the reason for the punishment, and the spin being placed on that sanction by Conservative Party operatives.
First, the punishment - a mere $52,000 fine.
The reason for that paltry punishment, which made no effort to hold the architects of the fraud, Doug Finley and Irving Gerstein, then-party director Michael Donison, and then-chief financial officer Susan Kehoe. criminally responsible, was explained by Crown attorney Richard Roy. He suggested to Judge Célynne Dorval that it was in the “public interest” to strike the deal that withdrew charges against them. The judge agreed, saying that an expected six-month trial “would not have made any difference” even if there had been convictions because the fines amounted to the maximum penalties that could have been imposed.
Legally, what the judge said may be true, but that failure to prosecute the perpetrators of the crime allows for the following, the spin being placed on the results by the Conservative Party apparatus, who call it a “big victory.”
“Every single Conservative accused of wrongdoing has been cleared today,” said spokesman Fred DeLorey, in a written statement afterwards.
Conservative party lawyer Mark Sandler said the party’s guilty plea is only an admission of “inadvertent negligence” and not an outright or deliberate attempt to flout the law.
The hubris of the Conservatives is such that even this judicial slap on the wrist is contentious as the Conservative party and the Crown still disagree on the exact amount that was involved. The Crown says the national party failed to report $1.24 million spent, while the Conservatives admit only to $680,000.
The biggest victim in all of this sordid mess is the Canadian public, once more being shown by example that immorality and illegality aren't really immorality and illegality, as long as you remain truculent and defiant in legal defeat.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The Toronto G20 and the Vindication of Michael Puddy
Kafkaesque is a term loosely and regularly bandied about, usually denoting a process whereby an innocent person is subjected to unfathomable persecution/arrest. It seems an apt word to describe what Michael Puddy endured in Toronto during the G20 protests of June 2010. Not even a part of the protest, Puddy was swept up in a nightmare that saw him incarcerated for two days and charged with possession of a prohibited weapon.
Despite what was the largest mass arrest and violation of Charter Rights in Canadian history, those chiefly responsible for it, Toronto Chief Bill Blair, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper remain completely unaccountable, refusing to consider a full inquiry into it.
You can read the full story and see a video here.
Despite what was the largest mass arrest and violation of Charter Rights in Canadian history, those chiefly responsible for it, Toronto Chief Bill Blair, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper remain completely unaccountable, refusing to consider a full inquiry into it.
You can read the full story and see a video here.
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