John Gormley’s column in today’s Leader Post (Harper’s critics need to chill) takes a look on the consistently over-the-top attack on the Conservative Government (H/T NNW):
This tendency by opposition parties and the Bandwagon Media to resort to spurious allegations and hyperbole has been dubbed Wafer-chasing by reader Wilson.
Pat Martin suggested that the latest scandal du jour is our Watergate moment. He is sure that the crank calls were orchestrated from the top rather than the actions of some rogue campaign workers. (And FWIW I agree that anyone found guilty of trying to obstruct the voting process should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.)
The NDP’s Martin said the Tories are “laying the foundation for throwing some kid under the bus” when it’s clear there’s been “a massive conspiracy to defraud the electoral system.”
A massive conspiracy…
At least John McCallum has the sense to point out that there is no proof of that, but then he goes on to weave his conspiracy theory anyway (from the WFP link above):
“We don’t have a smoking gun pointing to Stephen Harper and the Conservative party, but we do know that these actions benefited the Conservative party and we do know this strategy has been in their tool kit for some time. So there are definitely suspicions.”
Tonda Maccharles includes a response from Elections Canada in her somewhat-more-balanced report in the Spectator:
All Elections Canada spokesman John Enright would say is that federal elections commissioner William Corbett reported to Parliament that his office “is looking into several complaints surrounding crank calls designed to discourage voting, discourage voting for a particular party, or incorrectly advise electors of changed polling locations.”
However, in the initial two weeks after the election, long before November when investigators apparently linked RackNine to the calls, Commissioner William Corbett appeared unworried that massive electoral mischief had occurred…
The problem with resorting to these kinds of histrionics is that eventually people tend to tune out – especially those outside the Ottawa bubble.
But for now let’s allow the proper authorities examine the evidence and proceed accordingly.
We’re still living in a country where innocence is presumed until proven otherwise – at least in the real world.
* * * *
Update
Conservative government aide loses job over fraudulent ‘robo-calls’ – Toronto Star
Michael Sona Fired: Conservative Staffer With Ties To Guelph Riding Let Go – HuffPo
Stephen Harper and the Scandalettes – Adrian MacNair
Good post. I’m sure that the opposition parties and their media puppies have a line up of issues just like this that they can use to try to smear the Harper government. As usual, hype trumps fact and faux outrage stands in for the NDP and Liberals in place of anything at all that Canadians care about.
I think that Harper addressed this issue correctly and we need to let the investigation take its course.
FYI – over at NNW – Ipsos has a new poll up wanting to know if Harper has been a good PM. Go vote.
That poll has been up since the election and never changes.
Every time the PM has a good news announcement the “Loyal”opposition and the turd party try to spoil it with a scandal due jour.
The media follow right along as if no one notices how dumb they are.
No kidding Robert. They just can’t stand good news announcements can they? And always happens right on cue. Gets rather boring actually. One wonders what’s the next so called scandal going to be.
re: that Ipsos poll at NNW had disappeared. Must have got a result that they didn’t like….like that a majority think Harper’s doing a good job.
Or they could simply be rephrasing the question.
Do you think Harper has been a bad PM or a terrible PM?”
I stopped following “Will” on twitter… Mr. National News Watch who goes out of his way to put anti PM posts up .. his latest was about someone named Stephen Harper who got a 12 year prison sentence… he loves to let innuendo do it’s work…it was a person in another country…nothing to do with our PM. I can so believe he took the results down…
I know but the odd time Will does show some objectivity and then I like to reward him.
yeah…but it disappeared…we cannot access it… too bad he lives in the maritimes…
..Quite right Joanne – calling news conferences has become the desperate activity of the opposition to keep themselves in the news and to stroke their ego that they are relevant…the credibility of the participants in these antics, such as, Liberal John McCallum, and Pat Martin… we have to say… totally busted for what they are.. grandstanders hoping to hit a home run with the electorate. I hope the MP who has one of the alleged accused in her employ takes a good hard look…he came to her with baggage already .. why do young people working for those in government get so much freedom and accessibility?… has always boggled my mind.
Yeah, the likes of the sneering Martin, oozing hatred and McCallum trying to appear important jump in like vultures knowing nothing beyond making accusations in their relentless search for the Big Gotcha.
The MP’s and the Party need to do more thorough screening of people they employ, people can’t be trusted in the political climate we have now. We have a very jealous and desperate opposition with the Liberals not accepting their fate and the NDP thinking they have a chance at power. It’s politics at it’s dirtiest.
Let’s hope they choke big time on a wafer as they run with their mouths open in their quest for that Big Gotcha.
Ibbetson… thinks conservatives encourage this behaviour by their hard line tactics… ‘eyes raise to the ceiling’ here— http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/john-ibbitson/does-anything-you-can-get-away-with-mentality-foster-tory-cheaters/article2348585/
I read that too. Typical Ibbitson schlock.
..the Boob [Rae] could not be left out…into the fray he springs – http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/23/stephen-harper-denies-tories-knew-about-illegal-election-robocalls-linked-to-party/
..the last part of my message…I was referring to this… http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2012/02/23/19414896.html
“Boob” Rae getting in on this latest wafer/gotcha tripe is indicative of how damned bankrupt they are, they haven’t got the sense to do anything meaningful as they sit and whine at our expense.
High school students playing at the game would do better.
the media will keep pushing this nonsense, tory gal is quite right. i am sure this type of non story will continue on a regular basis right up to the next election.
On a somewhat related topic … this week during one Power & Politics segment some US expert, former cop Peter Moskos, was interviewed by brainiac Evan Solomon about how mandatory minimum sentences for drug possession won’t work because they didn’t work in the US.
First of all, the US experts are trotted out when it’s convenient for the media and the opposition. They quote US experts when they agree with their own world view but they scornfully refer to “Republican-style” or “Tea Party” tactics when the Conservatives introduce some policy they disagree with.
In the segment I alluded to, the US expert said the US war on drugs hasn’t worked. But it appears Solomon’s research on the guy was rather superficial. Is Solomon aware that the guy wrote a book entitled In Defense of Flogging?
http://defenseofflogging.com/
“… Noted criminologist Peter Moskos, in irrefutable style, shows the logic of the new system while highlighting flaws in the status quo. Flogging may be cruel, but In Defense of Flogging shows us that compared to our broken prison system, it is the lesser of two evils.”
Would Solomon support that kind of reform in our prison system?
Solomon only values input from law enforcement when it serves his purpose to do so, such as with the long-gun registry “debate” (I thought PMSH got a mandate from voters to do that) as well as the example you’ve cited.
How many times did we see law enforcement represented on P&P panels in an attempt to save the registry? Probably dozens, interviewed in their uniforms no less. Input from them on the gov’t's tough-on-crime agenda? Zero. Law enforcement supports that agenda so they serve no purpose for Solomon and thus are cast aside. Yet here he is, yet again, finding value in their input, waving a sheet of paper before the camera, saying look what I’ve got here.
Divide and counquir is yet another template used by the leftist media, trying to find ways to drive wedges between certain individuals and groups who otherwise would be expected by the public to hold similar views on an issue, with people like Solomon saying, “but not all ______ agree with the Harper gov’t on the issue… We’ve found some who don’t and here’s what they’ve had to say”. Pitting PC’s against Reformers is another one of their favs.
But you’ll notice he’s not so interested in the divide and conquer strategy when it could be used to put Libs against one another. Anyone recall Solomon tracking down fmr. PM Cretin in March 2010 to ask how HE felt about the “new” Lib leader allowing Lib MP’s to vote freely on dismantling the gun registry in the forst go-around, legislation which Cretin would certainly argue is a crown jewel of his legacy? No. Solomon’s goal then, as it is now, is to unite the LPC, not divide them. That’s why he didn’t.
Just as an aside, saw Solomon do a lengthy interview with Cretin last Sept on the anniversary of 9/11 where he discussed “all things” war-on-terror… well, not really. In spite of the interview lasting about 30 minutes, not once did he bring up Khadr who, under Cretin’s watch, was sent to Guantanamo in the first place, and did so as a kid to boot. Considering how Solomon has so feverishly attacked the Harper gov’t on the Khadr issue, his omission of that topic revealed what he truly is — an advocacy journalist posing as a moderator… worse, doing so on a public broadcasting network.
“Solomon … an advocacy journalist posing as a moderator… worse, doing so on a public broadcasting network.”
I agree.
Okay, here’s my explanation about what is going on–at least from the Opposition Parties point of view.
Normal voters expect a political Party to exaggerate (aka spin) to a certain extent. Such is the nature of politicians, who we all know are not neutral pundits. However, if that exaggeration goes too far, then the Party/politician loses credibility.
So why do they keep on doing it ? Because they don’t much care much about normal voters right now. They do, however, care a lot about partisan voters, who need to be constantly convinced that they should donate money to their Party.
My belief is that pretty well EVERY criticism from the Opps is crafted for consumption by Dipper and Lib donors. Get them riled up, so that they will dig deep to “stop that scary Harper, and take Canada back, yadda yadda yadda”. Money is the lifeblood of every political party. When it stops, the Party dies, hence it is of upmost importance.
I think you’re onto something CJ!
Thanks Joanne … I think I’ve got the Opps pretty well figured out on this.
However, much of our media remains a mystery to me. Never mind the obvious, undisclosed partisanship. There is just so much mediocrity, I don’t know how some of these pundits keep getting air time.
Anyway, thank goodness for SUN and FOX. And of course, the residents of BLY nation !
I cannot agree about “FOX” .. this united states station has turned into a huge Obama lover… from my perspective and a lot of others… a big disappointment….
Not to contradict you, Calgary Junkie but I think the over-the-top rhetoric has even more sinister intentions, in my view.
When the so-called Arab Spring first started, I recall NDP MP Paul Dewar hinting on Power & Politics that we needed a similar movement here. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the presence of mind to note the time, date & context for future reference.
My point is that Harper’s opponents have been hammering the “60%+ did not vote for the Conservatives” meme, trying to delegitimize PM Harper and now even the election.
Just one more example in the long list of statements made around the same meme: during a discussion on Justin Trudeau’s possible acceptance of Quebec separation and “Quebec’s Alienation” from the rest of Canada, the moderator Jacques Beauchamp & Angus Reid’s VP Jaideep Mukerji cited the % of people who voted for the Conservatives. This is what they said (very loose translation) http://www.radio-canada.ca/emissions/faut_pas_croire_tout_ce_qu_on_dit/2011-2012/:
Beauchamp: In order to see what the numbers say, to see who is behind the “Harper vision”, 39% of Canadians in all provinces and 16% in Quebec voted for the Conservatives … how many people voted for Stephen Harper in the RoC?
Mukerji: 46%
Beauchamp: Almost a majority.
Mujerki goes on to say that the 46% was concentrated in the West and parts of Ontario, where the vote split between the NDP & the Liberals allowed the Conservatives to get seats.
So, according to Beauchamp & Mujerki and others who view the Conservative win as somehow illegitimate, a REAL majority is one obtained with more than 50% of the popular vote.
Delegitimization of the Harper government — that is the goal of the opposition and their allies, IMO.
..the opposition has not changed since we won the majority..the tactics of the opps encourage joe public to “act out” like the senate staffer girl who put up her sign “stop harper” – the opposition wants to keep feeding how bad this government is knowing in time large portions of lefties will believe it and call it their mantra… they have nothing else better to do it seems… they just do not like “working for canadians for their better good”…
“Delegitimization of the Harper government — that is the goal of the opposition and their allies, IMO.”
Yes, that seems to be a big part of their political “strategy”, leading up to the 2015 election. However, I don’t think it will be effective, for many reasons which I won’t go in to.
Hence, I don’t worry about it. Plus I have faith in my fellow non-partisan Canadians, to discount almost all of their fear-mongering and hyperbole, as self-serving.
Note that I put “strategy” in quotation marks. Mainly because the Opposition Parties haven’t adapted to the new political landscape/rules, and hence are still fighting the old political wars with an old, ineffective approach.
Harper is playing the federal political game at a level that these amateurs will never reach, never mind even comprehend.
I put us at about an 80 % chance of getting another majority.
I wish I could, like you, not worry about it.
To confirm my fears further … on Fridays, my local radio talk show hosts 3 political strategists or representatives from the 3 main parties for a full hour. This morning they talked about the robocalls. The Lib. rep., Jennifer Crane, said there were 18 ridings affected, then it grew to 27, and soon it will be 308 where by-elections will be required. According to her, guilt has been proven: it was a Conservative plan directed from the top.
As Liz J said above, the Conservatives need to be doubly sure that they’re not infiltrated by some rogue “agents”. God forbid it should be someone like that, or worse still, an overly-zealous true-blue conservative.
I have reached the point where it wouldn’t surprise me that even a media person could have orchestrated those robocalls.
Nothing will surprise either that a media person could have orchestrated thoses robocalls.
They seem to be very quiet on the TWITTER Attack coming from the parliament.
‘When the so-called Arab Spring first started, I recall NDP MP Paul Dewar hinting on Power & Politics that we needed a similar movement here. ‘
I remember that one Gabby, I also remember when the opposition wanted to take some of the Gitmo prisoners off Obama’s hand as he asked countries to do which Australia did as well a few countries. But the PM said ‘NO’ , he was not going to bring into canada a bunch of terrorists just to please OBAMA. Well, you can imagine the uproar from the left; they railed at him insulting him but the PM wasn’t going to move a muscle to simply satisfy they at the expensive and safety of canadians.
So here’s the thing…IF these calls existed…who is to say it was for Tory gain. Seems strange it is only “Liberal supporters” saying they got the calls, doesn’t it?, After all, IF these calls went out, whey wouldn’t more than just Liberals be saying they got the calls.
And isn’t it a bit of a stretch to say that because this company has a few Conservative clients – ergo, it was planned by Stephen Harper? Have any of the wafer chasing media looked into who else this company has for clients.
The media have not stopped looking for their “sponsorship gotcha” since 2006 when the CPC first won the election.
It is getting sickening – and given social media today – the hype is over the top with calls for a new election.
Seems strange it is only “Liberal supporters” saying they got the calls, doesn’t it?
H/T to Wilson, posted at BC Blue – “kady posted the list, not one CPC MP east of the Ab/Sk boarder……”
http://bcblue.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/its-only-dirty-tricks-if-conservatives-are-accused-doing-it/#comments
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2012/02/election-robocall-data-dump—12-conservative-candidates-on-the-2011-racknine-client-list.html
Did you guys notice that this service was used mainly in those safe Tory ridings where the impact would have been nil anyway? Yeah I did, too.
Its a-okay for O’Malley and Barton on Power And Politics to sweep a personal attack on Vic Toews under the rug like it doesn’t matter, but MSM Party will latch on to robocallers like it’s their last meal. And as for it being impossible that this be the work of “only one Tory operative”, remember when the Liberal Party would blame “lone operatives” not strictly affiliated with the Liberal Party for what happened during the Sponsorship Scandal? What is okay for me is not okay for thee. And they wonder why they have been losing a third of their caucus every election since 2006. Yep, just another “wafer chase”.
if only liberal supporters got called that would be quite a feat. setting up robo calling usually is a blanket thing. the calls cover everyone in a particular area.
From Gormley’s column, a priceless sentence that appeals to someone like me, somewhat obsessive about proper spelling:
“Bill C-30, which attempts (weakly) to clarify police powers to snoop in the Internet age, has been called totalitarian by a lot of people who can’t spell the word.”
lol!
I worked on the campaign and made cold calls from both lists of donors, supporter and regular residents in the riding. I can think of perhaps 3 people who read me the riot act for calling, despite call display clearly indicating where I was calling from. So why did they answer? To abuse me from their end of a faceless telephone line? Some of those people had me physically shaken and feeling threatened.
I’m simply saying that if this happened on purpose, it needs to be cleared up but I’m also suggesting 2 things. There most certainly are people who would receive calls, are extremely partisan and could possibly exaggerate an event. Point 2 is, WHY NOW? Almost a year later? That just seems convenient to me.
“WHY NOW?” Indeed but I think we know why, it’s all they have to contribute to the politics of the nation, it’s all about their political ambitions and nothing of value to the country.
Exactly Liz J. They don’t care about the country and neither does the media party. They hate it that the Harper government is doing a good job and is respected and envied around the world
I do hope they find who exactly the culprit that has been behind this is, and that person is fully prosecuted, and locked up for a long time.
Because PMSH was in the Arctic, and instead of getting press over the education announcement the media covered the gotcha.
How many hear knew PMSH went to the Arctic this week?
What next are they going to find.
Still waiting for the EC to go after the liberals and ndp
They have been waiting for the PM to have a good news affair so they can cover it up with the friendly media.
When we first moved to our current house, we were sent to the wrong polling station. However, the workers there worked very hard to see that we got to vote. It never dawned on us to complain that we were misled.
Regarding this “scandal”, we read the list and prices paid that Kady O’Malley wrote. The prices were so low that this company or whatever it is must be doing a lot of work for others or they wouldn’t be able to even pay their bills. The MSM won’t bother trying to find out who else is using them. We heard that constituents in the riding where that former NDP MP who switched to Liberal is from, has been receiving calls I wonder if that is true and who is behind them
Finally, the suggestion that the Opposition is playing to their partisan supporters to get more money from them, sounds very likely. But it also invigorates the Conservative base to give more money as well so we can fight back. So maybe we should thank them for doing that work for us.
NDP supporters never donate their own money,lefty’s only like to use other people’s money.
Another thing. The opposition and the media party have never accepted that the Conservatives won the 2006 election,the 2008 election. The 2011 election with the Conservative majority put them all in a real tizzy. It’s not what they expected. They expected another minority where the coalition of the losers could take over. Now they don’t know what to do. That’s why you see the histrionics from the opps and the media. They are frustrated because they have very little influence and are trying to create some, especially the media party who is losing relevance each day that goes by. Thank God for SNN and BLY.
At least the CPC party is taking this seriously as they should and doing an investigation to get to the bottom of this. You can be sure whoever it is will be thrown under the bus and punished asap as they should be.
Good morning Blue Folks!
I see the “Wafer chasing unelectable weaklings” are at it again.
We must be doing really, really well as a Country! Budget is looking good no tax increases!
Liberals + NDPQ-F’ers and their personal fart-catchers in the Media Party really, really hate that.
What to do? Well Mr Solomon can dig up an American “Expert” who says IHO that putting criminals in Jail does not work?
I don’t want to waste any of my time on this Earth on Mr Solomon or the CBC so thank you to those brave souls that do!
His “expert” apparently likes “Flogging” as an alternative, that meshes well with Mrs Solomon’s little boy’s point of view.
He has been flogging the “dead horse called gotcha” for quite some time now.
He is hoping against hope that he can bring it back to life so Bankrupt Bob can ride it all the way to the PM’s office.
Shiny pony just isn’t big enough to carry that much B******t.
The charade continues Folks.
Shameful what passes for news in this Country.
Macullum who accused our troops of abusing prisoners and who does not even know the name of the horse he rode in on is no one to criticize anyone.
Still waiting for the apology to our troops.
As for the Majority Lie told by Liars, using their ”
Math”
81% did not vote Liberal.
70% did not vote NDPQ-F.
What would the HP look like if you had to get 50% + 1 to take a seat?
There would be 107 Torys
There would be 36 NDPQ-F
There would be 2 (TWO) Liberals
One of them would not be
Bankrupt Bob Rae got less than 50% of the vote in his riding bye Bob.
The late Jack Layton got 20,oo0 votes in his riding 25,000 did not vote for him.
The only thing the Opposition and Media Party have is endless faux scandals.
I think that CJ @ 2:40 is on to something the Liberals are getting a little short of money and need some drama.
This too will pass folks.
“This too will pass folks.”
It sure will. The PM has absolutely no tolerance for these shenanigans in his party. He’ll get to the bottom and there will be hell to pay. You can take that to the bank.
The opps are not squeaky clean either. What scandals are the media party hiding for them and sweeping under the carpet?
Conservatives=all evil all the time and PM Harper,the devil incarnate
Libs and NDP= pure as the driven snow,Pat Martin and John Macallum=honorable members
Go figure!
BTW, has the media at all mentioned the PM’s announcement yesterday towards aboriginal education for adults?
I broke my own promise to myself and have been (lazy) just reading articles from nationalnewswatch, the anti-Con news aggrigator.
Missed this Artic Soverignty story while wafer chasing robocalls
Stephen Harper Iqaluit Visit: $27-Million For Adult Education In The North
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/02/23/stephen-harper-iqaluit-visit_n_1296687.html
Missed this Artic Soverignty story while wafer chasing robocalls
Bet they’re not talking about this either. Deficit is down.
https://twitter.com/#!/stephen_taylor/status/173076551108276224
Yah!!!
And good timing, following report from scientists surprised by the very little effect the Alberta Oilsands have on globalwarming.
And that cheap stunt by the coalition of loser Opps to pass legislation forcing the govt to reach ridiculus Kyoto targets will be repealed too.
Poor Lizzy and Megan, they will be in hysterics, a sure bet that Solomon will give them a podium to bash from.
Kyoto Protocol: Peter Kent Says Government Will Soon Table Bill To Scrap Law Forcing Canada To Meet Greenhouse Gas Targets
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/02/24/kyoto-protocol-canada-peter-kent_n_1298900.html?ref=canada
OH, add this to the Lizzy-Megan sputtering and hollering about to take place!
‘…Supertankers loaded with Alberta crude can safely navigate waterways near the Kitimat, B.C. terminal linked to Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, a Transport Canada review has concluded.
The federal department determined three shipping routes proposed by Enbridge are “appropriate” and contain no obstructions for the 250 oil tankers the company expects would frequent the terminal each year, to take away some 30 million tonnes of crude annually. A quarter of those tankers would weigh 320,000 tonnes, three times larger than any vessels to have visited Kitimat Harbour since the 1950s….”
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Transport+Canada+approves+Enbridge+supertanker+routes/6199584/story.html#ixzz1nJpAMerH
The opposition is calling for a parliamentary committee investigation that would just be another taxpayer money wasted, time wasted kangaroo court, witch hunt, media frenzy circus with juicy sound bites to try to hang the Conservatives.
The opposition and their media hacks are trying to latch onto anything that will take away from all the good news coming down from the Harper government’s management of the affairs of the country. That’s it, that’s all. Tuning in to the likes of Martin or Solomon is a total waste of time, they are not serving up what matters. The facts that mean something to the majority is ignored like the PM’s Arctic trip, their “reporting” amounts to gossip and innuendo, chasing their tails in search of the elusive gotcha.
I don’t give Solomon or Martin the time of day. I tune into Ezra Levant’s the Source. Much more informative and entertaining. At least he doesn’t go wafer chasing, At the same time he can be tough on the Tories when need be over policy issues. He has to though call out the other media namely the state broadcaster from time to time for their distortions or outright lies.
Cooler heads seldom prevail… let them rant and rave.
Yes Russ because if an election were held today NEITHER the NDP or the LPOC have a party or leader to speak of. Harper knows that and isn’t playing their game. It’s something called leadership, something both oppositions are still trying to find.
Re: the Liberal media – they have to hang on to something because they’ve proven themselves not to be a credible lot given their attempts during the last two federal elections and also their failures in predicting those outcomes.
Federally I’m not worried one bit. Provincially……….BIG TIME!
Yeah, good points, the Liberals are in no position to go to an election and the Dipps are a joke at this point. As well, I think we tend to forget we have a majority as well and it’s gotten all them , media included all in a fluster as they play their silly games.
Poor Greenies the luddites of our age.
They are quite in a tizzy all their fantasy prophets of doom are turning out to very wealthy from all the hype.
Keep kicking the Kyoto fraud to the curb PM Harper, Good Job!
I said quite a while ago we should reall assign these “scandals” numbers so we can fix the time lines easily, so hard to keep up!
Then when Solomon or one of the other usual suspects starts on about something we can say oh yeah #24 OK what’s your point?
Hey Bubba, assigning numbers is a great idea, it would emphasize the nuttiness of it all.
How is it that the police can trace a HACKER to small remote area within a country in other parts of the world and yet not one can trace the twitter in the parliament.
If it was a conservatives to do that it would have been traced immediately. So it tells me, from the media silence that they ‘do’ know who it was but aren’t saying.
In the 18 ridings under investigation 13 were won by the NDP & Liberals and 5 were won by the CPC. Out of those 5 , only 1 was even close. If you took ALL 5 away from the Conservatives they would still have a majority. Why would the opposition want another election?Fools…. lol
And why has this been kept on the backburner for so long? Why was this brought out just after Vikileaks. The rhetoric so far: conservatives in favor of torture, conservatives attack pensions, conservatives military spending irresponsible, conservatives cozy up to China, conservatives soft on environment, conservatives are criminals. You can keep adding to the list.
Almost time for new NDP “defender of democracy” to show up and demand a redo in 18 ridings (or more) possibly followed by a visit of the coalition parties to the GG’s office. Does the timing make sense now?
good http://www.canada.com/news/Federal+deficit+shrinks+December/6204650/story.html
Will the media go after Mulcair over this charge by Ashton:
Ashton went off against Quebec MP Thomas Mulcair this week, accusing him of spreading a rumour in Quebec that she was dropping out of the race.
Are those rumors being spread by robocalls.
I am taking a holiday from opinion news it is wonderful I recommend it
good news about deficit
in filter
fh
another good news post
http://redheartbluesign.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/was-changebook-that-far-off-from-drummond/
Did anyone who supposedly received those call save a record of the call.
I have worked many elections over the years and those voting lists are not all up to date. And how would those making calls know the leaning of those called.
Got another call yesterday from a number that is a scam poll, asking who I would vote for if election called tomorrow in AB. And number 1 choice was ndp. When I googled the number there were a lot of nasty comments re the source.
Gal on ctv this a.m. asked could this be as big as sponsorship. Hey, does she think millions of our dollars were stolen over this.
Gal on ctv this a.m. asked could this be as big as sponsorship.
Wishful thinking on the media party and the opposition’s part for that matter.
As big as the sponsorship? Give me a break!
This is more proof how far off-base these idjits are in pursuing gotchas. Reality doesn’t dwell in their world of wild dreams.
Breaking. SNN just reporting that a staffer that was working for an MP has just been fired! I’m sure details will soon come.
rogue campaign workers happens.
This has no legs. The oppositions have no leaders, finances or a solid grass root support base. The CPC have all three.
And as someone said earlier Harper is leading at a level so far above the two oppositions and their media that ordinary Canadians just aren’t into either the NDP or the LPOC tactics these days.
Joanne – can you confirm a story I heard today about a father who was arrested because his 4 year old child drew a picture of him holding a gun which the child said he was using to kill “monsters”. Another case of schools gone so politically correct as to be ridiculous?
Is this what you are looking for, story at NNW,
By Dianne Wood Record staff
Fri Feb 24 2012
133 Recommend
Man shocked by arrest after daughter draws picture of gun at school.
Story says the father was arrested when picking up his daughter, aged 4, taken into custody and strip searched.
Meanwhile, criminals with real guns are still out on the streets, shooting people and kids at school. 8 yr old hit in shoulder by stray bullet.
Richco – That story has gone viral. Ezra Levant opened with it this evening.
Best column so far has been Matt Gurney’s IMO.
I’d say this man has some suing to do. This is the sort of stuff you’d see if the war measures act were invoked.
MP is EVE ADAMS CPC . One of her staffers was fired.
Like one said here, ‘when the CPC get to the bottom of things in this case, that person is fired’.
Look out for the vultures media go after Eve Adams and her private life, her boyfriends, her parents, her previous jobs etc.
It says Huffington Post has learned that Michael Sona has been fired…Conservative party knows nothing about this.
Charlie Angus NDP has sent this on Twitter….Dear international community send observers 4 next election. Tis is country run by Harper-Toews…electorial scam
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/02/24/michael-sona-fired-guelph-eve-adams_n_1299791.html
not on twitter but my gut response to Angus would be “First stop for next federal election observers should check out NDP kindergarten to make sure their candidates are of voting age:-)
Good one Richco!
Ya that is rich, isn’t it coming from Angus. The NDPQ Party, that without the cover from the Media Party would have (should have) been analyzed thoroughly over their adolescent, unqualified candidate choices. Only in Canada would this be ignored!
And reside in the same province when campaigning.
I think my
links are in filter
fh
This twitter from Angus is at the bottom of the link from the Huffington Post…what a trouble maker he is…
Charlie Angus MP
Dear international community send observers 4 next election. This is country run by Harper-Toews. #electoralscamhttp://t.co/s5i9bor1
How many times, in the past 6 yrs, has PMSH gone somewhere and instead of covering that, the media or opposition dig up a faux scandal.
Guess we need to publish his travel plans and get ready for the next one.
P&P is dealing with the robo call thingy, just passed over it going to FOX, and Pat Martin was getting ready to rant.
Glad I gave him and Don Martin up for Lent. Another ethic story breaking re moving an EC office in Que. from an ndpq riding to a conservative riding.
Keep it up and maybe they will close all their offices in Que.
People, this story was broken before. Now ask yourselves why this 9 month old story is coming back to the forefront after all this time. What has changed in the last 9 months for this story to come back so prminently (beside the usual MSM BS of course)? What does the Opposition know that they aren’t telling us? Something is off here. This has the element of timing written all over it. But why now
Now they are starting to call for a public inquiry. Well, of course they are, they want their crack at him first. They know that if the Tories are able to show that they are moving decisively to take care of this and put this firmly to rest, like calling the police and seeing that any guilty party gets arrested , it will show to everyone that they will be accountable even when it comes to their own staffers, and it will take away the only arrow that the Opposition has in it’s quiver. So of course, Rae would want to run immediatley to a public inquiry, that is so those clowns can have yet another kangaroo court to continue to run with their “scandal” chase. They remind me of ambulance chasers, looking everywhere for the latest “wafer” to throw to the media like shark chum.
What has disappeared from the media, vicileaks and Vic Toews. Was the investigation getting too close to the ndp that they had to find another faux scandal. And if the RCMP hesitating on getting involved, why would they get involved in trying to trace a call made over a year ago. Since the opposition can’t force an election with their failed plans of coalition, do they think this will force the PM to dissolve the House and call an election.
When is the G20, PMSH will be out of the country so what will be the faux scandal brought up then. We know it will happen.
United Steelworkers Caught Contributing to Far-Left Political Party in Canada
Here’s a question: Why is the United Steelworkers taking its members’ money and spending on a “social-democratic” political party in Canada?
According this report, the Steelworkers here in the U.S. has sent nearly $70,000 to fund the NDP in Canada over the last four years.
OTTAWA – A U.S.-based union’s financial contributions to the New Democrats in Canada have raised some questions for the party’s federal branch.
The United Steelworkers of America’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pa., filed paperwork with the U.S. Department of Labor that shows tens of thousands of dollars sent to the NDP in Ottawa between 2007 and 2010.
Records show the American union sent $5,000 last year, more than $39,000 in 2009, $8,500 in 2008, and in excess of $17,000 in 2007 to the New Democratic Party of Canada or the New Democrats of Canada.
While union contributions to provincial political parties are legal, they were banned along with corporate donations at the federal level in 2007.
While the USW’s contributions may be legally questionable, what is more interesting is that the NDP is, by U.S. standards, a far-left political party:
The NDP evolved from a merger of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). The CCF grew from populist, agrarian and democratic socialist roots into a modern social-democratic party.
It just seems like, not only do today’s union bosses care little about what they do with their members’ money, but they seem not to care at all about the outsourcing their politics to other countries.
http://www.laborunionreport.com/portal/2011/04/canoe-ca-u-s-union-contributed-to-ndp-canada-election-2011/
The EC and the media looked the other way.
Now we all know why the NDP are working VERY CLOSELY with the UNIONS and FOR THE UNIONS.
S
Have to wonder if the cdn arm of said union reimbursed the US arm as a way to get around banned donations to parties in Canada. Will Pat Martin be outraged over this. Could it be the ndp adscam or sponsorship equivalent, should we have a special committee set up to investigate. lol
US Union Funding NDP
U.S. union contributed to NDP 3
DANIEL PROUSSALIDIS, Parliamentary Bureau
First posted: Thursday, April 28, 2011 9:10:36 EDT PM
2Share
OTTAWA – A U.S.-based union’s financial contributions to the New Democrats in Canada have raised some questions for the party’s federal branch.
The United Steelworkers of America’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pa., filed paperwork with the U.S. Department of Labor that shows tens of thousands of dollars sent to the NDP in Ottawa between 2007 and 2010.
Records show the American union sent $5,000 last year, more than $39,000 in 2009, $8,500 in 2008, and in excess of $17,000 in 2007 to the New Democratic Party of Canada or the New Democrats of Canada.
While union contributions to provincial political parties are legal, they were banned along with corporate donations at the federal level in 2007.
The Canada Elections Act sets out penalties of a $1,000 fine, three months in prison, or both for a political party’s chief agent who fails to return an ineligible donation.
Steelworkers and NDP officials tell QMI Agency there’s nothing wrong with the union’s contributions.
They insist the paperwork filed in the U.S. simply isn’t labelled properly and that in all but one case union money actually went to provincial NDP associations.
Officials say the only exception was in 2009 when most of the money was actually to cover the USW’s sponsorship of the federal NDP’s Halifax convention.
“Somebody decided to lump some of the payments together based on the belief that there was no additional material information necessary to the U.S. Department of Labor to provide the details of which province it came from,” said Ken Delaney with the USW in Toronto.
Delaney also provided QMI Agency with an accounting schedule outlining which provincial party received what.
As for the optics of an American union getting involved in Canadian politics, he explained that the union collects dues in Canada, so it funds Canadian provincial political parties.
Isn’t that interesting. The main vein media accuses the CPC, and other Canadian firearms rights groups of being funded by the NRA. They have never been able to find any proof of US funding or interference. Someone digs up proof of uncle jack being funded directly by an American union, and we see nothing on the CBC, CTV, Global etc, etc.
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=90567
The media bozos know so much about how to run the country it’s a shame they can’t somehow get power. Hell they’re still harping on McKay’s helicopter ride to fill in a few more minutes of time.
Thing is they’re more and more pathetic, rendering themselves irrelevant, we certainly can’t take them seriously or anything they report as bare fact.
Lizj, they will ruin our country, our economy, our livilhood and the ‘GOOD NAME and RESPECT of our Country has earned.
I remembeer reading the NP that, the taliban watches CBC.
It is a good thing that foreign leaders have the presence of mind NOT to rely on the canadian lousey media (cbc) to gather information on/about the PM. Because, it is the the PM who took himself to other countries to do business with in order to keep our country running and afloat and from falling. And by watching the PM personally, the foreign leaders learnt alot about him and have given him a standing ovation.
Daniel Hannan an UK MP, said that he wishes there were more like STEPHEN HARPER.
PM shouldn’t rely on the media to send a message. He should go there personally just like he did for the aboriginals at the ARCTIC, when all that is done then he can go on television to say what he had just delivered.
I remembeer reading the NP that, the taliban watches CBC.
NP used to be a fairly good media source but they’ve
gone down hill the last little while in my opinion.
I see CBC has a poll asking if harper STOLE the last election?. Sickening
It is truly sickening! And they speak for all Canadians, yeah, right! James Moore are listening? They need to be shut down like yesterday!!!
Just my opinion, but what you are seeing and will continue to see until the next election is an orchestrated effort by the media and opposition parties to damage the credibility and image of those with differing political views.
Both the PM and Toronto mayor Rob Ford are subjected to parallel attacks daily against them and their supporters. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to watch the same opposition politicians and journalists repeat each others talking points verbatim.
The lesson I have learned from the 2011 federal and Toronto elections are lefties are really poor losers.
p.s. I eagerly await Elections Canada’s findings and any penalties they impose if guilt is found. If precedents are any indication, they will state it’s no big deal.
Did it when Liberals were caught raffling off a television on a bus to get aboriginals to come and vote for them.
Did it when Anne McClellan won back to back elections by the narrowest margins and discovering fake names and addresses on the voters list.
Did it when a Liberal campaign worker was caught on video vandalyzing Conservative lawn signs.
Did it in Guelph when Liberal campaign literature was found near voting stations.
Did it in Ujal Dosanjh’s riding when the total number of votes tallied exceeded the number of people who voted.
Did it in Quebec when it was discovered a poll clerk took home boxes of advance ballots.
Add in the fact EC never even saw fit to investigate Adscam, despite the fact Liberals themselves admitted to millions being spent in Quebec ridings in 1997 never accounted for in election expenses.
Lest anyone forget, Chretien’s Liberals won a bare majority in that election with 155 seats. Needless to say without those extra Adscam dollars some of those ridings would have gone Bloc, rewriting Chretien’s supposed 3-win election dynasty.
And don’t forget that Chretien prorogued parliament to run for elections when he had majority governments.
Pingback: Why robocall hysteria? Conservatives to balance budget by 2014/15! | CRUX OF THE MATTER ►
Reports now say Tory staffer resigned, because his name was used in the robo call frenzie.
I wonder if the CPC or LPC data bases has ever been hacked,
(that would solve Coyne’s mystery, saying it had to be 18 people to get this much data for the robo calls, p.s. Coyne, why would Cons use a Con robo service if they were trying to cover their tracks???)
‘Anonymous’ just hacked the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police
http://www.cbc.ca/day6/blog/2012/02/24/anonymous-vs-vic-toews-privacy-and-ethics/
Wilson, keep the calendar close by to see how many days, wks, mths yrs before the police or even the media traces the malicious twitter coming from the PARLIAMENT compared to the traces to the Hacker invading the Ontario police.
This was stated back in May, so why is this brought up by EC NOW?
The police and Elections Canada investigation appears to centre on the riding of Guelph, where the Tories had hoped to knock off Liberal incumbent Frank Valeriote.
Valeriote, who won, said hundreds of Liberal supporters received both the harassing calls and the false voting location calls.
He had some voters call his office to say they wouldn’t vote for someone without the judgment to call them at a decent hour. Others, who showed up at the false voting location, returned home in disgust without bothering to cast a ballot.
“It was a concerted effort to suppress votes. It’s a neo-conservative, Republican tactic that’s been documented in the United States and was adopted here,” Valeriote said in an interview. “By who? Who knows.”
Valeriote lodged a complaint and within two weeks of the election an Elections Canada investigator was in the riding interviewing him and voters who’d received the calls he said.
A memo circulated to Elections Canada officials on May 16 details some of the allegedly fraudulent activity that occurred during the campaign but concludes nothing happened that could have changed the results of the general election or in any riding.
“Although misconduct was reported in several ridings, there is no complaint that it affected the final result,” says the memo, released under the Access to Information Act.
The memo also warned that investigations in to robocalls sent through intermediaries are “difficult, time consuming and may be inconclusive.”
The memo also warned that investigations in to robocalls sent through intermediaries are “difficult, time consuming and may be inconclusive.”
Not according to the opposition and the media. They think it is conclusive and, will act on it.
I’m confused…..if you have your voter’s card, it says right on there where you are to go and vote. Why would anyone pay any attention to a robocall. Aren’t we supposed to know what we’re doing before we vote. How could these calls have made the Liberals lose the election. Talk about sour grapes, almost a year later.
Why not check out CAW of reason, he has photo there which the EC ignores.
The media, the CBC, Terry Mildewski et al will be blowing off about this incessantly. There’s nothing else to worry about in their Liberal world which was laden with scandals we’ve never seen dealt with. Was the Sponsorship money ever recovered?
is all the money paid back from the Liberal leadership race?
Well Ruth, that’s not something of interest to the media or even Elections Canada to report on.
However, if the opposition and the media want to have another election over this newest Gotcha lets have it. The Liberals and NDP are hardly in any shape to present themselves as fit to govern the country.
Is this the same case where the robocaller had the person’s name confused with another similarly named person and misdirected the erstwhile voter because of the mix up in names? Imagine the malfeasance H(enry) Schmidt was directed to vote at H(elen) Schmidt’s polling station because robocaller didn’t know the person to whom he was speaking. Why its a short circuiting of democracy no less. Robocaller must be taken out shot and peed on for such an affront on our sense of decency and fair play. Uh oh I just used a gun analogy does that mean I should be looking out for cops, social workers and overpaid teachers?
People that I know that are Liberal supporters are saying that this is too big to be the work of a “lone operative”. I just say “Chuck Guite” and they immediatley shut-up.
I just put up a new post on the robocalls I think is interesting. Says a lot about CBC’s ethics in it’s reporting.
If Bob Rae thinks the robocalls caused the Liberals to lose the election the Liberals better ask themselves if he’s really fit to be leader and grow that rump of a party.
Appears we’re going to have to put up with this craziness by the opposition and the media until the people decide to lash out at them all. It’s going to take some drastic action to put a stop to this constant dredging the bottom for gotchas. The NDP, the Liberals and the media are simply making fools of themselves and degrading the positions they hold.
Great work!
Direct link here – BREAKING NEWS! CBC Had Reports Of Voter Suppression Complaints From Conservative Party In May 2011 Election....
So there we have the STFU turn off valve for the usual subjects. Prepare to listen to the sound of silence.
Oh no no NOOOOOOOO, I have absolutley NO intention in letting their latest run at a wafer-chase go quietly.
No for sure, scratch my previous comment, it’s getting hotter and we won’t have a choice by the looks of it.
If they are hoping for EC to declare the election null and void are the Liberals and Dippers ready for an election?
The Opposition will not allow any peace in the land, if this one gets sorted they’ll have another and another gotcha ready to roll. They have nothing else to do it seems including working on being a credible, effective opposition.
In fact they’re coming out of the woodwork, we’ll be seeing defeated Liberals on the political shows ad nauseum, the Conservatives are guilty until proven otherwise as far as the media and Opps are concerned.
the ndp were determined in the Federal election to persuade Liberals to vote ndp to “STOP HARPER” a lot of back and forth on blogs also the ndp would vote Liberal if it looked like ndp were not popular in” picked ridings”
this deal fell apart in 2011 election
the Quebec vote favoured ndp
Conservative vote has always benefitted by a large voter turn out
fh
IMHO
anyone who called Canadians to direct them to the wrong voting booth are just as guilty
as the person who requested this phone call
fh