In dealing with Joe Volpe's membership shenanigans, the Liberal Party rejected the $1,000 fine recommended by their own complaints officer. Instead, the party said $20,000 was a fair price to pay, and set Volpe thirty days to pay it or get out of town:
A Liberal Party panel increased Joe Volpe's fine for breaking leadership campaign rules to $20,000, overruling a complaints officer who suggested $1,000 was enough.
The panel's full report was issued yesterday, detailing the findings of an investigation into allegations that Mr. Volpe's campaign paid the membership fees of supporters it recruited to join the party. It said Mr. Volpe's Quebec organizers did not make themselves available to answer the questions of party investigators.
So why would the complaints officer, Liberal Party lawyer Doug Mitchell, set the fine so low, even as Volpe's team was uncooperative?
And why would the Liberal Party ignore the advice of their own lawyer, and set a fine so high that it could not be paid by a candidate who by all accounts has no chance of winning anyway, earning all sorts of media attention in the mean time?
Angry in the Great White North has a theory:
Is the Liberal Party looking for a fight? Maybe it is. Maybe the party has made the calculation that it needs to be seen stomping hard on allegations of improprieties. The $20,000 fine is not about forcing Volpe out, but about forcing Volpe into a confrontation. That's why Mitchell's recommendation was rejected -- it didn't suit the Party's desires. Maybe the Liberal Party looking for a black eye and a bloody nose in order to prove to everyone it has what it takes to take on corruption within its ranks and crush it.
It's so crazy, it just might work! But then ignoring your lawyer is generally a bad thing to do.
If Volpe drops out..(and I think he did already)...does he still pay the fine?
I think not and that indicates that this whole exercise is just a PR stunt. Big surprise from this bunch of jokers eh?
The Liberal Party, cracking down on corrupt Grits?
Pardon my laughter! :-)
What's next, the NDP cracking down on Communists in it's ranks? :-)
It's my understanding that if he bails he doesn't have to pay the fine which means that Joe has a $20,000 incentive to quit. I'm expecting that he'll make the formal announcement this weekend...
How about signing up dead people? Oh wait, Iggy has a chance of winning...let's make that story go away.
But if the agenda is a PR show of 'we refuse to accept corruption', then if Volpe drops out and/or doesn't fight the fine, then, the stunt fails. It will only work if Volpe fights the fine.
quotes from Bob Rae--smart or what??
Bombing 'should never have happened'
Rae also said Canada still has a lot to learn about security in the age of terrorism from the Air India tragedy, which "should never have happened."
"It's one of those tragic situations where everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong and the consequences were simply disastrous for the people who were on board that flight," said Rae, who conducted his own federal investigation in 2005 to identify questions and issues surrounding the disaster
maybe the Lieberals are playing games with Joe's reputation being the kicked ball.
Could be a big mistake . . . Volpe, as he has pointed out himself, is of Italian heritage, and nobody does a vendetta better than the Italians.
The backfire, considering he knows where most of the recent era Liberal bodies are buried, could be much more entertaining match than the planned game by the Liberal backroom flacks & fartcatchers.
Remember Joe, vengance is best served cold.
What's next, the NDP cracking down on Communists in it's ranks? :-)
Posted by: Dave at October 4, 2006 01:07 PM
Tell me Dave. When do the Tories plan to ask the homophobes and the racists to leave their ranks?
Damn! I was afraid of this. The Librano$ have finally tweaked onto a way to worm their way back to the hearts of turned-off liberals.
Not too serious yet, with the Volpe smack-down, but if they get really smart and bounce some of the most criminal Adscam players. . . then we have real trouble in River City.
That kind of drive towards Librano$ purity may be all they need to win back lost voters. = TG
Budd - Have the Liberals asked Hedy Fry, who stated that people in BC were burning crosses on their front lawns, to 'leave the ranks'? They permitted her to campaign as a candidate for Liberal leadership.
Someone who rejects the ideology or lifestyle of a gay or lesbian is not necessarily a 'homophobe'. You are making the error of claiming that a reasoned rejection of X is also an unreasonable phobia of X. If I rationally reject the ideology of socialism, does that also mean that I have an irrational phobia against socialism? Of course not.
You are further rejecting the right of dissent and debate within a community. If you insist that everyone must have the same opinions, then, you are setting up a Canadian Animal Farm.
I don't know what you mean by 'racism' so I cannot comment.
As far as the Bob Rae quote, it seems mealy-mouthed to me. What a conclusion - that the bomb was 'disastrous for the people' onboard. Now, that does take brains to come to that conclusion.
What's next, the NDP cracking down on Communists in it's ranks? :-)
Best comment in SDA EVER!
Thanks Dave great laughter from that one....may I take the liberty of using it?
ET - when you challenge the sacred cows of the libcomsimp they can only respond with the lables of:
racist, homophobe, sexist, nazi, fascist, neo-con, .....take your pick!
I'm a PhobIstAnt! That's Phobe(for any kind of arguement made against the normalization of homsexual morality) Ist ( for all of the "ists" in the mantra ) Ant ( for intollerANT of jackasses ).
Cheers!
As for the notion that the $20K fine is actually a plot by the Libranos to redeem themslves by getting tough with the fraudsters, if they really wanted to get tough, they would have just kicked Joe out of the race altogether. But of course, no self-respecting Librano blueblood could muster the stuff it takes to oust one of their own, so instead we have this little sordid minidrama unfolding before our eyes.
Will the Member from Six Feet Under, the Honorable Joe I-see-dead-people Volpe, drop out of the race?
Stay tuned folks, for this amazing, continuing Librano cliffhanger.
As a fan of "Six Feet Under" I object to your smear of this fine satirical production through the connection of it with the Liberal Volpe!
;)
The knowledge of decades of inner polishing, self serving and malfeasance of Liberal governance has unlikely been exorcised from the party soul.
Public relations moves to make the Liberals pure with a new leader
will not wash with the internet community.
Mainstream Canadian media however is another matter.
The Libs were able to operate for more than a decade with the enabling and willful blindness of MSM.
If MSM buys into the 'new pure Liberals' (spin) sans Volpe, it will be interesting to see how long before the old rot from the heart of the beast re-emerges.
BTW If you like to be pre-warned about up-coming surprises, be sure to check:
http://PowerAndControl.blogspot.com
It*s the post I wish I had written..= TG
Politics is about appearances and the liberals are about socialistic appearances.
First you have to accept the proposition that the LIEberal party wants to REFORM.
(hey hows that for political pun? :))
But hey PM PM said they were going to root out corruption come "Hell or Highwater".
Looks like Hell has arrived if they need to go graverobbing for dead members, to root out corruption!!
Well you have to get rid of the 'stiffs' in the party somehow. Perhaps the LIEberals should all be checking their car trunks; in case they find something odious and putrid...
The new "Highwater" mark in moral purity, brought to you by the fine folks who gave us kiddie KONtributions, Adscam, etc.etc.....
ET: You made a very good comment in response to Budd's. I have sever doubts as to whether he (or anyone who thinks like him) will answer your not-too-rhetorical question.
And did you know SOCRATIES was forced to drink HEMLOCK for the crime of supposedly sorupting the minds of kids well then that means the NEA,PETA,GREENPEACE,SIERRA CLUB,NATIOAN WILDLIFE FEDERTION,WORLD WILDLIFE FUND and the rest of the leftists so named groups should be givin their hemlock
The Kyoto Game as played by AdScam Chretien.
Tyee headlines the piece:
"How Ottawa Sabotaged Our Kyoto Pledge in 2002"
Rewrite:
"How AdScam Liberal Chretien Sabotaged Maurice Strong's Kyoto" ... Tha's better, ahhhhh. ...-
Quiet deal with oil industry locked in failure.
Chretien: protected petro profits
How Ottawa Sabotaged Our Kyoto Pledge in 2002
Chretien: protected petro profits Quiet deal with oil industry locked in failure.
By Mitchell Anderson
Published: October 4, 2006
TheTyee.ca
The Environment Commissioner warned last week that the federal government must do "something drastic" to begin to deal meaningfully with climate change. But don't count on anything more than hot air when Harper releases his long awaited "Made in Canada" climate policy sometime this month.
The reason dates back to a deal quietly penned between Ottawa and Canadian oil industry in 2002 that essentially killed any chance Canada had to meet our obligations under Kyoto agreement.
It seems that the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers was concerned that the newly ratified accord to limit emissions of greenhouse gases would limit their profitability. Apparently, Ottawa was only too happy to accommodate.
Calling these documents (including this one and this one) a "deal" is a bit of a misnomer, since the Canadian public got essentially nothing in return.
Incredibly, this sellout was almost completely
ignored by the mainstream press. ...-
http://thetyee.ca/
Someone mentioned dead members. In todays Lethbridge Herald there is a story and photo of a very living woman, whose husband was surprised to find his new health card listing him as single. When questions to Blue Cross informed him his wife had died July 28/06. So maybe all those dead librano members are really alive somewhere. So far her OAS has not been cut off as they have no evidence saying she is dead.
The conservatives will ask all homophopes and racists to leave, as soon as the libs and ndp ask all hextraphoes, crooks, non christians and envirowachos to leave their confines. Unfortunately they have those in their party and we don't have homophoes or racists in ours. Seems there are a lot of homophopes in the liberal party, as Scott didn't get too many delegates.
Me, I'm waiting for Joes tell all book, to probably come out a week before the next election.
In order for the libs to really prove they have changed is to have a complete slate of candidates next time around. Any member who was elected under chretain or martin is stained. Where would one find 308 honest libs.
Not a word/hint/smell about the Librano$. ...-
OTTAWA (CP) - The country's money-laundering watchdog tipped police and the federal security service to more than $5 billion in suspicious deals last year - more than double the figure for the year before. ...-
TG said: "Damn! I was afraid of this. The Librano$ have finally tweaked onto a way to worm their way back to the hearts of turned-off liberals."
Willy Nuance-Feathers Graham eats crow. Cawcaw.
Proves old Chinese proverb: Eating crow leaves foul taste in mouth. ...-
Liberals retract criticisms | October 4th, 2006
OTTAWA (CP) - The Liberals have retracted statements they made in the House of Commons about a Conservative government appointee.
On Tuesday, Liberal Leader Bill Graham slammed the Tories for appointing Darrel Reid as director of communications for Environment Minister Rona Ambrose.
At the time, Graham cited remarks alleged to have been made by Reid linking the Muslim religion with terrorism.
Today, Graham withdrew the remarks, saying he has since found out that Reid never made the remarks.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded by thanking Graham for admitting the mistake. ...-
jack's newswatch
Giuseppe da Volpe: Duo uomos muerte vota. ...-
Libnews.ca
News for Liberals and people who love them
Archive for the 'Joe Volpe' Category
Dead men voting
Sunday, September 24th, 2006
Joe Volpe’s campaign may have come to a screeching halt following allegations that his campaign improperly signed up Liberal members in Quebec, including at least two dead people.
(more…)
Posted in Liberal Leadership Race, Joe Volpe | No Comments »
More on the Incredible Faux Pas/Gaffe by ole Crow-Eater, W. Graham; the baby crows join in ... cwacwacwa....
Read about Reid, Darrel. Still up at:
http://www.liberal.ca/news_e.aspx?type=news&id=11948
Conservatives appoint the right-wing, not the right candidates
October 3, 2006
The latest round of patronage appointments speaks volumes about the kind of Canada the Conservative minority government wishes to create, the Liberal Opposition said today.
“The rights of minorities in Canada are fundamental to our common citizenship. Yet the Prime Minister has named Darrel Reid as a key political operator in his administration,” said Liberal Leader Bill Graham. “Mr. Reid, a former Conservative candidate, has compared MPs who voted to protect Canadian citizens who happen to be gay or lesbian against gay crimes as being similar to Adolph Hitler and his bunch.
“These comments do not stop with gays and lesbians. Mr. Reid has also criticized Quebec society, and by saying ‘The rest of Canada, it seems to me, seems to be following Quebec’s example when it comes to marriage, sex habits and so on.’ These comments are hardly reassuring,” Mr. Graham said.
The Liberal Leader slammed Mr. Reid’s appointment as an “affront to our democracy”.
Quebec MP Pablo Rodriguez pointed out that Mr. Reid’s appointment as Chief of Staff to Environment Minister Rona Ambrose must have been based on his ideology, as is completely unqualified to deal with environmental issues.
“It seems that Ms. Ambrose’s Chief of Staff has better things to do than work to achieve the objectives under the Kyoto Protocol,” said Mr. Rodriguez. “If the Environment Minister paid any attention to Quebec, she would know that global warming is a major issue for Quebeckers.”
“Perhaps the Prime Minister chose Darrel Reid as a senior political advisor because it was completely natural -since his Environment Minister was quoted this morning as saying that she really doesn't care about Quebec,” added Mr. Graham.
PEI MP Wayne Easter pointed out that despite the fact that the Conservatives ran on a platform that promised these types of patronage appointments would not occur, they have gone ahead and feverishly stacked political appointments with political friends.
....
The Liberal Opposition shares Canada’s values –not those of the Bush Administration or some radical right wing group. Canada’s progressive values have made our country the envy of the world. That is why, as Liberals, we will continue to defend these values in Parliament today and every day.
The Libranos will do ANYTHING to get back to the trough. I get sick whenever I think of the regieme returning to power.