Wajid Khan

Political Animal 127 Comments

Stephen Harper has just announced that Khan has joined the Conservative caucus.
Showing razor sharp political instincts…
not_defect.jpg
Update… Fierce eyed elfin types are angry, angry, angry! Angry enough to protest a car dealership!
Upperdate … “Wajid Khan Must Resign!” petition hits ground running!
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Upperestdate … AIRBRUSHING AT CBC – After getting it wrong – twice – a followup CBC news item has been “cleansed” of any mention of Stephen Taylor.

127 Replies to “Wajid Khan”

  3. Was it, or was it not, an astute political manoeuver by Stephen Harper to appoint Wajid Khan, an MP from the Mississauga region, as special advisor several months back?
    Hell yeah it was.

  4. Money quotes from Khan:
    “I have noticed that more and more Canadians are excited about joining the Conservative party… I was very pleased when Prime Minister Harper agreed that I should join the Conservative party.”
    “Quite frankly the Liberal party has moved away from people like me.”
    Khan said he informed Liberal Leader Stephane Dion of his decision on Friday.
    “Leadership matters and I believe that the best leader for Canada is the man who now has the job — Prime Minister Harper.”
    Ouch…welcome to the end of your honeymoon, Mr. Dion.

  5. Dion was a fool to state so strongly that Khan wasn’t leaving, and the dissembling “he had that he had “no indication” that Khan would leave and that he planned to meet with Khan to discuss the matter.” (CBC) makes him look like every slimy liberal leader before him.
    Also, “Dion made clear his position that it isn’t appropriate for MPs to accept mandates from the Prime Minister while in the opposition”. Perhaps he should read up on how Winston Churchill managed things in WWII. “accepting mandates” is a great and honourable tradition. Dion seems to be as partisan as Jean Chretien – maybe even worse.
    If he keeps this up we could be going to the polls very soon indeed.

  6. this from cbcpravda–does it make any sense or is it the broken anglais?
    The announcement follows reports that Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion had given Khan an ultimatum either to continue his role as an adviser to the Conservative government on the Middle East and Afghanistan, or give up his seat in the Liberal caucus.

  8. LOL! Mr. Khan was asked about Mr. Dion’s reaction regarding the foreign policy, Mr Khan replied “What foreign policy? My question: Is that from the same policy “book” that he worked from regarding the environment???? I think Mr. Dion’s book is full of empty pages…….

  9. The French citizen and academic who can’t speak English is hard to relate to, and therefore believe in. I imagine a lot of people are starting to realize that fact.
    With his misread on the situation, Dion is beginning to look like a deer caught in the headlights.

  10. ok somebody’s gotta throw in the Star Trek reference – how long before we see a political cartoon of Stephane Dion, striking his best Shatner-esque pose while pumping his fist in the air screaming “Khan!”

  11. Who are Dion and Liberals going to castigate now, Wajhid Khan or Stephen Harper?
    They won’t know where to start. Dion has just bragged that Khan was a “loyal Liberal”.
    Looks like Dion doesn’t have a handle on things in his “Camp” of the Liberals, his “camp being the one with Chretien pulling the strings.
    Sad day when MP’s are not allowed to serve the Country to the best of their ability no matter which party they are elected under. Only in the head of a blocked off Liberal brain would we get this kind of logic.

  12. Several columnists have commented that the dion nomination “decapitated” the LP’s elite leadership of the party.
    Is SD’s bungling and apparent lack of understanding of where Khan stood symptomatic of a party that is very very weak at the top with little or no people to advise SD in place?
    Or worse for SD, are the people who are in place disloyal and interested more in getting rid of him than seeing him elected PM?
    The LP seems very much to still be a house divided into at least two if not more camps.

  13. changing the subject a wee bit, what do you folks think of those ‘bombardion’ commercials running on tv???you know, during hockey games, etc…are they trying to sell aircraft and trains to joe hockey fan????or are they using taxpayer money to create a warm and fuzzy for citoyen dion and his crew of libranos???I smell a librano/family compact rat here…any ideas?

  14. it’s very encouraging to watch all those who so regularily condemn muslims accept khan into their conservative fold.
    i can’t help but wonder where soft ndp support might migrate after layton sells his soul to harper in order to stave off the liberals?
    harper’s ability to attract yet another wealthy upper middle class canadian to his ranks will undoubtedly make him more attractive to average canadians in conservative strongholds like ontario and quĂ©bec.

  15. yo, jeff….we only condemn radical muslims who would force sharia law, etc on us conservative libertarians…as the father of 3 daughters, radical muslims, christians, hindus and scientologists scare the crap out of me…quit being so bigoted dude

  17. Jeff,i’ll worry if Harper starts attracting Quebec advertising execs and turns them into overnight millionaires.

  18. I am replying to the Bombardier commercials. It is funny someone should bring this up as the first time I saw the commercials I said to my fiance that this is wrong. She asked why and I had to explain to her that hundred of millions (if not numerous billions) have been given to this company by joe taxpayer. It is time for these guys to stand ontheir own, especially when it comes to spending money like this on commercials.

  19. Jeff, it’s only the detonating ones that most people mistrust. I did not read anywhere that Mr. khan was part of the Toronto 17.
    It’s quite logical to me that muslims would identify with conservatives.

  20. Garth Turner called in this morning to a local talk show and said that this somehow gives him a position of power in cliffhigher votes. I don’t have the stats, but I’m sure Garth will be pointing it out on his blog in due course.

  21. Actually with the lieberal stand on SameSexMarriage, abortion I could never figure why any Muslim would vote lieberal unless it was considered a payoff for lax immigration laws.

  22. Gee, I bet the formerly stupid, corrupt and ignorant Khan is now an astute, wise and a great Canadian. Funny how quickly vapidly partisan positioning can change…
    It is fascinating to see how completely and utterly hypocritical most of you are as you contort your views to correlate to actions that you have all collectively condemned with vitriol and outrage in the past.
    Again, your “independence” of thought is most amusing.

  23. The bombardier ads should have the tagline “that’s my money!!” which is sort of what these ads are trying to get across.
    Detestable but like Boeing and Martin Marietta (or whatever they are called theses days)ads in the US – two huge defense contractors – who show ads for the same purpose as bombardier this is in a very grey area from a business/government ethics perspective.

  29. did dion just say yesterday that the environment was too important to play partisan politics?
    So either the middle east/afghanistan is NOT important enough or dion was just talking shit about being non-partisan.
    Either way, makes dion look like a fool.

  32. o.k., so what does W. Khan get in the way of a power position? Not likely he crossed the floor just to vote and remain silent.
    If the government needs a special adviser, – it can hire one on a contract basis.
    In six months, this person suddenly “saw the light” after being elected as a Liberal. Give me a break!

  33. Showing razor sharp political instincts.
    Like it or not in our ridiculous political system this guy ran and was voted in as a liberal. He owes it to his voters to sit out the mandate as a liberal, or if he cannot stand the liberals, to sit a an independant.
    Steping down and re-running as a conservative is also not an option. Besides the cost, which I understand true politicians don’t care about, he only controls the stepping down part. He has no control on the election part.
    With Harper excepting him into the party it just makes the CPC look just like ALL the rest.

  34. watchingyou2:
    “It is fascinating to see how completely and utterly hypocritical most of you are as you contort your views to correlate to actions that you have all collectively condemned with vitriol and outrage in the past.”
    Let’s clear this up, (for the last time?) PUHLEEZ.
    Most of “us” weren’t so upset with the idea of floor crossing, but rather with the nature of, and circumstances surrounding, the way that Belinda Stronach chose to cross the floor. Belinda crossed the floor, to directly influence a confidence motion in the HOC, and for a Cab. Min. position, and for increased pay, and for a car and driver. Stronachs crossing was highly unethical. It was one of the most flagrant cases of vote buying in recent memory.
    And for those of you who want to insist that PM Harper lied about his position on floor crossing, please think back to his interview with Peter Mansbridge a few days before the election. He acknowledge that floor crossing was not ideal, (certainly he had been on the short end of the stick) but that he recognized that it was a valuable part of our parlimentary system, and had no plans to restrict its use.
    It’s true that many on the right, (and left) vehemantly oppose floor crossing, and I’m quit certian that these individuals still do, but most of us recognize it as a part of our parlimentary democracy.

  35. Kate:
    Don’t hold your breath waiting for “watchingyou2” to provide a link. Mind you, I don’t blame him/her too much for being bitter. After all, Dion’s bump in the polls was a lot smaller (and a whole lot more transitory) than that enjoyed by even Kim Campbell.

  36. Fun and games….but beware of floor crossers and “independents” they have a habit of leaving you at the wrong time.
    oops, an MP in the GTA…..how did that happen.
    As for SD….he is interim only to keep the French English thing going. Iggy is a happy at this stage….Coderre is unhappy.
    This is fun to watch as the liberals go through the process the CPC went through.
    Liberals are in disarray, and the bloom is off the rose. I heard Iggy on the radio last night and he was saying, this government is about one man and we are about a team.
    Honestly I cannot think of a single successful election campaign that emphasized the team, except in name. The only exception was the infamous JC/PM commercials. I have forgotten why they were needed.
    Elections are always about who will be prime minister, rarely about who is in cabinet. Good luick iggy, it will help your profile but will prevent you from being in government, only one guy gets to show up at the debate.

  38. Stephane Dion is the ideal combination of Stanley Baldwin and Marvin the Martian.
    He’s terribly, terribly hurt.

  39. The Press Conference was very revealing – watch it all at CTV.ca if you can. What we now know about Khan:
    – He fought for Pakistan against India as a fighter pilot in the early 1970s, and was a POW for a time in India.
    – He is a Sunni, not an Ismaili like Jaffer
    – He came to Canada with very little, and grew an automotive empire called Dufferin Mazda
    – He has a great sense of humour (if you ever listened to the Fan 590 in Toronto over the past decade, you’ll know)
    – He has shown great contempt for the radicalizers of Canadian Muslim youth
    – He refuses to blame Israel for the problems of the Islamic world (he was baited in the press conference but wouldn’t bite)
    – He is against same-sex marriage
    – He stressed his love for FREE ENTERPRISE, and essentially accused the Liberal Party of being Socialist
    – He showed great contempt for “Dear Leader” Dion
    – He stayed away from crass identity politics, and complimented the Conservatives for their policies towards immigrants of all kinds.
    If I could ask him one thing, it would be: did the shenanigans of Alghabra, Elmasry et al at the Lib convention have anything to do with your rejection of the party? I would love to hear him expose that outrage.
    My gut says this guy is great – a refreshing change from the Islamic community that generally leaves a sour taste.

  40. No link required. According to most posts on this space and others in the laughingly self-important “tory blogosphere” (oh, and yes the idiotic Liberal and NDipper blogging types are just as pathetic), all Liberals, or “fiberals” and “Lieberals” as your quick-witted members refer to them, are inherently bad, evil and corrupt. This, of course, until they see the light and realize that joining a group of young career partisan politicians is the way to forge real change in our country….
    But boy, you sure are sensitive, aren’t you?

  41. Jack Layton’s head is going to puff up sooo big.
    Can’t you see him looking in the mirror, thinking “Kingmaker Jack”. Barf.

  42. “Jack Layton’s head is going to puff up sooo big.”
    Just like Kinsella’s is shrinking.

  43. “Jack Layton’s head…”
    Why, did someone cross to the NDP?
    /things that never happen and never will.

  44. Garth’s math is a bit flawed Joanne. He used to have power because the government needed his vote. Today his vote is not important.
    Conservatives 125 (now)
    NDP 29
    = 154 out of 308. Speaker of the house breaks the tie by voting for the government (parliamentary tradition)
    The government can again pass motions with the support of any party. They no longer need to worry about the independents.

  46. Watchingyou2 said:
    “No link required. According to most posts on this space and others in the laughingly self-important “tory blogosphere” (oh, and yes the idiotic Liberal and NDipper blogging types are just as pathetic), all Liberals, or “fiberals” and “Lieberals” as your quick-witted members refer to them, are inherently bad, evil and corrupt. This, of course, until they see the light and realize that joining a group of young career partisan politicians is the way to forge real change in our country….”
    In other words, you have no substantiation for your remarks; let me remind you:
    “Gee, I bet the formerly stupid, corrupt and ignorant Khan is now an astute, wise and a great Canadian. Funny how quickly vapidly partisan positioning can change…
    It is fascinating to see how completely and utterly hypocritical most of you are as you contort your views to correlate to actions that you have all collectively condemned with vitriol and outrage in the past.”
    Could you at least provide a plausible link between these ideas? Seems to me you are engaging in black and white thinking – since the Liberal party is corrupt by culture, then it follows that all Liberals must be corrupt. I guess all Italians are criminals too, eh?
    Spare me.
    BTW, where are the pundit’s comments about this defection as an indication of Dion’s leadership in crisis, as was the case when Stronach defected?

  48. “In six months, this person suddenly “saw the light” after being elected as a Liberal. Give me a break!
    Not six months,more like a month and a bit.Seeing Dion win and Chretien back in the loop would be enough to make anyone run.

  50. Do the Lieberals have any rebuttal to Mr Khan’s view that Dion has no foreign policy? Does the Muslim (CAIR or whoever) community have anything to say about Mr Khan, good or bad?
    But why should the MSM care about these issues? I have to listen to the latest update on the pivotal Bedard saga. Oh, I was watching CBC, now they’ve switched to some insightful analysis on what the US is going to do in Iraq. They’ll probably switch to Canadian dignitaries returning from the Ford funeral next.

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