Witnesses on the scene say moving lips ignited the blaze...
After telling reporters that a Liberal government would have sounder and more aggressive economic policies than the Conservative government, McCallum, who arrived at the gathering as a passenger in a VW Jetta, was asked what kind of car he drove.
McCallum stammered for several seconds before responding: “I drive a North American-made car.” Asked to be more specific, he responded: “I drive a General Motors car.” Asked again to be more specific, he said it was “a Chevrolet.”
McCallum phoned The Star about an hour later to retreat from those comments, offering this explanation in a voicemail: “I said the wrong thing without thinking. The fact of the matter is that I do not own a North American-made car.”
He followed with an e-mail sent from his Blackberry that said: “To confirm message I left on your voicemail, to clarify, I do not own a North American made vehicle.”
McCallum never divulged what kind of car he owns.
h/t Orville.
1. He doesn't need to apologize for owning any car he chooses to buy.
2. The fact that he lied so easily, and without apparent cause, is very disturbing.
Brings a whole new image to the term "Lieberals".
The first reaction to a harmless question was to lie? Is this clear evidence that this person does not think before talking, or at least doesn't think honest thoughts. Something along the lines of ..."uh-oh, what do I say now? The truth? No. Um let's see what would sound good?..."
"I said the wrong thing without thinking"....no you didn't. You out and out lied.
Years ago I was in a conversation with Jim Fulton, NDP MP for Skeena (BC). He was ranting on about "buying Canadian" even if it meant we paid more and put overseas suppliers out of business so that they couldn't buy what we could produce efficiently in Canada.
Then he realized he was supposed to be at another meeting somewhere else, so he excused himself and drove off - in a Volvo.
Some things evidently never change.
Why is this a surprise! Say Anything, Do Nothing liberals with the ultimate goal reached, Power.
this kinda reminds me of Ignatieff "I will raise taxes"
Next Day "thats not what i said, Its all Harpers fault.
When a Liberal is asked any question, they only have two immediate thoughts: 1. What answer would reflect most positively on me in the minds of the media and voters? and 2. What is the likelihood that such answer will be discovered to be verifiably false? The truth never enters into it. McCallum stumbled because he answered only after considerting the first question, and not the second. Clearly, the only legitimate blackberry follow-up would be "to clarify, I lied".
He was thinking enough to know that he was put in a corner of hypocrisy. He did what comes naturally to any politician, he lied to escape the situation then later blamed it on what? The old "I misspoke".
The man has been there far too long and he even his lies are getting feeble.
What an absolute asshole, for God's sake didn't he know someone was going to check.
Typical Lie-beral, think you can pull one over on everyone,
Nawww--that can't be--a Liberal telling a lie!! A word of caution. Some VWs are built in N. America, and some Chevys are built in Europe, China etc. It's not that serious. But he should tell the truth.
“I said the wrong thing without thinking."
More like "I said the wrong thing without thinking I would be caught".
It's nice to see the Auto Workers are starting to figure out who their friends are. Too bad it's taken this long for the Windsor paper to start pointing them in the right direction.
And the kind of car he drives is relevant because ???
Not just one lie ... three of them (North American, GM, Chev). Apparently when he stops thinking he doesn't know how to start again.
This is very disturbing like one of the commentors above said. He just screwed himself.
I remember an incident where a director was talking to about 150 employees and one employee asked the director about an incident with another employee who had been terminated. The director did not realize that several employees had seen the interaction with the employee who was terminated. The director lied about the incident and everyone in the audience gasped because they knew the director was lying. The director suddenly realized that he had been caught lying and then tried to reverse his story but it was too late. Everyone knew he was a lier and completely disrespected him from then on. He was later terminated for something else that was dishonest.
If this is John McCallum, it's clearly he said the wrong thing without drinking...
ba da bing!
sorry..."it's clear"
Liberals tend to define reality in the same fashion they define 'right and wrong.'
These things are defined by the individual according to the circumstances of the moment and are subject to change without cause or reason.
Interesting that a North American car was mentioned as the object of focus. He should admit to owning one because after our Obama finishes with General Motors, a GM car won't be available.
This is a first. Never in the history of automobiles has there ever been a man who could not remember the make, model and year of every car he has ever owned as well as those of his dad and all of his buddies, girlfriends and wives.
The guy goes to Windsor, is asked what kind of car he drives. Thinks, where am I, oh, Windsor, what do they want to hear? Right.
"Chevy, been a Chevy man all my life."
Why, oh, why, aside from this site and some others on the web, does no news organization have the guts to confront these guys about their blatant lying? Are there no news organizations in Windsor? This guy just lied to your faces about something that should be very important to you.
I'm not talking about what kind of car this guy drives. I'm talking about the fact that he's trying to make you think he really cares about what's happening to the biggest employer in your city.
What kind of car do you want me to say I'm driving...whata putz.
Glen Pearson, Lieberal MP., with his lying pants on fire.
Reported by the Veracious Lieberal MSM.
"Jean Chretien followed up by making the South African icon [Mandela] an honorary Canadian citizen."
urlm.in/ccsv
Iggy:
I am not now; nor, have I ever been a member of the Lieberal Party of Canada.
STOPIGGY.
Does John McCallum not look like the evil Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) from Star Wars?
Just saying it because a child was the one who pointed it out to me.
Knee-Jerk Lying... if you lie about something so inconsequential as this what happens on the big issues?
I would like to say I am shocked, but I am not the Liberals are lead by someone who choose to leave Canada for most of his adult life (did he pay taxes and vote while he was gone?) Who then returned to save us from ourselves. Plus on top of that he is a lying pompous ass who insults us daily.
Ja aber who vill remember ein Volks-Wagen?
Jetta a little thought for you, one can never be too LIEberal with the truth.
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group "True North"
Posted at BLY;
“McCallum confessed to Toronto Star reporter Allan Thompson that there had been an “embarrassing” incident at an airport check-in counter. When asked about his conduct on that Sunday (3 November), McCallum claimed he had simply enjoyed “a few glasses of wine” while having a quiet dinner with his mother in Toronto. After supper, McCallum’s wife drove him to Pearson International Airport to catch a flight to Ottawa. Air Canada staff advised McCallum he was too inebriated to board the plane.
Officials for Air Canada are refusing to comment on this specific incident; however, frequent flyers will understand that prior to an airline’s barring of a passenger, the individual in question must appear to be so drunk that their behaviour could pose a problem during the flight. Factor in that John McCallum is a federal Cabinet minister, and it is obvious Air Canada staff must have had genuine cause for concern before deciding to withhold his boarding pass.
McCallum admits that the incident was a “wake-up call” to his excessive alcohol consumption. “I would not say that I had a drinking problem, but I would say that on occasion ! have had too much to drink,” the Defence Minister told the Toronto Star.”
The last paragraph is pure Liberal speak, no?
I just don't see what the problem is here. It is not uncommon for children to tell a lie in order to get themselves out of a tight spot.
I'm shocked he didn't go buy a Chevy from another lieberal, have one of his judge buddies he appointed backdate the paperwork and then submit an expense claim for the sale price plus a little left over to wet his beak.
To liberals this guy is "Honest John".
“I would not say that I had a drinking problem, but I would say that on occasion ! have had too much to drink,” the Defence Minister told the Toronto Star.”
Drinking problem is defined as either running out of liquid to consume or missing the interior of one's own mouth with the liquid.
Jack Frosst at April 17, 2009 1:32 PM
"McCallum, who arrived at the gathering 'as a passenger' in a VW Jetta,"
Not necessarily his car, but bad form nevertheless to arrive in a car percieved as competion to the North American auto industry.
As for lying, well that's SOP for Liberals
John McCallum would be lucky to remember where he parked his car, let alone what make or model it was. Good thing he got a ride with someone else in his condition. This Scotch-soaked has-been is such a pathological liar that he even needs to obfuscate the brand of automobile he drives. And folks, somehow the Liberals are ahead in the polls. With neither policy nor direction, Canadians are itching to re-install the federal Liberals once again. What we really need is John McCallum as Minister of Finance, as part of team Liberal which will of course reverse the economic tailspin and heal the planet.
*sigh*
"Canadians are itching to re-install the federal Liberals once again."
Only if you believe the push polls that are designed to try to get the LPoC rank and file to pry open their purses and wallets and financially support their supposed party. By the way, apparently the LPoC are having a bit of trouble trying to get party members to commit to going to their convention in Vancouver.
Now won't that be fun if it's a flop?
I don't blame McCallum too much,he,s just keeping up with a long held Liberal tradition.I would like to know where the media is on this one.I often get these people on my flights,as a result I try to avoid Ottawa flying as much as possible.I could divulge which one of the entitlement crowd is the worst in terms of their downright rudeness,but why bother,SDA readers would easily guess right.What bothers me is the smear job the MSM did on Stockwell Day,because he is by far the nicest most hospitable politician I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.Name them and I've probably had them on one of my flights,Mr. Day is awesome.
Don't we have two problems here? 1) a Liberal liar (the only kind really) 2) a MSM that can't say sh*t when their mouths are full of it.
I'm sure there must some industrious reader here who would be able to determine the type of car he owns and let us all know.
Typical behavior from the Party of Liars and Thieves.
Don't look for any coverage beyond the Windsor Star. It would sound a discordant note amongst all the puff pieces celeberating "Iggy's Big Vision for Canada" and "Liberals Flying High in Polls".
It matters when unions hold a politician's markers, #1. #2, domestic manufacturing prowess is the backbone of any country's military capabilities. While GM, Chrysler and Ford have already proven what they can accomplish during wartime, I don't have the same degree of confidence in that level of engagement from a Honda, M-B or Toyota. Their headquarters are in foreign countries. Where are their priorities?
Lying is second nature to a liberal. He must have been drunk and his conscience kicked in when he corrected himself.
I don't have a problem with a MP driving a car that is most likely: a better value, more reliable, better designed and more enjoyable to drive. Hell I'd prefer all the MP's made smart finical choices in their personal lives.
What I do have a problem is with lying about it out of shear politics. If the people of Windsor are going to boo you for not driving a car you don't like, need or want, well too bad for them. It real shows the level of desperation and panic.
I make choices with my money based on what is best for me and my family. The premium I'm willing to pay to keep some highschool drop out making 60k a year employed in south Ontario is exactly ZERO.
anon...many a car owner from time to time out of necessity require drivers.Think about why he was a passenger in his own car.
You people are all a bunch of hate-y hating haters for being so mean to Mr. McCallum. All he did was LIE, what's wrong with you people?!!! What are you, Christians or something?
This is truly shocking. Imagine wanting to own a North American car. They're masterclasses of poor engineering - bad fuel efficiency, poor pick up, poor handling. This fellow deserves to be hanged for this claim - it suggests he might be open to buying one.
Big news, during a week in which the Governor of Texas began to parrot the Bloc Quebecois. Vive le Quebec Libre. Vive le Texas Libre. Governor Perry is my hero.
A man who claims he can't even get his make of automobile correct, yet supposes he should become Finance Minister. Rich indeed.
he's just another liberal idiot still at the trough. man, we are one stupid group of people.
Certain models of the VW jetta are built in Mexico. But that wouldnt cut it because they arent CAW or UAW built vehicles.
That McCallum admitted his boneheaded error is actually progress, next time he wont lie in the first place
Why am I not surprised?
There are few politicians I view with more disdain! (Well, when I start thinking through the list of Lieberals and Dippers, perhaps not).
An economist, supposedly, who rose thru the ranks to that of Vice President at RBC?? In fact, I wonder how this ninny ever advanced beyond the status of mailroom clerk.
My TV quivers in terror whenever a Liberal is speaking because it seems the think the expletives I hurl at it are directed at it, and not to the lying mug it is showing.
Liar, liar... Thy name is Liberliar.
Remember "Scrap, kill, abolish the GST".
Remember "Crosses are burning as we speak".
The latest Big Lie:
"I drive a Chevrolet".
Next thing you know, the Liberals will make some grandoise promises that'd cost a scary number of billions of dollars we don't have, and never keep the promises if they stole power again. And they'd raise taxes and spend like a drunken Obama on stuff to bribe voters. They'd make the spending by the Tories look like small change. At least the Tories stayed within the means and didn't really want to do a deficit-financed "stimulus" spending spree and were forced into it by the Liberals.
To paraphrase Kathryns' earlier comments "what guy can't remember all the cars they have ever owned specs and all"
It is part of our DNA!
either
He has to turn in his man card
or
He is afflicted with some never previously reported disease.
or
He could be a Lying Liberal which has been previously reported
The Precise correlation between the information he communicated and the facts in so far as they can be determined and demonstrated is such as to cause epistemological problems, of sufficient magnitude as to lay upon the logical and semantic resources of the English language a heavier burden than they can reasonably be expected to bear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8keZbZL2ero
Does this suprise anyone? This is the same putz, while as Minister of National Defence admitted he did not know about the battle of Dieppe or the difference between the battles of Vimy and Vichy. I suppose all he learned from his previous emabarrassments is to lie, lie, lie...
"who rose thru the ranks to that of Vice President at RBC"
I often wondered about that. His job title seemed to be some sort of corporate position where he never got near any money or important decision making.
I remember seeing him at some sort of impromptu press conference when he was in government, I assumed he had the flu because he seemed so confused and out of it. Nope, not quite.
Check the editing* done by MSM for BIGGY. Also, find "posits".
BIGGY says, I am not now; nor, have I ever been a member of the "hated National Energy Program" Party of PET, Lalonde, et al.
BIGGY, the bookish Harvard intellectual, has tomed his tract as "True Patriot Love: Four Generations in Search of Canada.".
BIGGY is still searching for Canada?
"Even a national energy strategy *(Not to be confused with the hated National Energy Program, he stresses)."
>>> Key question: "That key question, Ignatieff posits, is how Canada can maintain "its sovereignty and identity in the vortex of a globalization that is beyond the control of a single empire.""
That key should unlock your wallet$.
You want more? >>> BIGGY says, ""Look, I take myself seriously, but I think Canada fortunately is in wonderful shape and doesn't need any single individual," he says."
...-
" Ignatieff has 'big' vision for Canada
By Joan Bryden,"
(MSM)
It's like Dion during the campaign... at the side of the road just before a campaign stop, he jumps out of the van he's riding in and gets into a hybrid.
Typical Liberal.
This begs the question 'what kind of car does iggy drive and forthat matter what does the harper family own?' The nationality of the vehicle only matters if the owner professes that there is a moral difference between the options.
Which brings me to the most famous case: pat Buchanan ran for president (independent) on an isolationist platform. His chances were utterly destroyed when it was discovered that he owned a Mercedes.
As for the assertion above that every man knows what kind of car he owns/drives none other than the infamous former president of GM roger smith was asked when he was the head of the largest automaker in the world what kind of car he drove he replied "I don't know, some kind of station wagon". I can remember the day I read that in Car And Driver thinking that GM was doomed. and so it is.