Federal tax dollars paid the $1,700 deposit on the 2005 wedding reception for Mayor Joe Fontana’s son, The Free Press has learned.And the then-manager of the London facility recalls another cheque issued by the feds appeared several months later to cover the outstanding $18,900 Fontana still owed.
A Public Works Canada cheque stub for $1,700, obtained by The Free Press, bears an invoice number that matches that on the contract signed for the event at the Marconi Club. [...]
At the time of the June 4, 2005, wedding reception for his son, Michael, Fontana was Liberal MP for London North Centre and federal minister of labour and housing.
For old times sake, I guess.
When last heard from, Fontana was bellowing tough about Caterpillar corporation which was closing a plant in London. Fontana and his union pals didn't think they had the right to do that, but should slowly go bankrupt instead. See, he's all about the working class...
Given half a chance Fontana would probably claim that his efforts were "job creation" and not graft.
But, there's just no way you can take the crookedness out of the Liberanos. They're entitled to your money.
Seventeen hundred bucks. The guy couldn't come up with that on his own?
Never fails to amaze me the small time, penny ante stuff these Liberal wise guys finally get busted for, after a whole career dealing with brown bags full of money.
Still no bust in the Gun Registry scam. Two billion bucks, baby. Has to have gone somewheres...
If only RCMP wasn't so pre-occupied with arresting people for possession of toys, they could lay some corruption charges here.
Posted by: 44guy at October 19, 2012 4:09 PM
Bwahahahahhahaha. The RCMP actually do their mandated job,and not help their fellow travelling leftards?? The "44" must refer to your IQ.
See ! The Liberals support traditional marriage...
Why is one not surprised? The Librano$ always considered the public coffers their very own piggy bank, to use in whichever way they wanted.
You know the Spanish expression, "Mi casa es su casa" -- "My house is your house."? The Librano motto is "Su dinero es mi dinero" -- Your money's my money.
Fortunately, not any longer. I hope they're a long time in the wilderness.
Liberals. The gift that keeps on taking.
I get a kick out of the Free Press question '3. Did you ever repay the government the full amount of both cheques? If so, when? Did you include interest?'. Um, if anyone bilked their private sector employer in this fashion even with the sincere intent of repaying them and were caught they would face charges (after the firing). So what's the point of the question?
How much taxpayer money can we save by ordering Super Hornets instead of F-35s?
What's the point of running for political office if you can't take the money?
Being in London and all, his lawyer will plead that he's always been a good boy, and he's been thinking about taking a course at Fanshawe.
Suspended sentence.
Hey, I've got shares in a golf course you might be interested in.
bverwey
Well he didn't want his son to labour, and so provided some wedding housing.
Joe Fontana is going to make the claim that family weddings are part of the labour and housing portfolio.
Of course it is trite to point out that when the first child arrives this is known as LABOUR. Which thus precipitates the need for greater HOUSING.
There, I'm glad we got that all worked out...
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Hey!
Watsamatterfor you?
It's for a good cause, okay!
So lighten up!
Rizwan, we could save over $50 million per unit if we bought MiG-29s instead of Super Hornets.
I wonder what the per unit cost of the Sopwith Camel is? 'Cause, you know, if Snoopy flies it, it must be good.
"Canada and Britain, he said, face “really serious and challenging times when it comes to public trust in government.”“Trust in public officials is really hanging by a thread these days,” Nesbitt-Larking said.
No kidding. And, yes, the CPC has its own crooks. Power and the culture of unchallenged excess in government creates an ideal environment for those with low temptation thresholds, regardless of party. Yet, I suspect our moral and intellectual superiors are more likely to side with David Brooks:
The Follower Problem
"“I don’t know if America has a leadership problem; it certainly has a followership problem,” Brooks laments. “Vast majorities of Americans don’t trust their institutions...We have to relearn the art of following,” (NYT)
via - http://reason.com/archives/2012/06/27/are-americans-not-submissive-enough
The cbc talked a bit about this on Evan's gabfest. But,their on-line site has missed it so far. What a surprise.
Ah, the brown bag boys.
Liberals. The real Elmer Gantry's of the political world. The feedbag of public funds for them, is an unending banquet.
Just becuasr they where voted for. Public servants? Nay. Publicans period.
The Librano motto is "Su dinero es mi dinero" -- Your money's my money.
batb, That really needs to be in French to capture the true Lib mindset. The best I could come up with with my lousy French is "Votre argent est mon argent".
Poor Joe, he has to have time to recollect.
Pardon me, he allegedly wrote a couple of government cheques amounting to over $20 grand for his son's wedding and now he has trouble remembering writing the cheques and from where the money was drawn?
those who aren't smart enough for organized crime turn to politics. A capital "L" (for lieberal or loser) for anyone who couldn't hide 2G payout. Dumb!
I used to be a Liberal supporter when I lived on the East Coast.
Not for a long time since I moved West. It's not who you know, it's what can you do for me.
A distinct difference when the "left" is in charge in a economically "suppressed" area. The lefties in charge like it that way. Prosperity brings less control. Like in Manitoba today.
Al Capone was taken down for tax fraud. It's why Rudy G's New York cleanup worked so well. Those who will do the big stuff don't even think about the little stuff, and it's much easier to put the finger on them for the little stuff.
They don't want more prosperity because it will mean less transfer payments. More transfer payments means public sector union control and more assets to increase their contracts. It is irrelevant what the public need is.
Once again,our national news sources are giving the Liberals a pass.
Nothing on the CBC site.
The Globe and Mail has a video up of Fontana explaining his memory lapse,buried in the video section,no article at all. Though, that is more coverage than the NDP's $344.000 ripoff got.
If a Librano has a pulse, he's stealing from the public.
This all came out because Fontana was stiffing the same club on a bill for another son's wedding.The arrogant fool did not think he should have to pay the taxes on the reception bill.
" Why did you insist you shouldn’t be required to pay the $5,835 mainly for taxes from the June 16, 2012, wedding reception this year at the Marconi Club for your son Ugo Joseph?
http://www.lfpress.com/2012/10/18/you-paid-for-it-but-werent-invited
There is no explanation for lieberalism, but a state of mental retardation. In this world the liberal media has deemed this term offensive, that's because if Wikipedia had a page for Liberalism, it would be defined by mental retardation, and include a great number of the MSM, it's not politically correct for these people to confront reality, monetarily and realistically, but for not much longer. Thank you Steven Harper.
I wonder what the per unit cost of the Sopwith Camel is?
~SDH
I was just about to say the same, then I read yours.
LOL
Why put 4th generation jet fighters up against 5th generation Russian stealth fighters when you can get the same results with grandpappy's old bi-plane scout?
Interesting how the big check showed up a few days into the next fiscal year.
Wonder if what was "purchased" fell in it as well.
.
*
"wallyj says... The cbc talked a bit about this on Evan's gabfest. But,their on-line site has missed it
so far. What a surprise."
i can beat that... ctv showed a video clip of an ndp mp in the house of commons demanding that
stephen harper do something immediately to make this thing right.
like maybe use the dark side of the force... to make liberal hack fontana bend to his will
and cough up the 20 large. that harper is one scary, omnipotent dude.
apparently the ctv braintrust doesn't want to trouble the liberal party, or poor confused mayor
fontana himself, I guess.
*
As a lifelong resident of SW Ontario, I would add a few points for context:
1. London ON ain't as good as it once was, by a long shot. Western University, of which I am a 2X graduate, ain't as good as it once was, either. And, I'd say, Hamilton Health Sciences has probably surpassed London Health Sciences, which is really quite amazing to me, in many ways.
2. Joe Fontana's antics are well known. The London Passport Office was located for many years (if not currently -- I'm not sure) in a, er, building owned by him. Recall that he was MP from 1988 until his retirement in 2006. Convenient, don't you think? Maybe a few other, you know, broadly-related investigations might also be in order, but I digress (even though I am definitely in favour of the appointment of the Grand Inquisitor in this case)...
3. Note the following excerpt from Wikipedia:
"On September 8, 2006, Fontana announced that he would run for Mayor in London against current Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best. On September 20, 2006, Fontana formally resigned his seat in the House of Commons in order to run for Mayor.[2][3] He was unsuccessful, losing badly to Mayor DeCicco-Best. Fontana expressed his discontent for the London Free Press's arguable bias for DeCicco-Best in the weeks prior to the election and stated "There is a benefit in not winning and that is because I am going to cancel my subscription to The London Free Press... I debated The Free Press more than the mayor."
4. Which brings me to this point: that the Freepz, as it's euphemistically known today, is bringing this story out now has got to be disingenuous in the extreme -- this story would almost certainly have been circulating for years and the hearsay (I won't call it evidence, because the Freepz has a pathological problem around the difference between hearsay and evidence) would almost certainly have been in its possession for many, many moons. So, whatever's going on, is not precisely being disclosed completely (sort of a "hidden agenda", don't you think?).
The Freepz is one of the worst "news" organizations anywhere -- to the point that a former political commentator, supposedly, had to be demoted back to the sports desk because he was, allegedly, having, er, conjugal relations with a leftist member of City Council about whom he would then write favourably in his column.
Maybe Pierre Karl Peladeau is proving to be more engaged in the micro-management of the content of his newspapers than poor Conrad Black was accused of being (but never actually, you know, shown to be). I doubt it, and tigers never really change their stripes, do they?.
So, in this case, wait for the corroboration (and nobody, but nobody, wants this thing to be true more than me): if there is any outfit who's motto is "Fake, but Accurate", the Freepz would be it.
Dave
I was thinking the same thing.
The lfp really isn't a local paper as much as a left lib club news letter, that every so often runs a means test on prominent community leaders to see if they are liberal enough.
Joe didn't pass the test I guess, and ever since they've had a bone to pick with him.
Frankly though, when there is a civil war going on in the enemy camp I follow the eternal advise I recieved from this astute lady out in Saskatchewan.
I pray for an asteriod.
Dave
I was thinking the same thing.
The lfp really isn't a local paper as much as a left lib club news letter, that every so often runs a means test on prominent community leaders to see if they are liberal enough.
Joe didn't pass the test I guess, and ever since they've had a bone to pick with him.
Frankly though, when there is a civil war going on in the enemy camp I follow the eternal advise I recieved from this astute lady out in Saskatchewan.
I pray for an asteriod.
Fontana is going to claim that the funds were withdrawn from his federal pension. Trust me on this one.
If anyone from Quebec even comes close to the PMO again, we need to be ready to do whatever it takes to isolate Western Canada from the insanity that will follow.
What always surprises me in these stories is not the grubby use of taxpayer funds for personal use BUT the unpaid bill, or long-delayed payment.
Joseph, 8:35a.m. --
And I hear tell that the "astute lady from Saskatchewan", as you refer to her, is not for turning, either.
it's 2012.