The testimony at the ongoing Gomery Inquiry into the Sponsorship program, in which money was poured into Liberal friendly advertising agencies and possibly rerouted back to party coffers has reportedly heard “devastating testimony” over the past two days.
What it is, no one can say – the testimony is under a court ordered publication ban, on the premise that releasing it could prejudice other criminal trials. But it seems to be damning enough that both the governing Liberals and opposition parties are moving into high gear in preparation for the possible fall of the minority government.
Update – More on the Jean Brault, (former head of the Groupaction) testimony publication ban.
Bloggers are beginning to dig, but it’s uncertain what they can publish in Canada, should they uncover the details. (Perhaps its time to brush up on our “poetry” skills.)
I don’t believe the bans extend to foreign sites, though…
Other sites blogging this story:
Send me yours.
Apropos of nothing… old discussion at Rabble.ca about Miram Bedard’s testimony at the 2004 inquiry.
In her opening remarks, Ms. B�dard stunned the inquiry by saying that she was told by the former head of Via Rail that people at Groupaction Marketing Inc. were involved in drug trafficking.
prompts this flashback to a CTV report from the same year.
A former executive of Groupaction, the advertising firm at the centre of the federal sponsorship scandal, says he received a death threat last week, ahead of his expected testimony next week at a Commons committee hearing.
Alain Richard told CFCF News in Montreal that around 4 a.m. on March 25, he woke up to a ringing doorbell. When he opened the front door, he found a message.
“There was a message on my doorknob, saying if I talk too much, I’m going to die,” he said.
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Canada was a wonderful country….then i grew up i wish those wimps in the east would just smarten up and let someone else into power…ANYBODY!!!! heck even the mariwana party would be better at least our tax dollers would only be raided for munchies and the occasional dime bag
who knows its said that ppl that share joints get along….the pot party could smoke up the dignitaries and even bring about world peace…. naw really though i think we should go fer the lesser of the 3 evils maybe us canadians could vote in the NDP for once the pc’ and LIEbrals(ya i loved that one) have had their turn lets see if easterncanada would really go for a change i know us bible thumping hippies(putting our”western” sterotypeing as one)are really sick of not even having a say, less ridings MORE FREE WILL!!!!! we can only Pray that the east will do the right thing for the rest of this country and at least get those LIEbrals OUT
Candidly I hope there is no election on the horizon for Canada untill the, “people Vs. the Liberal party of Canada” suit is launched, for money laundering, theft, misrepresentation of identity, and a few other white collar crimes that these highly organized and sophisticated syndicates have perpetrated against us. It should not be lost on the canadian public that the Bonnano family of organized crime was consulted and involved in this scheme. I am shaking with rage at the greater potential here than a mere 250,000,000 in sponsorship scandal. Consider this we first caught wind of this outhouse/river of effluent back in the mid nineties, and teflon Jean or should I say “the Teflon Don” shrugged his shoulders gabbled incomprehensibilities till our eyes glased over in utter befuddlement. Then the bastard called an election and like the weakminded stormtroopers controlled by Obi Wan Kenobi Ontario, and Quebec conspired to Give him a majority government. TWICE MORE!!!! In short they damn near got away with it scott free, because Canadians in general, and particularly you bloody centralists, are complicit in your lack of assertion about accountability in your government, and complicit in your lack of action about the corruption you are surely seeing, participating in, or even hearing about second or third hand because ya wouldn’t want your buddy to lose their plum government job.
Oh and as for the BOOB who implied that only white straight Western Canadians, are conservative, well… I find you to be an insular bigoted myopic fool of the very first order, someone who would rather be told what to think than to find out the pertinant factors and their relationships to one another first hand, before compiling a reasoned opinion for yourself. Also I find you to be morally bankrupt, at least in so far as your involvement in politics goes, you sir, or madam “semac” are precisly the reason this corruption goes on in the first place, your tolerance for this bunch of corrupt theives, and probable votes have whored your country to corporate pimps in the form of special interest groups of nearly every kind. Your tacit tolerance of these corrupt theives, has allowed then to create hollow and meaningless govenrment makework projects in the form of things like most of Indian affairs and the gun registry program. Every time I drive past an oil rich reserve like we have a few of here in Alberta, and STILL se the squalor that exists there and STILL see the mansion on the hill that someone in the reserve lives in but may not own, (for you americans this a canadian peculiarity) I can only conclude that the sponsorship scandal is only the tiniest tip of a much bigger iceberg, that we may never see all of. BTW I am an Albertan Canadian, I have never voted for the Liberal Party of Canada. Also yes I am White, and straight, but no I don’t think we should wrap axes in bundles of hickory switches and march on paliament. Yet.
Daryl
Read history, lest you find yourself unwittingly controlled by it’s consequences.
Adscam Information Grows
I expect to have more information today on the Adscam testimony, as well as more background information on why this matters to both Canadians and Americans. That may come later in the day, probably in the early evening. In the…
Canada’s Scandal: The Government vs. The Blogosphere
Explains Canada’s corruption scandal, with reference to newly-revealed testimony, A quick scandal update; The ban, the blogs & the politics; Martin’s logic in investigating his own party; and The Liberals’ high-stakes options right now. Will any of the…
yeah, any easterners that want to make this a fight about anything other than it is, i’ve got some numbers for you to crunch and consider. in the forty year period from 1960-2000 there were 3 provinces that contributed positively to canada’s bottom line. bc contributed 8 billion or so, ontario contributed 27 billion or so, and alberta contributed 170 billion. every other province and territory took money away, including quebec which got its hands on over 200 billion in that same period. thats more than the 3 ‘have’ provinces contributed! not only has quebec taken all the money the rest of canada can make for her, she has forced canada into hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. (read ron schlenkers UofC report). and everytime ontario votes liberal they give us the excuse that the nation has spoken. well, with sars and softwood lumber, now alberta is the only province contributing to canada’s fiscal balance sheet. in the last election i told myself that if ontario had voted all ndp i wouldve shrugged and said, i guess they just don’t agree with alberta’s conservative tendency, but they voted the liberals back in. so, to the easterners reading this blog, feel free to vote however you want in the upcoming elections, but know this; if you vote the liberals back in it shows us that:1) you agree with theft, 2) you are scared sheep taking as verbatim what your cbc and globe and mail’s are telling you as it regards any other party (oh stephen harper you devil in the blue dress), 3) and that you’re generally stupid people. i’m not one for such harsh language but i can find no other word to describe people who constantly bite the hand that FEEDS them, and keeps them WARM. I didn’t quote those numbers to say that alberta is selfish and wants to keep all of its oil money, it just wants to belong to a country that doesn’t take the money we give, to reward thieves with it. and while some of us might want to join the states, i don’t. however, alberta(all on its own) would be one of the most successful countries on the planet, and while ralph says he doesn’t want anything to do with separation, most of us will be left with no choice in the future if the east keeps taking our money to make this country we all belong to, an embarrassment. trust me, the common person in alberta thinks these thoughts regularly. and i ask anyone with an answer to my question to respond. Why should we stay in a country that takes all our money only to make us worse? and i’m not talking about stephen harper here and his views, just try and answer my question on its face. and please don’t give me the historical data that shows that in 1915 the east gave so much money to the west. i hear newfies all the time trying to remember some figure that they gave alberta before we hit our oil money. whatever the number is it doesn’t compare to the apples we’re talking about here. and the principle behind equalization(which i totally disagree with in the first place (b/c it keeps losers, losers)) is also not at issue here. alberta agreed to share its wealth and poverty no matter the circumstances, all i’m asking is to what end? picture yourself in a family where the person making the money keeps having to give it to the violent and agitated older sibling who then spends it on crystal meth. is it wise for alberta to keep helping quebec hurt herself?
If the outcome of the inquirery is as devostating as they say it is, and no doubt it is, will Paul Martin call an election before the results can be published, or will he pull the plug before he himself becomes part of the scandle, proving his testimony to be lies.
Canada’s Scandal: The Government vs. The Blogosphere
Explains Canada’s corruption scandal, with reference to newly-revealed testimony, A quick scandal update; The ban, the blogs & the politics; Martin’s logic in investigating his own party; and The Liberals’ high-stakes options right now. Will any of the…
Canada’s Scandal: The Government vs. The Blogosphere
Explains Canada’s corruption scandal, with reference to newly-revealed testimony, A quick scandal update; The ban, the blogs & the politics; Martin’s logic in investigating his own party; and The Liberals’ high-stakes options right now. Will any of the…
Having finally superceded the publication ban by reading the material online (thank you Bloggers everywhere!), the new information certainly does suggest that the Liberals may find themselves in serious difficulty however Martin may still be able to paint much of the events as a byproduct of Chretien’s governance.
The other aspect of this is that this sounds to me (and believe me, I hate to say it) like the fairly typical party graft (writ a little larger then normal) that seems to be part and parcel of Canadian politics. The Liberals have been comfortably in power for 15 years, mainly due to the collapse and fragmentation of the Conservative opposition, so they have taken full advantage of that fact to pad their party coffers and the pockets of their friends and supporter with contracts and patronage.
Chretien and his pals are past masters of political patronage and hidden kick-backs. Did you ever wonder how someone who spent 40 years in public office (and Canadian public office don’t pay that much…) amassed a personal fortune of millions?
Surprise, surprise, this is nothing new – it dates back to John A MacDonald and the railway. It is also not a Liberal party exclusive activity as there is still court actions winding away on the remains of the Conservative Mulroney government’s legacy with Aerobus contracts etc.
What the situation cries out for is the need for hugely stronger oversight capabilities on party spending, the rewarding of government contracts and the gray areas of campaign finance….and as an added bonus a far more limited usage of publication bans. I understand that the current ban is in place for specific reasons related to criminal trials in Quebec but I strongly suspect that the sanctity of the trial is the least of the reasons for the ban being in place.
Maybe this will be a wake-up call.
Canada’s Liberals Deep in Corruption (sound familiar?)
This really stinks badly! Here’s brief time-line:
Gomery commission commissioned to probe Liberal corruption
Publication ban issued
Blogs: Silenced! Charged!
Captain’s Quarters (one of my favorite blogs) does an extensive write-up. CQ is down rig…
How would a party that has substantially the same values and policies as the Liberals be a viable alternative? It’s only an alternative if it’s different. And it’s only viable if enough people support it. Ergo, there can only be a viable alternative to the Liberals when enough people are willing to consider something different. The lack of a “viable alternative” can’t be blamed on the parties.
Liberals always bring up this “viable alternative” canard. Here’s a tip: if you want Liberal values and policies but with different leaders, change the leadership of the Liberal party. Meanwhile, those of us who don’t support Liberal values and policies would like the chance to express our point of view, thank you very much, even if it means being in opposition.
Well, as an Ontario resident, and probably one of the few living in a conservative electorate both provincially and federally, I have to say to both my western and francophone cousins that there are many of us in Ontario whom are sick of Liberal rule. I consistently vote conservative and know of many that do also. This may be the first election in a very long time where there is only one conservative party to vote for. With the end of vote splitting the end of the Liberals should be a slam dunk in a province that has just been screwed over by their provincial cousins. Excepting in some new Canadian ridings, were the Liberals purchase votes through the idiotic immigration policies of this country, I’m confident the Liberals are finally done.
I think this time the liberals have really pissed in the pickles. As the old adage says, ” never let common sense interfere with good sound Liberal thinking”
Maybe I’m quibbling, but in what way did the last election have more than one conservative party that would not also apply to the next election? I don’t see that vote splitting is going to be much of a factor in the next election, except perhaps for a Liberal-NDP split in some ridings, and perhaps a split in Chuck Cadman’s riding.
Holy crap unreal never thought stuff like this would happen at that level of government, did mister Chretien think he was invincible…. Is this the tip of the ice berg… what else is going to fall out of the tree when it gets shaken??????
Ted, I agree. After posting I realized that I should have said “viable conservative party” as the party was freshly minted from two. What I meant was that there is finally once again only 2 real alternatives in the ROC and I think Ontario is finally done with one of them.
I love these blogs, but more importantly I love these posts from conservatives. Yes the liberals screwed up, yes their will be hell to pay with what they did for this sponsorship scandal. There will probably be an election but at the end of the day Ontario, and the east will vote for the Liberals. Its time the conversative party realize that people East of Manitoba do not share the same values with people on the west so they must change their views/opinions to match this. You conservatives want to win? Well then change your outlook to match the majority of the Canadians, after all that is what a DEMOCRACY is about. The majority rules, as has always been. If the people do not agree with the conservatives than the conservative party has to chance their beliefs, or change their marketing tactics. Governments have always controlled the media. This is the case in the USA which is pro-right but conservatives here are not complaining. Governments influence media and this is a fact of life. That did not stop the old PCs from getting elected many times. You must realize that people cannot be forced to believe in something and this is the fundamental flaw of the right. The old PC party knew this but the new conservatives have seemed to forget this. But if you are suggesting that the beliefs of the minority should be forced on the majority then maybe you sould go live in a dictatorship state. I heard Iran is looking for some new people.
Supplicant of Amnesia
Today’s dose of NIF – News, Interesting & Funny
I am glad that this corruption is being investigated – painful as it is, we need to know – but I am sad that those Canadians in Quebec may feel that they have been in some way further victimized by this situation. Although the politicians are playing their games…. I as a “non-political” Canadian want Quebec to remain a part of Canada – please do not allow the separatists to use this situation to manipulate you into achieving their political agenda – please realize that there are so many of us that sincerely want all people of Quebec to remain a part of Canada for no political reason – but just because we value you and what you are to all of Canada – and we want you to stay…. sincerely
Tedd said that the Conservative Party of Canada is, “greatly out of line with the views of Canadians.”
What views are those? The Liberal suppport of judicial activism resulting in the emasculation of elected Parliamentarians, billion dollar gun registries that don’t work, billions misappropriated in HRDC, alienating Candians to Americans, signing onto the Kyoto Protocol without knowing its true financial devastation, sucking up to a corrupt United Nations, pandering to Power Corporation, Total Group, and BNP Parabas? Why are Paul Demarais and Maurice Strong on the Privy Council of Canada anyway?
Read the following quote. I’m sure most Canadians agree with it whatever their political stripe.
It’s just that Conservatives remind themselves of it more often than do Socialists (Liberals and NDP).
�Just get up off the ground, that’s all I ask.
Get up there with that lady that’s up on top of this Capitol dome and you’ll see the whole parade of what Man’s carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting – fighting so he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed.
There’s no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. Great principles don’t get lost once they come to light. They’re right here; you just have to see them again!�
– Jefferson Smith � Played by Jimmy Stewart in MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
Canadians seem to have forgotten that self reliance, hard work, determination, and vision is what brought us here. The operative word is “principle.” Our proud past has been sullied by the Liberals’ socialist ideology over the past 30 years resulting in official Nanny Statism. Believe me, Tedd, there is an alternative. You just won’t see it.
Canada’s Corruption Scandal Breaks Wide Open
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/004220.phpApril 02, 2005Canada’s Corruption Scandal Breaks Wide OpenA political scandal involving the Public Works Ministry, a government effort called the Sponsorship Program, and allegations of corruption
Dear George Bush,
I am writing to ask you to please liberate our people from an oppressive dictatorship. We are an oil rich nation that has numerous other natural resources that you could also take advantage of.
We have been serving under a corrupt government for more than twelve years. Our government is full of dishonest thieves who have been steeling our money to fund their own agenda. This agenda has lead to the destruction of family values and calls all who oppose them intolerant.
We are not allowed to know the depths of their corruption and could be arrested for telling others of our nation where to find the information that discloses the testimony of one who has shown our government for what it is.
Our military won’t put up much resistance (if any at all) and we don’t have any weapons of mass destruction (however we can make some up if it will further our cause).
Please help up set up a democratic society like you did for Iraq.
Sincerely,
The Canadian Public
Darren wrote:
Up to this point, the Conservatives have felt that it was more important to stand by their beliefs and principles, and try to convince more Canadians to reconsider theirs. Stephen Harper has frequently stressed that very point. That is (within limits) the posture of most parties other than the Liberals. I grant you that shifting priorities to match what the population wants is a good tactic for winning elections. But I prefer to know what someone stands for when I vote for them.
The Liberal strategy of “occupying the center,” which might be paraphrased as, “doing whatever is required to get elected,” leads quite naturally to things like Adscam.
King wrote:
No, I didn’t, and that is not my view. Must have been someone else.
For what it’s worth, I would not utter a statement such as, “X is out of line with the views of Canadians,” because I don’t believe “the views of Canadians” is a singularity.
Uh oh, Darren’s going to get flamed for that… Ontario is full of people who will gladly vote for the Conservative Party. Provincially we’re getting screwed over by McGuinty and realizing that the PCs did a good job with their Common Sense Revolution. As a ‘have’ province we’re getting screwed by the federal system in general, the Liberals specifically. If the Conservatives can quit trying to push a socially conservative agenda, they have a chance at winning real power. If the Conservatives can instead focus on fiscal conservatism, which is an idea that Ontarians will be receptive to, they have a great chance at power. I forget what I was reading a couple weeks ago (probably the National Post – which supports same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization btw), but they pointed the fact out that if the Conservatives can push the fiscal imbalance idea in Ontario, you might see McGuinty actually supporting Harper’s Conservatives, because it would serve his purposes equally well. Ontarians aren’t allergic to conservatism, just a few ill-conceived ideas that certain members of the CPC constantly trumpet. If Belinda Stronach was the leader, they’d probably be in power right now.
My apologies, Tedd – it was posted by Bee and it appeared in your post. I thought it was your quote.
Over to Bee.
I live in B.C. and I vote Conservative.
I vote Conservative because for the most part they have some sound policies and they actually have a want and a plan to make changes to our flawed political system. They may have a number of openly religious members but so do the liberals. The difference is that the Liberals are better at PR and are much friendlier with the media. If the Liberals actually did what they said they would do during their campaigns and weren’t thieving cretans I would probably vote for them. I could never vote for the NDP…I live in a province that has seen what NDP governments lead to(INCREASED poverty and declining economies). I don’t like the idea of the social right dictating to me either but I can’t actually see any evidence that that would be the case with a Conservative government. I am damned sick of the devil I know. Besides if they suck we can always give them the boot later.
Thanks for this excellent blog. Just to show you how interested we Canadians are in what’s going on, in the time it took to read through these posts (and I am not a slow reader) there were 3,089 hits!!!
Keep up the good work, and thanks for informing us Canadians. The word is getting out there, thanks to bloggers.
I’m green and baised. You can’t eat the food, breath the air or go outside anymore. How much of a clue do you need? (more windmills in que, right?)
The liberals are dead in the water due to this (where did the billion dollar figure go?) scandel. They’d have to publically hang cretian to get any votes outta que now.
and the spring (for big bucks) floods go on.
(snerk. the media is pounding the (we’re different) drums on french sepertism already. health care, pot growers, radio popularity) Expect to see LOTS more of that real soon now.)
‘fessing up to healthcare boondoglles in que( while RALPH + his asiain backers (alberta) bought the old hosptials YEARS ago and still can’t use ’em)
meanwhile, there are pactically bus tours to que and it’s private clinics from BC now. They don’t want that disturbed now, do they?
I live in a neighborhood that has a high percentage of que health refugess… 10 years service there, 5 here so they welfare their way onto this system.
look for some real nifty (Patronage) funding of things like the BC olimpic (public) housing, etc.
ottawa will get a new conference center (playground for hookers and the like, typical)
bleah. …
dead, dead dead.
pat
Neil,
That is exactly what I meant. The social conservative is what is killing the Conservatives chances. They need to change these believes to be in line with the rest of Canada to be elected. It is the same reason why Stephen Harper did not win in the last election. The Liberals are screwing up, they are stealing moneny and they will get re-elected because at the end of the day people can’t deal with the social conservative agenda! They rather have criminals in power with the same fundamental beliefs as them then supposedly more responsible people with different beliefs. Right now the conservatives have an opportunity to blow the Liberals out of the water if they would just get off of the social issues and focus on the financial problems of the Liberals. I declare myself to be a liberal voter, if you had not already guessed and even I would vote for a conservative party that did not have the same social agenda, but until then I will vote Liberal.
Marriage and abortion should not the be factors that a party basis its outlook on. Focus on real governmental issues, like just financials and the conservatives will win. But as long as the conservatives have an opinion on this touchy issues the Liberals will continue to point it out.
I know there are alot of intelligent conservatives that would agree with me. Its the more extreme social conservatives that will prevent a conservative government, not the Liberals.
Darren:
Let me put the shoe on the other foot for a moment. If the good people down in Ontario would stop worrying about a couple of nutjobs (as if the Liberals didn’t have any) and vote Conservative, they would easily move the party more to the center on the social issues you’re worried about.
Let’s not forget that there are plenty of Liberal MPs who oppose gay marriage, and there are CPC MPs who support it. The only social issue of any substance on which the CPC and the Liberals differ in any important way is abortion, and there is zero chance that the CPC is going to make a big change there. If you can’t accept a couple of minor shifts of policy (such as a three-day waiting period for abortions), then you’re not serious about changing the government.
It concerns me that people are interested enough to read and post to this blog, but they are not interested enough to actually read what a party’s platform is. It is amazing how rumor, inuendo and things from ancient history can become fact. I am a Gay Conservative who is proud to be a member of the party. It upsets me that the Liberals are still making inroads with the voters by deception and lies (emotionalism). The mere fact that voters still fall for this type of campaigning is astounding. So please read the platforms of all the parties, asess them, and vote for the platform that is most compatible with your political beliefs and your vision of Canada ‘s future.
The present Liberal government’s shameful and deliberate waste of taxpayer’s money is not a new phenomenon. This sort of behaviour has been shown to be a natural step in the death of a mature civilization. Professor Alexander Tyler wrote in Cycle of Democracy, he states in part,
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury…….. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence : From bondage to spiritual faith to great courage ; from courage to liberty ; from liberty to abundance ; from abundance to selfishness ; from selfishness to complacency ; from complacency to apathy ; from apathy to dependence ; from dependence back again into bondage.”
These words were written around 1770. What phase would you think Canada is entering into?
THE (Liberal) PARTY’S OVER BABY, THE (Liberal) PARTY’S OVER …. !!!!!!
say goodnight Pauly, say goodnight ….
Ted, there lots of us in Ontario that don’t worry about a couple nutjobs and see through Liberal propaganda. The problem is that not enough “new Canadian” non english speaking, or french for that matter, immigrants are aware of the issues or the options. Hopefully they are being educated now. Darren, wake up, smell the corruption, and vote the bums out because their stealing your money. Enough said.
This Entry Illegal in Canada
Apparently, the Canadian Government is suffering a Watergate-like controversy explosion, something about the Liberal (party, not perjorative) Government making massive payouts to party-friendly ad agencies and having that money funnelled right back in …
While a lot of people are unfamiliar with where parties stand on many issues it is not inaccurate to say that the Conservatives are the greatest threat to gay marraige. At their recent convention something like 75% of them voted to make support of traditional (straight only) marraige an officail party stance. For most gay or bisexual Canadians it’s a little difficult to vote for a party that does not recognise them as equal citizens. Consevatives have been quick to say that they do not want to sacrifice their socially conservative principles so I cannot understand why they expact social liberals to do so. I vote NDP because I don’t want to reward Liberal party corruption but I could not in good conscience vote Conservative even though I am in favour of their fiscal policy.
In the next Canadian federal election it is inconceivable that anybody could proudly proclaim that they intended to vote for the Liberal Party. That would be tatamount to admitting that you enjoyed being robbed, scammed and lied to.
Of course we know about the long-standing Trudeaupian love affair Morontarians, and particularily Morontorontarians, have with the Lieberal Party. I suppose if in the next election, the Liberal party managed to survive it would have to be courtesy of the voters in Morontario, and perhaps in Fishheadland too. No Pepsi is gonna vote Liberal and admit it because would only invite ridicule.
I guess it all depends on how many loyal civil servants the Lieberals will be able to recruit so they can save their useless nonproductive wastrel jobs. The Canadian Federal government is the largest employer in the land.
Vote Lieberal Stoopid. LOL
Hey! Are we talking about coruption?
This government is the center of the biggest political scandal of the modern history of Canada. Not to mention the CSL and fiscal paradise of the Barbades orchestrated by Paul Martin. Hundreds of billions of dollars not available for services or tax cuts.
It seems we are in a political cul-de-sac. We can not tolerate such corruption. But I agree with Darren, the majority can not accept some reform (euh sorry, conservative) values. With some few changes, the Conservatives would wipe out the whole Canada. Marriage and abortion: Don’t go there…
BTW, this is the point of view of someone who didn’t vote for the Conservatives nor the Liberals.
Reading the above comments I feel that I am not so far from most Canadians. I am a “Qu�b�cois” and I like the rest of Canada, it’s people and it’s landscapes. I would believe that the confederation could work if the powers were not so centralize in Ottawa. And I DON’T UNDERSTAND why every province doesn’t agree for a minimum autority in Ottawa (Foreign affairs, army, trade,…) and the rest of the decision making (and tax perception) to the provinces. Why all this “Ottawa knows best”? Education, Health & Culture are few current examples of Ottawa’s activity in provinces fields of expertise. There is a fiscal imbalance, which benefits only to some megalomaniacs near Ottawa.
Once again, please don’t take Quebec’s ideas like personnal insult! You have more confidence in yourself than that. Myself, I recognize the Canadian nation which, if it is different from the Qu�b�cois nation, is not less admirable with many regards and has the same rights. In fact, more of the Canadians who listened to the debate found Gilles Duceppes quite sympatic and liked his ideas…
For whom it may interest: My ancestor was a shoe-maker and a soldier of the Carignan regiment of the company of Saurel. He came from Toussaint, Rennes, Bretagne in France. The boat of Gilles Couturier arrived at the roads of Quebec on August 15, 1665.
Best regards,
Your old neighbor Yan
P.S.: There is a country that needs to be renewed. What do you think?
DJMcLarty wrote:
I lived in and around Toronto most of my life, and most of my family and many of my friends still live there, so I’m not unacquainted with the political atmosphere. But, so far as I know, none of the people I know there who used to vote PC prior to 1993 have yet voted Reform, CA, or CPC. And not one of them is a “new Canadian.”
It has been pointed out (was it here or another blog?) that Ontario was PC provincially for decades. True, but the Ontario PC were red Tories, at least during all of my life in Ontario, which was the better part of their post-WWII “reign.” That is to say, they supported lots of government and differed only slightly from Liberals in the uses to which they thought government should be put. Mulroney, who is a former Liberal, fit well into that mold and was initially well received in Ontario.
So, from my point of view, there’s little evidence that there’s a strong undercurrent of support for small-government conservatism in Ontario, which is what the Reform and CA promoted, and the CPC may still have some allegiance to. I’m sure there are Ontarians who want their taxes to be lower, but I expect they envision that happening through some magically more “efficient” administration, not by reducing the scope of government in any significant way. That is certainly the point of view that has been expressed to me.
Yannick wrote:
That was precisely the point that the Reform party started out making. Unfortunately, nobody in Quebec was listening, and nobody in Ontario wanted less centralization. So Reform gradually morphed from a party based on reforming Parliament and federalism into a “united right” party. Yannick, you and other Quebecers missed the boat. If you’d supported Reform twelve years ago we might have avoided Adscam and all the rest, and you might now have the kind of federalism you want.
Unfortunately, that ship has sailed.
In EVERY election.the ruddy Liberals, get on Harper like a pit bull, and EVERY newcast, (which all come from the East)is full of Harper is against abortion…and gay marriage..etc etc. and Harper is not campaigning on that at all, but the Liberal Pit Bulls go nuts onhim, and all the good little Liberals believe it. In the last election, 2 hrs. before our voting time here in B.C. was over, the CBC was on the TV crucifying Harper. THAT SHOULD NOT BE ALOUD,AS WE DO HAVE A BAN ON CAMPAIGNING ON THE VOTING DAY. What is going on??The Globe and Mail and CBC are just pundits of the Liberal Party…WHO OF COUSR PAYS THEIR SALARIES. Bea
Bea is not so off base – a few months ago there was a Canadian blogosphere project investigating where the bulk of political donations were going. The results were pretty astonishing. Then, just as the first juicy details made their way to the mainstream, (like charitable organizations giving to the Libranos) Elections Canada pulled down the search function….
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/001266.html
That post will take you to the original material.
That raises another issue – the databases were downloaded and are stored privately now – and searches are not showing up the donations alleged in the Brault testimony at all.
Where did they go? Why aren’t they showing up? Did someone at EC tweak the database, or miss a few entries?
More on that later, possibly.
A chill wind… and you need a lawyer to blog anymore?
I used to plan and participate in things like this. In my last job on active duty – not one of this scope, but close! Fun, in the challenge sense- lose sleep, in the responsibility sense. But that was my…
The news that’s not!
As any blogger knows, there’s huge news in Canada involving a major government scandal. In the words of Nick Packwood. It is beginning to look to me that the Liberal Party of Canada has more to worry about than remaining…
About …prompts this flashback to a CTV report from the same year.
A former executive of Groupaction… says he received a death threat last week…
Alain Richard told CFCF News…
“There was a message on my doorknob, saying if I talk too much, I’m going to die,” he said.
This guy has no credibility, he has been emprisonned for extortion and death threats. He’s a looser and not worth any attention.
http://lcn.canoe.com/infos/faitsdivers/archives/2004/11/20041120-185941.html
sometimes it is truly embarrassing to be Canadian…especially from Ontario…not because of the corruption (that is standard operating procedure)…but with the sheep that keep voting for the Liberals…I lay the blame squarely at their feet for their inability to cut through the dreck the lefty liberal rags feed them on a continuous basis…I vote Conservative…despite what the leftist liberal-niks print and telecast I am not a racist, homophobic red-neck…but rather an over-taxed concerned citizen
sometimes it is truly embarrassing to be Canadian…especially from Ontario…not because of the corruption (that is standard operating procedure)…but with the sheep that keep voting for the Liberals…I lay the blame squarely at their feet for their inability to cut through the dreck the lefty liberal rags feed them on a continuous basis…I vote Conservative…despite what the leftist liberal-niks print and telecast I am not a racist, homophobic red-neck…but rather an over-taxed concerned citizen
Quebec + Mafia = Corruption. I have long believed Quebec was run by the Mafia who control the unions in Quebec among other things. (The main reason I left my french heritage and came to Alberta). I say let’s cut that disease from our society and let them separate. The sad thing is, Quebec is too stupid to realize that they are importing “french” people from Algeria etc. who in turn, have no respect for Canada and revert to the same type of criminal activities. Like cancer the corruption will spread to the rest of Canada and there will be no place for us to hide.
The Liberals have done a masterful job of splitting this country. Divide and conquer is their motto. They have done it with French and English, East and West, Socialism and Comservatism. Two steps forward – one step back. Almost Marxist!
Let’s quit calling each other names. There are more people in the mainstream who agree with Conservative principles than one may think.
Dale
It’s only a fluke of history and geography that Alberta has more money than the rest of Canada. Oil doesn’t make you smarter or wiser, no one has the moral high ground in this country. The funny thing though is that I agree with most of what you say, Quebec is a spoiled kid in this confederation and Ontario does protect it’s interest by voting Liberal. The only way to change things is to convince enough people that change is better. But from where I sit there are not enough votes out west to do it (by yourself). Demographics is your real enemie. And yes you can separate and pretend that everything will be perfect after, but I don’t trust politicians to spread the wealth like you would like. After all how come Alberta with it’s oil rich economy is not the world leader in medical care. Get Harper to do a better job selling the merits of his policy and maybe the west can take its true place in this country.