Transcription of a portion of the “Strategy Session” From MIKE DUFFY LIVE, March 30th, 2007.
Scott Reid is the former Director of Communications for former Prime Minister Paul Martin.
Geoff Norquay was briefly Director of Communications for Stephen Harper when he was Leader of the Opposition. He was also a senior advisor to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
Scott Reid, Liberal Strategist: I’ll tell you why after 13 years of retiring debt, balancing budgets, cutting taxes and investing in healthcare and education we’re not in government any longer is because the RCMP screwed us in the last election Geoff, and you know what? You guys should call, you guys should call an enquiry with real powers, because everyone is starting to wonder what it is this Conservative Government doesn’t want people to know about the RCMP. Something smells bad, something’s being hidden.
Mike, (Duffy) if you really want to know what’s going on, get on your drum as a media person, and ask them to put together a real inquiry-
Geoff Norquay, Conservative Strategist: SCOTT!!
Scott Reid: – with real powers of subpoena Geoff.
Geoff Norquay: Since all of this happened on your watch, I’ll just let all of that pass.
Scott Reid: How come you won’t let an independent inquiry, a judicial inquiry —
Geoff Norquay: —- There’s going to be an inquiry, Scott.
Scott Reid: No there’s not!
Geoff Norquay: There IS going to be an inquiry.
Scott Reid: Huh? You know what, Tim, (forgot it wasn’t Tim Powers he was talking to) it’s not an inquiry- it might as well be a book review. The guy isn’t going to have, whoever the person is, we don’t know, it may be Captain Kangaroo for all we know, will not have powers —-
Geoff Norquay: Oh, right, that’s very respectful Scott.
Scott Reid: — will not have powers of investigation, will not have powers of subpoena, will not have judicial authority. There IS a mechanism for a judicial inquiry, you guys have chosen not to do everything you could to get to the bottom of this, I gotta wonder WHY.
Geoff Norquay: Yeah, well, me too.
Scott Reid: Because there are answers that you don’t want dug-up, my friend.
Geoff Norquay: We weren’t in office Scott, it happened on your watch!
Scott Reid: What is going on with your relationship with the former Commissioner of the RCMP?
Geoff Norquay: WE FIRED HIM!
Scott Reid: Really? I don’t think so, that’s actually not what he says, but, in any event, you guys have not done everything you could to get answers to the tough questions. The first event that Steven Harper did the day after the election was with the Commissioner of the RCMP. Something is OFF. Geoff, you guys could do more, you’redoing less, there’s a reason why, you know it.
Geoff Norquay: That’s beneath contempt, Scott.
Scott Reid: Really?
Mike Duffy, CTV News: That’s got to be the final word; we’re out of time for this segment.
Brian Lemon liveblogged.
Lawrence Martin has a theory;
Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. You take care of my dirty laundry and I’ll take care of … For anyone searching for a theory on how the Mounties could have fallen into such disrepute, try that old survival formula. It’s been around since the beginning of time. It’s the way politics often works.
In the later Chrétien years, when allegations of corruption came to the surface, the prime minister, whether culpable or not, was in a position wherein he could well use a little help from his friends on the force. He was able — so the unproved theory goes — to get it. The Mounties allegedly compromised themselves and bent over backward to protect him; in turn, the Liberals were not about to go raining on any Redcoats’ ugly parade. Oversight fell by the wayside and the Mounties tumbled into further malfeasance, culminating this week with the pension plan mismanagement allegations of cover-ups, cronyism and scandal.
The Chrétien years had their upsides, but the downside featured the Business Development Bank fiasco, the sponsorship scandal, and other controversies related to grants and loans pouring into the prime minister’s Shawinigan riding. When Giuliano Zaccardelli became RCMP commissioner in 2000, many of the alleged misdeeds were coming to light.
SDA Flashback May, 2005: “Habamus Rodentum updates information on the hand that feeds the RCMP headquarters in Montreal and the federal tax centre in Shawinigan. Here’s a teaser – Liberal bagman Joe Morselli’s Buffet Trio, plus secret bank accounts and shredded invoices at the RCMP.”
More thoughts at Newsbeat1, and a reminder about the investigators who were “deep sixed” over the hastily buried Sidewinder report.
UPDATE – Steve Janke has his own theory on what’s behind Reid’s behavior. Check it out.
An independent probe is appropriate and welcome. I think Mr. Day is speaking for a lot of Canadians when he says “We want answers now, we want answers immediately.”
It’s understandable that the Liberals would howl for a full commission of inquiry tout de suite because as we saw with Gomery, commissions of inquiry tend to a) buy the players a lot of time b) dissolve in lawyerly process grotesque, telling nuggets that would otherwise become lightning-rods for justified anger among Canadians.
Nothing turns the proverbial lights off like stretching out a lurid episode into a series of finely-parsed and hard-to-reassemble details.
The Liberals are attempting to give the appearance that they are the ones trying to uncover malfeasance. But if getting to the bottom of it is really their concern, they should rest easy; under this government I’m sure every possible piece of evidence will be carefully excavated, and that the body of it will be presented to the Canadian public in clear terms.
This following riposte on Duffy suggests that some Conservatives who just might just know a thing or two are already chomping at the bit:
Reid: “…you guys have chosen not to do everything you could to get to the bottom of this, I gotta wonder WHY.”
Norquay: “Yeah, well, me too.”
Uh-oh.
No wonder Goodale is pressing for the set election dates bill to come before the House. Wonder why the senate, after months of sitting on it, all of a sudden passed it. Anyone seen anything of the liberal attack ads that are coming out. Thought dion was above that. They will be attack ads, whereas the Conservatives ran Truth Ads, with liberals attacking liberals. Big difference. Liberals thought they were unfair. Guess they should have watched the debates before voting for dion.
It will be interesting to see the parade of butts hauled up for questioning.
No wonder they’re all hollering for the LONG inquiry, they know bloody well what went down under their watch.
No respect for our money. How much have the Libranos cost us for their bloody scandals, known and unknown? Adscam cost us big bucks and some 40 million is still lost.
It is to weep to think Dion can say the Liberals have to get back to power ” as soon as possible”.
God help us if they do, even in the next decade.
Only a desperate idiot would suggest the Conservatives have anything to do with the RCMP scandal when they were not even in power.
Scott Reid has to be wasted most of the time to spout the nonsense he does. Worse, he’s taking people for fools to think he can get away with it.
Hey firebrand! You are either a far braver man then me, or clueless – I can’t figure out which…
“The LPC IS a crimimal cartel…it’s core competency is public theft, fraud, breech of public trust, extortion, criminal conspiracy and rackets…”
While such may be my private opinion regarding certain members of and associated with that party, I am hesitant to tar all with the same brush (although they make it really easy to do so).
Anyone have a solid legal opinion on the intersection of free speech and libel?
Tenebris, I think WLM Redux hit the nail on the head.
And yes, while there were innocents in the Liberal party while the dirty deeds were being done by the criminal miscreants, it is well past the reckoning hour for those ‘innocents’ to wake up and distance themselves from that corrupt organization.
If the type of fraudulent behavior exhibited by the Liberals had occurred in the USA, that organization would have been shut down under anti-racketeering laws. But in Canada, well, hey a few slaps on the wrist, and then back on the hustings again. Like it or not, one is known by the company he keeps. So if the shoe fits, wear it.
No doubt in my mind he is trying to tie the RCMP upcoming scandal to the Conservatives. The first one out the starting gate always has the advantage where public opinion is concerned. Facts coming out later will be ignored.
Canadians usually do not invite themselves into someones livingroom and then promptly insult them. Pathetic. =TG
Hmmm, looks like number 81 was too low. Who knew he would sink lower?
Ignore the incredibly confused troll @ bollocks = everyone.
The saddest part of Canadian politics is that the majority who vote for the Liberal Party will never know that issues like this even exist. Instead of watching Mike Duffy Live or reading a newspaper, the current batch of die-hard Liberal voters tune into Survivor, American Idol and read gossip magazines.
Very frustrating….
Scott should send his 14 year old “friends” home, and follow other “enthusiasts” example by vacationing in Thailand.
No RCMP investigations there.
(F&*king librannos sewage)
“Here’s a tidbit you might not know. As with the EI fund, the Liberals raided the RCMP pension fund as it had a significant surplus. ”
Here’s another tidbit you might not know. Around the same time, the Canadian Forces Pension Fund had a surplus of around 30 billion dollars. Paul Martin as Finance Minister raided that too. Since 2003, serving members have had their pension premiums increased to “ensure long-term stability of the fund”. I’d like to see that one inveswtigated too.
“Here’s a tidbit you might not know. As with the EI fund, the Liberals raided the RCMP pension fund as it had a significant surplus. ”
Here’s another tidbit you might not know. Around the same time, the Canadian Forces Pension Fund had a surplus of around 30 billion dollars. Paul Martin as Finance Minister raided that too. Since 2003, serving members have had their pension premiums increased to “ensure long-term stability of the fund”. I’d like to see that one investigated to see where that money went too.
Actually, I was somewhat mistaken. Here is a fuller explanation of what happened. This was posted on Angry’s website.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2007/13/c7639.html?view=print
Wouldn’t it have been great if someone from the CBC, had dug up all the stuff out there now on the blogs re the RCMP pension fund, and done an expose. Our tax money used for the cdn people. The fact that the msm is quiet has not kept the truth from getting out. If bloggers can find it, why haven’t they. Looks like scandal will show its face again in the next election, whenever it comes. Wonder if Scott Reid will be on Newman, Duff or The Hour in the near or distant future.
I hope Stockwell follows the blogs.
Beware of tomorrow/today, depending on your time zone.
Hey Biff – thanks for the Hat Tip and Kate, once again a link from you is golden. Kate – not off at the Juno’s hanging out with the swells?? (Taliban Jack and Steffi??)
No – though I did consider going in for Dion’s news conference.
Nice thread.
I have to agree with Scott Reid. (I know, it feels really weird.)
If I were a Liberal, then I would choose a public inquiry to look into these allegations. A Public inquiry that compels witnesses to testify essentially grants them immunity from future prosecution. (Evidence gathered this way cannot be used as evidence in a criminal matter.)
This time there better be lots of jail time.
Three weeks ago on Mike Duffy Live, in the “he said/he said” weekly session between Liberal Scott Reid (who has a perpetual Harper hate-on) and Conservative Tim Powers, Reid, in all his increasing inanity, was reduced to drawing a face in lipstick on the thumb-side of his hand a la Senor Wencas.
Two weeks ago, Reid was waving a copy of a document retrieved from a session of dumpster-diving.
This past week, in a fit of intensifying desperation, Scott Reid goes on an out-of-control rant leaving Dipper Anne McGrath and host Mike Duffy dumbfounded and Tory pundit Geoff Norquay in high blood pressure range.
Time for Reid to be hung out to dry.