A few weeks ago Jasmine MacDonnell, an aide to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, left behind some documents at an Ottawa television bureau. In the storm that followed opposition members howled for Raitt’s resignation, but in the end it was Jasmine MacDonnell who lost her job.
SDA commenter batb noted as an aside that Jasmine MacDonnell happens to the daughter of Ralston MacDonell, a prominent fundraiser for Michael Ignetieff, and made the sound point that “you’d think that if your father is a fundraiser for Michael Ignatieff…you might be MORE careful in the carrying out of your duties as communications secretary for a (Conservative) MP.”
You’d think. But today, there’s a new storm: Steve Maher of the Halifax Chronicle Herald apparently got his hand of a tape on which Raitt can allegedly be heard making unflattering remarks about a cabinet colleague. Seems Jasmine MacDonnell forgot to shut the tape off after an interview, and then subsequently, according to CP’s sources, “left her tape recorder in a House of Commons washroom…”
You have to feel sorry for poor forgetful Jasmine MacDonnell, who is now seeking an injunction to prevent release of the tape.
Baited breath in a banana republic tends to attract fruit flies.
“Let’s make some unflattering comments. But first, turn on the tape machine, because that way, no one will ever find out about it. Also, leave it behind somewhere in the parliament building. Gotcha! ‘test test, is this thing on? Dear life in this national capital………”
And funny how the MSM has been trying to make this out to be some sort of national security or national defence “secret” document but hasn’t been demanding that the journalists involved in this be charged with violating the Security of Information Act and spend the rest of their lives in prison. Shouldn’t that happen to them for being in possession of these “secret” documents and revealing their contents?
jasmine is a great name. Why don’t people name their kids Edna? Because when people hear the word Edna, they think of a fat old white woman in a nursing home somewhere in rural canada, sipping ginger ale and clipping Loblaws coupons.
LIbranos and MSM colluding?
Naw, that’d never happen.
Apples and trees.
Mom knows.
Somebody needs spanking.
Here is reporter Mahar’s affadavit:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/pdfs/affidavit_stephen_mahar.pdf
NOTE: In point #40: Ms. MacDonnell then called me and urged me not to do so (write the story). She suggested I could write the story without saying how I came into possession of the recording. I told her I did not believe I could do that.
She suggested she could give me information that would be more valuable .(!!!!!!???????)
I told her I did not have a choice but to pubolish the information I had. She hinted there would be a lawsuit.
WOW.
The Honourable Lisa Raitt may have been negligent for not firing this press secretary of hers if she has consistently been an incompetent boob but the coincidence of two major faux pas at this time doesn’t pass the sniff test.
On the other hand it does give the media something else to whine about as the Iggy attack ads have run out of indignation.
Career progresses…
Career STOPS!
Ted and T are likely the same person. its a little easier for Ted to drop letters instead of spell out Theodore.
as for jasmine
looky here.
http://www.blackghettobabynames.net/jasmine-jazmin-jasmeen-yasmin/
A number of thoughts:
1. Is she a mole, a political whore or just plain stupid?
2. She’s in the political business, so “slip-ups”, if that is what they are, should be expected to be pounced upon by political enemies.
3. This woman is just following in the Family Compact business. These sh*ts play both sides so they can remain in control.
Vit, are you losing your balls, you used to have a set, I am worried you might be a plant and worse yet a liberal voter. O’Riley has lost his balls and it is getting uglier and uglier, take heed. The world is black and white, only grey if your a stinking lawyer or lieberal.
If this was just two unfortunate instances of brain farts……why do some many of us suspect that this Jasmine person has a wonderful future somewhere in the Librano infrastructure???????
In the fullness of time and an election, it would seem that Quebec voters are more concerned about Arts Grants than that guy’s love life………
Holy smokes, Lorraine. Thanks for that. Again:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/pdfs/affidavit_stephen_mahar.pdf
One thing I found slightly…coincidental…is that the tape, or contents of the tape, which Ralston — a Haligonian like her Liberal-fundraiser father — accidentally left behind in a bathroom in the HOC would up with a reporter at the Halifax Chronicle Herald.
Could very well be coincidence, of course, but the optics of that are…interesting.
Thanks for that data, Lorraine. Based on that, I’d say there’s
nothing exceptional here, other than government as usual.
Vitruvius – do you mean LIBERAL/media politics as usual?
EBD, a small detail: It’s Jasmine MacDonnell we’re discussing, not Jasmine Ralston.
Raltson MacDonnell is Jasmine’s father.
Thanks, Lorraine, for your post. Who would have known? I thought that Mr. MacDonnell was just an LPC fundraiser. Maybe the other stuff goes with the territory.
sasquach: Are you on the same thread as the rest of us?
Tape in the can ? – did Katsmella get a pic of it ?
I mean what I said, Lorraine. Or did you
have a particular counter-example in mind?
Liz J at June 8, 2009 7:39 PM
What is really disturbing, for me, is how the liberals have an always open back-door to the bureaucracy they built; the media outlets they own; the financial institutions – particularly the Toronto Dominion.
This is the Liberal Establishment which must be brought down, just as the Family Compact was finally brought down.
If not accidental, then the perpetrators fear this minister. She won Me Me Me’s riding, so it was red and went blue. There may exist a sentiment of being entitled to this riding.
Why do they fear you Lisa? They can’t take you down cleanly, so they have to stoke up and turn loose their Inner Scumbag. Chin up.
Or, it’s just bumbling being seized upon by the Communications Department, otherwise known as the Canadian “professional” media.
Thanks, batb, that’s no small detail. I notice that Michael Harper never gets his names mixed up, so I should try to do the same.
Reporter Maher’s affidavit —
http://thechronicleherald.ca/pdfs/affidavit_stephen_mahar.pdf
— is, uh, how you say, uh, (insert adjective of your personal choice). It sounds like Jasmine MacDonnell — did I get the name right? — wasn’t concerned about the prospect of the contents of the tape she left behind in the HOC washroom being in, erm, outside hands:
“At no point did Ms. MacDonnell discuss with me the nature of the recordings on the recorder and whether she intended that I keep the contents of the recordings confidential. Ms. MacDonnell never directed me not to listen to the recordings.”
Later Maher recounts an email exchange “in which she made reference to the recorder. I contacted her as a mild rebuke for not alerting me to a government announcement concerning energy policy of particular interest to Atlantic Canada. In her response she refers to the recorder.”
In that email, with the subject line “Re: You totally forgot to let me know about atlantic energy whatsit thingy”, MacDonnell said “I totally did. The announcement came together really quickly. You still have my tape recorder so I say we’re even.” (emph. mine)
Maher: “I had no further contact with Ms. MacDonnell regarding the recorder until June 5, 2009 although we spoke on several occasions after March 28, 2009 on other matters.”
Later, Maher: “By June 3, 2009 Ms. MacDonnell was no longer an employee of the Government of Canada and she had seemingly no intention of ever picking up the recorder from my office. I assumed that she had abandoned it.”
Not really a simple case of forgetfulness, now, is it?
Can’t wait for Don Martin’s next blog/column where he states his belief that Raitt is the victim of a misplaced political witch-hunt, a vile smear campaign, with possible connections to the Liberal Party. Then again…
“You have to feel sorry for poor forgetful Jasmine MacDonnell, who is now seeking an injunction to prevent release of the tape.”
The word “stupid” comes to mind.
Doea anyone wonder HOW Jasmine got her job?
Recall this tape was made in January – before the current isotope shutdown of the aging and neglected by the Liberals Chalk River facility.
I hear on the tape Raitt being aggressive about wanting to find solutions to problems and saying “sexy” means that it is something she can really get involved in to solve.
You want to spin this? How many of you would be absolutely politically correct for five solid hours in a car with your closest aide just chit chatting and with no idea the “trusted” aide was tape recording your candid chats?
And that said aide’s father is facing huge lawsuits over alleged mismanagement of government funds and contracts and that he is also a high level Liberal fund raiser actively working for Ignatieff.
And that this same father seems to have “done VERY well on government contracts over the LIBERAL years and has been battling conservatives over allegations of his mismanagement of contracts since at least 2001.
Do YOU want 5 hours of YOUR candid conversations secretly recorded and then blasted to the media by a person close to you and then dissected by salivating media and pundits who hate you just because you are the wrong political stripe…
Would you pass that test of having used the prefect words at all times ? I know I couldn’t.
Exactly, Lorraine. So why are we discussing it?
Because humans are salacious. It’s just that way.
Now it’s Ontario Libranos and their entitlements….
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/647458
They keep discussing the recorder. No mention of a tape. Did she not realize until now that it was the recorder AND the tape that were missing? or is it a digital recorder that has no tape? Seems to make more sense that she didn’t realize a tape was in it. If she did then she would either be demanding it back or pushing him to use the tape (as the tinfoil hat brigade would have us believe).
Maher’s affidavit says it was a digital recorder.
Let’s just make a note to keep an eye on Jasmine’s career. But you wonder how she got hired by anyone in the CPC in the first place; are they too trusting or do they just not do background checks?
BTW good catch, batb.
It is to laugh.
Vitruvius: “Because humans are salacious. It’s just that way.:
C’mon, Vitruvius. You’re being disingenuous here. We’re talking political hanky panky and intrigue, plus possible illegal activity. Sure, human salaciousness is part of the story, but there’s a lot more to it, because this isn’t a story about private individuals and the stakes are high.
Just saw quite a lengthy interview on CTV News Channel with Maher, lasting about 10 minutes. Toward the end of the interview, Maher is asked by the anchor to tell viewers about what he knows about MacDonnell. He describes pretty much everything in detail about her accept that her father is a fundraiser for Ignatieff. It’ll be interesting to see if MSM mentions this fact to allow Canadians to interpret what that means on their own. Certainly, if the shoe was on the other foot, had she been an aide to a Liberal minister had that party been in gov’t today, and her father was a fundraiser for Opposition leader Harper, without any doubt it would be mentioned.
Well, you can put your tin foil hats back in the cupboard.
Surely, even the conspiracy theorists here are not so far out in space as to think that McDonnell has plotted out all these machinations only to reveal that Raitt thinks the isotopes crisis is sexy and is a self-centred ambitious ladder climber who likes to put down other Conservative women MPs.
All that build-up and that’s all it was about?
I have no idea how the Liberals can lose to this tin foil hat brigade.
Female reporter passed on the tape found in a HoC womens’ loo to a Halifax Chronicle reporter…
Mystery solved: Special K now wears a kilt & wig to gain entrance to womens’ washrooms to spot graffiti of swastikas on walls. He must have found the recorder while smelling a toilet seat. No other logical possibility exists.
Thanks, Black Mamba. I couldn’t believe that the details about Jasmine MacDonnell’s family’s political/fundraising affiliations were furnished by the TorStar in a lead article on Saturday. I realized that were the shoe on the other foot — if a press secretary of a Liberal cabinet minister whose parent was a major fundraiser for PMSH, had made such a brazen faux pas — the media would be all over it.
At least we’re getting a good kick at the can here (thanks, EBD), even though our intrepid investigative journalists seem to be giving it a pass.
BTW, EBD, what’s “Lost on the trail pt 1” about?
One thing for sure … any whiff of some tool working with the MSM to smear a Conservative will have ol’ Ted the helldog baying away.
The stakes are high? The stakes are high? Baloney.
Operating nuclear reactors, the stakes are high.
The stakes are only high here if you’re trying to
direct a new episode of Yes Prime Minister Harper.
So far.
batb – You caught something fishy (sorry, sorry). Poor Jasmine is useless either as a mole or an aide, take your pick, I think the former; incompetence on all sides, really.
Vitruvius: “The stakes are high? The stakes are high? Baloney.”
Okay, so the stakes aren’t high.
Who the Hell cares whether Iggy becomes PM? Who the Hell cares about dirty tricks? Who the Hell cares if the salivating dogs in the Librano Party take over? Who the Hell cares if a Librano pup topples a Conservative Minister? Who the Hell cares if our MSM is as corrupt and partisan as they come?
Business as usual, eh?
G*D’S TEETH!!
Vit: “Maybe she passed the Port the wrong way.”
Quite. If I understand correctly, Ms. Raitt has no acquaintance with the Bishop of Norfolk.
It reminds me of watching how many time Elmer Fudd had his gun blow up in his face hunting the wascally wabbit…or Marvin the Martian…or Wiley Coyote. As the errors pile up it’s becoming more comical. Time to end the drama before it becomes more of a joke.
Batb: Part 1 was the documents MacDonnell left behind at a CTV bureau in Ottawa. Part 2 is the recording device MacDonnell forgot to shut off and then left behind in a HOC bathroom. Could have titled it “Part 1 and 2”, I suppose.
BTW, it’s top story on The National tonight — Susan Bonner, of course. They play the contents of the recording and provide helpful titling. Ends with words from the anchor to the effect of “Well, I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more of THIS one…”
It’s almost shockingly mild stuff, what’s on the recording — quotidian insider chatter — albeit it will be portrayed as scandalous by the usual broken-record suspects.
I like Tim Powers’ take (in the G&M): “…of course, Ottawa has never seen one politician in the same party chastise a teammate. No, that never happens in a private moment. Bob Rae an Iggy were always bosom buddies, weren’t they? Chretien-Martin, all a bad dream, right?”
Quite, KevinB, still, as we have not yet heard the
recording, we must not forget that it is possible
that she has an acquaintance with Sir Humphrey,
in the case of the Bishop’s Gambit.
Ah, found it: The Bishop’s Gambit.
EBD, also notice how Mark Kelly, the Mansbridge fill-in, and Bonner were smiling with glee while discussing Raitt’s troubles. Liberal shills. Quite a contrast to Bonner’s sullen demeanor and pale, defeated expression when lending her sympathies to a Manitoba Liberal candidate who was embroiled in her own controversy over remarks she had made.
“Overtop of an opening shot of a stricken Hughes on the street reading the bad news, Bonner began, in that peculiarly resentful tone of hers suggestive of an aggrieved divorcee arriving at her ex’s front door to pick up her stuff, “Here’s how Lesley Hughes found out she’d been dumped as a Liberal candidate in Manitoba.” Hughes: “It’s stunning.” Unidentified, sympathetic woman with microphone: “Did anyone CALL?” Hughes: “No. I’ve been working all morning…”
After dispensing with the obligatory background — “Hughes’ trouble began when an old internet posting of hers about 9/11 surfaced. She wrote that Israelis were warned to get out of the twin towers before the attack. Hughes denied the comments were in any way anti-semitic, and apologized if they left that impression” — Bonner got back to the real story: it’s all so unfair. Hughes again, on the street: “So…incredibly unjust. Incredibly unjust…”
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/009654.html
I did notice, mark. Thing is, Bonner’s been — inconceivably — tapped as a possible replacement for Don Newman Brooooaadcast, so tonight she was trying way harder to fake a balanced, neutral mien.
Since Paul Hunter seems to have disappeared from the screen Bonner’s been the go-to reporter for Conservative attack stories. I’ve always found it amazing that a professional reporter could actually get away with sneering bitterly, when reporting on a particular party, like she’s disgusted that they’re even around.
I saw Bonner at work when Stephen Harper spoke in town, and she was — seriously — pouting. While Mr. Harper was speaking she sat on the back of the riser that the cameras were on, and dug through her little purse, and didn’t listen to the speech or observe the crowd, and just generally looked put-upon. Shocking, almost.
I remember thinking that there is absolutely no chance that she would be behaving that way at, say, some Liberal’s speech in Toronto.
But I digress…
This Jasmine person is 26 years old (seems to be established last week), she is or was a professional executive assistant to a political minister. Such a person knows how to operate a tape recorder, even I can run one and I’m 65.
There is no possibility that she inadvertantly taped her boss, in a car?
It is not credible that she “forgot” the machine in a washroom in Ottawa and it somehow showed up in Halifax. Other blogs report that Scott Reid blurted out that Jasmine gave the tape to the Chronicle (CBC Newsworld Don Newman)
It’s pretty obvious to me: Liberals hate it that the Conservatives “took down” their star girl so they do everything they can to take down one of ours.
The Bollywood Babe gets taken down because of her own actions and the Conservative gets fried by her assistant with Liberal ties, yet we know which will have more media legs, don’t we?
EBD – maybe it’s just me, but I kinda LIKE that the bias is so explicit. Makes it easier to point and mock.