Defence Minister Peter MacKay almost ran from a military conference Friday morning as he dodged questions about emails that suggest military personnel were enlisted to help turn the tables on the opposition after revelations MacKay used a search-and-rescue helicopter during a fishing trip in 2010.
The emails show that on Sept. 22, one day after a TV report that MacKay had used a Cormorant helicopter to be taken from a private fishing lodge near Gander, N.L., military officials began searching for instances of opposition members using military aircraft.
This revelation demands an investigation, MacKay has effectively pimped out the military to do opp research on a political rival. In so doing, MacKay has made the Canadian military an arm of the Conservative Party, a simply astounding development. It is no wonder MacKay ran from reporters, because there is no credible way to reconcile this political interference, this behaviour crosses important lines.
No comment from Gen. Walter Natynczyk is simply not good enough, the military should be conducting its own investigation, because ultimately this tarnishes public perception. Is this my Canadian military, or are my tax dollars being abused to further a political party's interests? The military didn't initiate the MacKay story, journalists did, and yet the "counter" seems to be entirely political in scope, people otherwise invested in military matters scanning records looking for DIRT on a Liberal MP. The opposition isn't supposed to be the "enemy" that the military needs to expose, but effectively, here, they've taken a political side, they've become an active player and this represents an incredibly dangerous precedent.
MacKay can't run forever, this story deserves further attention.
18 comments:
This is by far the worst scandal to emerge concerning the "government" and should be profoundly disturbing to everyone in Canada.
Without trying to be hyperbolic, this is a big deal!
This is by far the worst scandal to emerge concerning the "government"
You know, it's hard to pick just one. (Probably the $50 million re-election fund for Tony Clement would be up there.)
This is another thing you could blame on the Conservative culture. They don't know how to deal with criticism, and they have so much hanging on the idea that they are "clean and ethical." Sometimes it's like they're a puffer fish. If you pop them, you find that there's nothing there -- just PR and hot air. So, I could see why they would think they would "need" to do something like this, but it still doesn't make it right.
So, they own the military, they own the police, they own MSM and all because they won the election and a majority government by about 6000 votes during an election in which they violated the election act to suppress turnout in 16 critical ridings.
Wow, simply wow!
In all my years of loathing the state of Canadian politics through the 1993-2004 period of seemingly never-ending Grit governments, those old 'Lieberals' never approached anything even close to this. Makes me look back nostalgically at the good 'ol simple scandals like Shawinigate.
On top of Tony's best impersonation of Adscam in the Muskokas, we've now got Vic's plan to spy on every Canadian over the internet without a warrant. Widespread election fraud in, for certain, 18 ridings and maybe up to 27; with clear links to the Conservatives. And now we find out our military has become an arm of the Conservative party, and the opposition parties are the enemy.
Harper controls the Senate, and soon the Supreme Court. With few exceptions, our media is completely behind the ruling party, and our police are completely behind the ruling party.
Citizens of Canada, we are now officially a banana republic with snowploughs.
And sadly, this will all just blow over in a few months - it always does - and it just gets worse.
A depressing reality.
Why, Steve, aren't you aware of government protocol for questions? They must first be submitted in writing for review and consideration by the Leader's political commissars. Those deemed appropriate will be forwarded to the appropriate personnel for response. Those replies will then be submitted in writing for review and consideration by the Leader's political commissars. Once they are 'crafted' to embrace the Leader's message they will be released as answers.
Seriously though this is only in keeping with Harper's policy of transforming the public service and the armed forces into political agencies of his PMO.
Might I suggest that what would prevent this and the electoral fraud scandals from blowing over would be if the minority of Canadians who care about this stuff (that's us) get loud and in the harpercons' faces regardless of any apathy from the media or the general public.
Make their lives hell and pester Elections Canada to call for an inquiry into this behaviour.
In the meantime, let's treat this harpercon gang like the anti-democratic, fraudulently elected, war criminal, corrupt scum that they are.
Anyone who complains about our being "angry" and of "lowering the tone" of Canadian politics can be safely ignored as either ignorant or a hack.
I'm certain that many members of the military -- top to bottom -- are appalled by this too. They don't take kindly to being used...
thwap, Elections Canada doesn't have much of a budget for investigations - they were stretched thin with in and out. They are investigating and there are real connections, real recordings, companies, invoices, etc for them to look into. I think people pestering Elections Canada when they clearly are investigating will just make it more difficult for them to get to the bottom of this.
What do you hope to accomplish by pestering EC? Maybe pester the RCMP as their budget is not so constrained, but I'm just hoping Elections Canada has enough resources and time to get the truth. That isn't guaranteed.
I think this is headed towards an inquiry.
An inquiry? Really?
Called by whom, exactly?
Get a grip, son.
You think maybe Harper has either the integrity or the courage to call an inquiry into the practices of his own party and/or government?
Who do you think he is? Paul Martin?
Canadian politicians were taught an invaluable lesson by the media at the time of the Gomery Inquiry.
Never again in the history of the country, short as it may be, will a sitting government call an inquiry into something that happened on it's own watch.
Not to mention that Harper has no intention whatever of letting up on the anti-democratic practices. He isn't going to focus any lenses on himself.
There's one office, one person in Canada, who if he's willing to push the envelope a bit, could trigger a serious look into what went on here.
Elections Canada is neutered and mostly a captive, and flat broke, agency. The RCMP are Registered Conservative Mouthy Pricks who would shoot you and I down like dogs if that's what Harper told them he wanted. The LPC and NDP are irrelevant in a majority House.
If David Johnston gives a fuck about democracy he could consult with a few dozen Constitutional types and then take what action he was advised was appropriate.
Don't hold your breath, mind you.
The chance that Harper would appoint someone with a mind of his own or a legitimate democratic bent is slim to none.
I;m waiting to see if Anonymous delivers on its promise/threat to out Vic Toews next Friday. They (or some group posing as Anonymous) have posted a clip on youtube claiming to have the goods on Toews, some scandal they claim is darker than anything we've known about the guy to date.
http://youtu.be/4l7HhsDHsw4
I can see the Conservatives following Ralph Klein's advice on how to deal with controversies: to shoot, shovel, and shut-up.
TofKW:
Yep, but then you know Liberal Tory same old story got us here, thank you Jack Layton and the NDP (yes, this is said very sarcastically, this is not a point I am inclined to be forgiving about for a long time if ever).
Seriously though your comment raises some very important realities about the vast differences in what we had seen from prior governments of both Liberal and PCPC persuasion and what the Harper CPC has shown itself to be. I kept going on about abuse of power scandals being far worse than fiscal scandals since the waning days of Martin as PM not because I was a partisan of Martin or the Libs but because it was (so I thought) a self evident truth/fact. I would MUCH rather have tax dollars stolen from corruption than rights and powers of the citizenry and the basic structures of government (yes, ideally it would be best for no corruption to be there, but since we are talking about human beings the reality is it will never be totally eliminated, the trick is to limit it as much as possible and keep it to the less damaging aspects wherever possible, and by that standard the Libs weren't that bad, especially compared to the new standards the Harper CPC has been setting for the past 6 years now) as the Harper government has shown itself preferring to do.
This latest example with MacKay while sickening is far from surprising, it shows just how the CPC sees the tools of government as being the tools of their party whenever they form the government, they are practicing what they accused the former Liberals of doing which in reality they mostly were not doing such. We are going to be finding out how well our structures of government hold up to such assault on their natures, and my fear is that it will not be a good result, because we had/have so little buffering mechanisms to guard against such abusive governmental policies ironically enough because until now we have tended to elect governments that actually valued good government and the tools it needs to function in a rule of law society (how they defined such might have differed, but the generally agreed that that the needed tools were the same and could not be co-opted as we see the Harper regime doing).
All I can say is thank God for PET, the Constitution and especially the Charter, because that is all the stands in Harper's way these days and all that protects us all from having our rights and freedoms striped away by simple legislative fiat at his whim.
Harper is no Conservative. he is a Neo-Nazi Reformer. His true party is, the Northern Foundation Party, from 1989. They said, the skinheads assisted Harper to organize his shady party.
The first thing a dictator has to do, is control the media for his own propaganda machine. Then they grab control of everything they can get their hands on. Scientists are not permitted to publish their papers, everything must go through Harper first. Harper had Guelph University stormed, to stop the students from voting. They even tried to steal the ballot boxes. Now the Canadian Wheat Board.
Harper absolutely hates the internet. He can't stand all of his dastardly deeds being posted for the world to see. Harper has his secret meetings, behind closed doors now. Then he makes his sneak attacks.
Of course Harper controls the military, all dictators do that. MacKay also spends $1,300 per night on luxury hotel suites. His plane fares were, $3 million dollars. Flaherty also spends $1,300 per night on luxury hotel suites. Meanwhile, he is is busy slashing all of the services, we pay through the nose for.
We are a little fed up, paying their outrageous salary's and gold plated pension too. They make enough money, to pay their own pensions, out of their own pockets. That's what many Canadians have to do. Mind you, we are taxed to death so badly, no-one is able to save much money. Harper needed a $1 billion dollar fake lake? I don't think so. The $50 million for gazebo's should be paid back to the people. Harper's security bill is, a whopping $47 million.
Harper is a control freak. His ranting and raving ministers, remind me of Hitler's henchmen.
So very true Gloria and much much worse I am sure.
What amases me is that his parrot supporters are still siding with him regardless of the voter supressions to get the majority he is selling his soul for. Next thing we hear and when the shit hits the fan might be is doing away with himself like Hitler did.
He has always been a Bush lover and has his little blue book to prove that. As for him supposedly being Christians, that's the biggest farce of all. And still his puppets keep following their cult leader as though he was the second coming of Christ.
I hope EC nails him and his sidekicks to the cross.
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