Monday, April 21, 2008

"Purer Than The Driven Snow"

Tons of commentary, but I thought these quotes pretty much sum up what "in and out" ultimately means for the Conservatives:
Ned Franks, professor emeritus of political studies at Queen's University, said he expects the allegations will taint the Conservative brand.

“Really, it's a loss of face issue because the Conservatives campaigned on being purer than the driven snow and then they get brought up in their tracks by Elections Canada who say you've misinterpreted the act,” Mr. Franks said.

“You can't both claim that you are purer than the driven snow, have a lawsuit against Elections Canada, get your offices raided where possibly some incriminating material is found, and appeal to the electorate on consistency and superior moral principles.”
Yellow snow?

I read most of affidavit, and the most striking part is the co-ordination, candidates specifically given instruction from Conservative Party headquarters, on how to move the money back and forth. Interestingly, some candidates smelled a skunk and sought reassurance:
"I had contacted the Conservative Party in Ottawa and was re-assured that this was OK. As a bookkepper I know that sometimes you have to use creative accounting between two small companies, but I found this move was being a little too creative"

Ms. Barbro Soderber York South-Weston candidate.

Another candidate seemed to understand entirely:
"I do seem to recall a wash in and out of our account. I do seem to remember an entry of 6 500 and then it was taken out again. This is what I mean by a wash."

Garreth McDonald Winnipeg-North candidate

The Liberals are floating the idea that this scheme puts the election results into question. Interestingly, NDP MP Pat Martin echoes that sentiment:
"That $1 million frankly could have bought the election," Pat Martin, the NDP ethics critic, said Sunday. "That's a really big advertising buy in a very close, razor-thin difference in a federal election."

So, we can add another footnote to history. Not only did Harper only manage a very fragile minority, despite optimal conditions, a "kick the bum's out" sentiment, a timely RCMP smear on Goodale, but he needed to cheat to do it. I'm impressed.

16 comments:

Oxford County Liberals said...

Steve:

Is the whole warrant/affidavit (all 700 pages of it) posted somewhere online ?

Also.. does it list where the 67 ridings were that participated in this stunt?

Gayle said...

Where did you find the affidavit?

Gayle said...

Great minds...;)

Steve V said...

globe and mail.

Oxford County Liberals said...

not all 700 pages of it tho?

Oxford County Liberals said...

Only 68 pages of the 700 pages are at the G&M, for those wondering.

Steve V said...

Looks like the investigation may have nabbed the first big fish.

Anonymous said...

THE LIST
British Columbia
Burnaby-Douglas, George Drazenovic
Burnaby-New Westminster, Marc Dalton
Cariboo-Prince George, Dick Harris
Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, Troy DeSouza
Kelowna-Lake Country, Ron Cannan
Kootenay-Columbia, Jim Abbott
Nanaimo-Cowichan, Norm Sowden
Okanagan-Coquihalla, Stockwell Day
Okanagan-Shuswap, Colin Mayes
Prince George-Peace River, Jay Hill
Vancouver East, Elizabeth M. Pagtakhan
Vancouver Kingsway, Kanman Wong

Saskatchewan
Cypress Hills-Grasslands, David Anderson
Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, Jeremy Harrison

Manitoba
Winnipeg Centre, Helen Sterzer

Ontario
Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, Ian West
Davenport, Theresa Rodrigues
Kitchener Centre, Steven Cage
London-Fanshawe, Dan Mailer
Parkdale-High Park, Jurij Klufas
Sarnia-Lambton, Patricia Davidson
Scarborough Centre, Roxanne James
Thunder Bay-Rainy River, David Leskowski
Timmins-James Bay, Ken Graham
Toronto Danforth, Kren Clausen
Trinity-Spadina, Sam Goldstein
Vaughan, Richard Majkot
Windsor West, Al Teshuba
York-South Weston, Steve Halicki

Quebec
Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel, Suzanne Courville
Beauce, Maxime Bernier
Beauport-Limoilou, Sylvie Boucher
Bas-Richelieu-Nicolet-Becancour, Marie-Eve Helie-Lambert
Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles, Daniel Petit
Compton-Stanstead, Gary Caldwell
Drummond, Jean-Marie Pineault
Hull-Aylmer, Gilles Poirier
Lac-Saint-Louis, Andrea Paine
Laurentides-Labelle, Jean-Sarge Beauregard
Levis-Bellechasse, Steven Blaney
Lotbiniere-Chutes-de-la-Chaudiere, Jacques Gourde
Louis-Hebert, Luc Harvey
Louis-Saint-Laurent, Josee Verner
Megantic-L'Erable, Christian Paradis
Montmorency-Charlevoix, Yves Laberge
Mount Royal, Neil Martin Drabkin
Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Lachine, Allen F. Mackenzie
Pierrefonds-Dollard, Don Rae
Pontiac, Lawrence Cannon
Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier, Howard M. Bruce
Quebec, Frederik Boisvert
Richmond-Arthabaska, Jean Landry
Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, Ishrat Alam
Shefford, Jean Lambert
Sherbrooke, Marc Nadeau

New Brunswick
Beausejour, Omer Leger
Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe, Charles Doucet

Nova Scotia
Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, Robert A. Campbell
Halifax, Andrew House
Halifax West, Rakesh Khosla

Prince Edward Island
Malpeque, George Noble

Newfoundland and Labrador
Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor, Aaron Hynes
Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte, Cyril Pelley Jr.
Labrador, Joe Goudie
Random-Burin-St. George's, Cynthia Downey

Gayle said...

Hmmm, every province but Alberta. I wonder why...

RuralSandi said...

They don't have to cheat in Alberta - the votes there are a given.

Interesting how many were in Quebec.

Jay Hill, Stockwell Day, Maxime Bernier, Lawrence Cannon!! All have good positions....hmmm....

Anonymous said...

So, I guess this means that the Liberal narrative in the next election will be "The Tories are just as corrupt as we are - so you might as well vote Liberal"

Oxford County Liberals said...

Steve: Thought you might like this "Quote of the Day" that Liz Thompson posted.

"Even though there is a cap on national campaign spending, it is easy and legal to exceed it by transferring expenditures to local campaigns that are not able to spend up to their own legal limits."
Tom Flanagan, Former campaign manager to Stephen Harper. From the book "Harper's Team," 2007

Steve V said...

anon

Exactly how many members of the current Liberals are corrupt exactly? Is Harper on the hook for Mulroney too? I believe CBC, the math might be off but you get the gist, said 17 sitting Con MP's were part of this scheme.

I think part of the reason so many Quebec ridings, they had no chance in them, so they could top off and funnel it back where it was needed.


I saw NDP MP Pat Martin on CTV today (Duffy said "extremely serious", sorry wilson) and it was amazing to him basically say the Cons might have stolen the election. One thing for the Liberals to argue that, quite another for the NDP to say "we may very well have had a Liberal minority".

sassy said...

This from Kady O'Malley

Aaron Wherry goes through the warrant line by line, posting bits and pieces that makes him go "Hmmm"

Möbius said...

Is Harper on the hook for Mulroney too?

Was Harper ever a member of the Mulroney government?

Möbius said...

I ask that, because I could not vote for the PC party until all Mulronyites were long-gone.

OK, so I gave Garth a little longer....