The three worst months ever for the Harper government for the Conservatives, it was the session from hell.
Here are ten things that wrong for the Tories’ this session.
1. The beginning of the Justin Trudeau era
A Forum Research poll released late last month suggested Justin Trudeau has won the hearts and minds of a lot of Canadians: the pollster predicted that the Trudeau-led Liberals are on their way to a commanding majority government in the next election.
2. Bye bye Penashue
On May 13, Peter Penashue — the former cabinet minister forced to resign after it was learned that he accepted ineligible campaign donations — lost his byelection in Labrador to Liberal Yvonne Jones.
3. Brent Rathgeber and the backbench revolt
A month after rumblings of a backbench revolt, Brent Rathgeber resigned from the Tory caucus after his Conservative colleagues watered down his private member’s bill — Bill C-461 — meant to shine a light on public sector salaries. He didn’t go quietly, however, suggesting that backbenchers in the Tory caucus were a bunch of trained seals.
4. So, where’s that $3.1 billion?
The Conservative Party’s ‘fiscally responsible’ brand took a hit in May when the auditor general’s report slammed the government for losing track of $3.1 billion that was supposed to be earmarked for national security. What no one in government can explain exactly where the money went.
5. Senate shenanigans
The Senate expense scandal continued and intensified during the spring session of Parliament.
The expense claims of Senators Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau — both handpicked by Stephen Harper — are under RCMP investigation, or at least review. Meanwhile Senator Pamela Wallin’s travel expenses are still being audited by Deloitte.
6. Harper says goodbye to a friend (aka former chief of staff Nigel Wright)
During this session of Parliament, Prime Minister Harper was forced to accept the resignation of his right hand man and now former chief of staff Nigel Wright.
Wright’s maleficence was a personal cheque of $90,000 to Senator Mike Duffy so that Duffy could repay his improperly claimed expenses. That transfer of funds is now under investigation by the RCMP.
7. A battle with Elections Canada
At least three Tory MPs were embroiled in very public disputes with Elections Canada during this parliamentary session.
In a letter, Elections Canada advised Speaker Andrew Scheer that MPs Shelly Glover and James Bezan be suspended from Parliament because of their failure to comply with the Elections Act with regard to their 2011 election campaign returns.
Glover has since filed an amended return. Bezan will take his case to court while a House committee will decide his fate in Parliament.
8. Robocall scandal not going away
In late May, in a court action brought forward by the left-leaning Council of Canadians, Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley ruled that the “Conservative Party of Canada or any CPC candidates” were not directly involved in any campaign to mislead voters during the 2011 election campaign.
But — and this is a big but — he also said that “the most likely source of the information used to make the misleading calls was the CIMS database maintained and controlled by the [Conservative Party].”
As Elections Canada continues their investigation into misleading calls in Guelph, this is a story that will certainly dog the Tories in future sessions.
9. Another Conservative rising star becomes a falling star
On Monday, Saulie Zajdel — a former Tory candidate and “regional advisor” for Heritage Minister James Moore — was arrested in Montreal and now faces a cadre of charges linked to the city’s ongoing corruption probe.
By itself, this story doesn’t do any damage to the Conservative’ brand. But put with the other Conservative appointees — Bruce Carson, Arthur Porter and Senators Patrick Brazeau, Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin — it tarnishes the public’s opinion of Stephen Harper’s judgement.
10. MP Eve Adams, her hair, nail appointments and her cell phone
Earlier this month, Tory MP Eve Adams was forced to defend herself over allegations that she broke Elections Canada rules for claiming over $2,777 in “personal expenses” during the 2011 election, on things such visits to hair and nail salons, mouthwash and whitening toothpaste. She embarrassed herself again, this week, when it was learned that she received a $155 traffic citation for talking on her cell phone while driving on Parliament Hill.
MONTREAL — A little more than a year ago, Saulie Zajdel joined Stephen Harper for a happy-hour pub stop in Montreal as perhaps the Conservatives’ best hope to win their first seat in this city in a quarter-century. Today, Zajdel is under arrest. http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/saulie-zajdel-once-the-tories-best-hope-to-finally-win-montreal-seat-arrested-1.1329047#ixzz2WXCOtu59
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty joined brewery manager Colin O’Brien, and supply director Paul Armstrong at the Guinness brew house. http://www.canada.com/Stephen+Harper+Irish+adventures/8532787/story.html
A professing Canadian Christian, of the bad Christian Missionary Alliance church, ( Stephen Harper) lied to us, he next did not keep his promises of full transparency, or full accountability, and even that he would stop the perverse patronage hiring system, deal adequately with a bad lobbying system, and what else? https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/harpers-patronage-hirings-alcoholics/
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Calgary Conservative Convention coming where there will be plenty of booze, balloons, pancake breakfasts, bucking broncs and more bull. That’s all pretty standard fare even for a Christian evangelical Prime Minister. “There is some grumbling about how poorly the Prime Minister’s Office has handled the whole (Sen. Mike) Duffy affair.” On Wednesday, a Nanos Research poll conducted for the CBC found that 72 per cent of Canadians said they were dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied with Stephen Harper’s explanation of what he knew about the $90,000 personal cheque written by the prime minister’s chief of staff to cover Duffy’s inappropriate expenses. Only 27 per cent of those polled were satisfied or somewhat satisfied, which indicates that since 40 per cent of voters cast a ballot for the Tories in May 2011, a large number of Tory partisans are not happy with this whole affair.”
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Liberal MP Ralph Goodale recited a laundry list of PM Stephen Harper.s Conservative government appointees that have gone bad.
The growing list is staggering.
There’s Senators Patrick Brazeau, Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy who are all under investigation and/or review for improperly claimed benefits.
There’s Nigel Wright, the prime minister’s former chief of staff, who gifted Duffy $90,000 — the RCMP is investigating this transfer.
There’s ex-Harper aide Bruce Carson who is currently facing charges of influence peddling.
Dr Arthur Porter was the head of Canada’s spy agency watchdog and is now wanted by Quebec police in relation to the province’s corruption scandals.
There’s former Labrador MP Peter Penashue who was put into cabinet by Harper but forced to resign after it was learned that he accepted ineligible donations during the 2011 election campaign.
And, on Monday, Postmedia News reported that Montreal RCMP are investigating a former Conservative Senate staffer and ex-candidate with a regard to a corruption probe into a “Parliament Hill renovation project.”
and there is more…
Stephen Harper had said his party would be better over the others,, we certainly did not think that mean he would have more bad gals and guys…
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THE BAD senate Senate choices are revolting, Harper handing Liberals more ammunition by his patronage appointment of senators. There are those like me who think the Upper House is nothing more than a high-priced retirement home for political hacks. it will cost hard-pressed Canadian taxpayers a fortune. Each senator makes $134,000 a year, or far, far more than the average person who toils at a real job. But wait that is just the beginning, add on their paid overseas trips, expense accounts, etc. This was more about saving his government supporters than anything else. Harper would have had a lot more credibility if he’d left the positions open and kept pushing for reform. “Harper’s own recent bad appointment of senators indicates clearly still that Harper cannot be trusted to work with the opposition parties as a minority government. Harper had once sold himself to Canadians as a different kind of politician, one who’d refrain from using patronage appointments to the Senate. A man who could be trusted to keep that and other promises.. Instead, Harper has fast become the kind of governing politician he once professed to abhor — one who routinely breaks his word. After insisting he would never appoint people to an un-elected Senate, the prime minister sent a staggering 18 curly-tailed snorters to the Red Room, confirming his election pledges aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Harper talks a good talk when it comes reality he has another side.. the one that shows up in the pub
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Yes Stephen Harper the Prime Minister he too now has showed us all he really was a liar, no better than the rest, and he has continued wrongfully too to hire more of his conservative friends into good government jobs.. so now do rightfully fire him TOO. http://thenonconformer.blogspot.com/2008/01/canadian-citizens-point-of-view.html
https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/prime-minister-stephen-harper-let-me-repeat-myself/
Let us all also be clear about it too, pigging out, living high on the hog, or patronistic hiring practices is clearly an unacceptable abuse, theft of the tax payer s money for certainty, taxpayer’s money were never, never even intended out for this mater. https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/clearly-an-unacceptable-abuse/
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A Liberal alcoholic politician is now just as bad as a Conservative alcoholic politician firstly.. and lies just as much..
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It seems we have too many cheats, thieves, liars, alcoholics, adulterers for cops and for politicians still in Canada. and in the US.. the Obama included.. . for basically there is no such thing as a little bit pregnant, it seems you are basically honest or merely another crook… https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/let-us-all-stop-electing-liars-or-the-alcoholics/
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These days it is too hard to tell the difference between secular persons and the professing Christians . Genuine Born Again Evangelical Christians are total abstainers from smoking, drugs, alcohol, cheating, lying, stealing, tax evasions, pornography, or rather all personal vices, Impairments Alcoholics now are also the bad people but so are the drug users. They trend to cost significant expenditures for the taxpayers as well..
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People in leadership office do have to face higher penalties as an example now too. It is clearly established, accepted fact by most people that those in leadership civil and public servants cops, teachers, ministers, politicians included are always to be exemplary in behavior, conduct and they do need to maintain their high standards even out of their working hours, thus to do so they are also to be exemplary judged, prosecuted for their own wrong doings with a higher standard over those of us ordinary folks. So where is it?
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“Obama smokes too much, and he needs to moderate his alcohol consumption. I know I’m being subjective, but something about Obama’s facial expressions have looked a little off, particularly a tendency to smile or almost smile at inappropriate times. I had thought this was an example of the way liars smile when they think they are getting away with a lie. However, his expressions could also indicate he is being affected by alcohol. At a time when the nation faces significant economic and foreign problems, would any president who wasn’t an alcoholic brag about setting up his own brewery? Obama’s decision to brew his own beer indicates alcohol plays a major role in his life. Working class individuals might brew their own beer because they don’t get a feeling of personal accomplishment from their jobs. Obama is President of the United States. He shouldn’t need to brew his own beer to feel he’s accomplishing anything. A beer summit involving Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge police Sergeant Jim Crowley provides an example of how alcoholics think alcohol is a solution to problems. The beer summit isn’t the only time Obama has invited someone to the White House for a drink. Obama admitted in his autobiography that he drank heavily when he was young and he even took bad drugs.. There’s a strong possibility that Obama is an alcoholic like his father Barack Obama, Sr., and his half brother George Obama. Susceptibility to alcoholism is hereditary. As a nephew of a few alcoholics, I know that the only way alcoholics can avoid the negative affects of alcoholism is to not drink alcohol. Moderate use is not an option for alcoholics. Could alcohol consumption combined with the high altitude explain his poor performance? This is most likely an indication that the O-man is seriously in over his head.Yes unlike his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, who refrained from cracking open a cold one in or out of the White House, Obama has enjoyed many a tasty beverage even since moving into the Executive Mansion On a date night with the first lady in New York at Blue Hill, a West Village eatery, Obama opted for a wine that accompanied the five-course tasting menu, while Michelle sipped on two martinis. On the night he won the presidential election, Obama cracked open a bottle of Graham Beck Brut NV, a sparkling wine from South Africa. And just before he was sworn into office, Obama stopped by one of his favorite Chicago haunts, Topolobampo, and ordered wine pairings with the $90 “celebration” tasting menu. But, restaurant manager Kevin Casey says, Obama and the first lady have a history of ordering up a round of margaritas at the restaurant. “People are losing 5, 10, 20,000 dollars a day in the stock market, and he’s sitting there drinking a beer,” one caller said. “It’s insulting. There’s a lot of people suffering.” Another caller complained, “The president is the president 24 hours a day. I don’t think he should drink on the job.” Obama could be a “high functioning alcoholic” (HFA). They usually don’t give obvious signs of being affected by alcohol and can function without those around them noticing any adverse affects on judgment or behavior. Sandra Rose believes that alcoholism would be consistent with Obama’s narcissist personality. She agrees that a recommendation of moderation wouldn’t be needed if a patient was already drinking in moderation. The fact that those around Obama praise everything he does would reinforce any feelings Obama has that his drinking isn’t adversely affecting him. Their tendency to idolize him would blind them to any indications he had a problem with alcohol” An alcoholic Obama could appear to be functioning normally but still have impaired judgment that would affect decision making. He And what you now here too will your ignorance here too of all this now? the tip of the iceberg of his bad morality too.. A Duke University study lists President Richard Nixon as one of our previous alcoholic presidents. He was forced to resign from office because of poor decisions associated with the Watergate scandal. President Ulysses S.Grant who was an alcoholic is considered to have had one of the most corrupt administrations.
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NOW ABOUT ANY OF THE ALCOHOLICS RIGHTFULLY FIRE THEM FROM THEIR JOBS IMMEDIATELY FIRSTLY, THEN PUT THEM INTO JAIL.. https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/a-professing-christian-prime-minister-of-canada/
do see also
https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/drink-alcohol-and-die/
http://thefocusonthefamily.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/abstainers/
https://thenonconformer.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/harpers-patronage-hirings-alcoholics/
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