Apparently the brains at Conservative HQ think the best response is to hit the panic button and appear absolutely terrified of having to speak about the In and Out Scandal in public anymore. No longer able to defend themselves, it’s time to hide, obstruct, and distract – really makes it appear like they've done nothing wrong. Originally the Conservatives clung to their conspiracy theories in hopes they would hold water. But at the first hearings in July everything went to pieces (live-blogging of those hearings by Kady O’Malley can be found here: Round 1 - Day 1, Part 1, Round 1 - Day 1, Part 2, Round 1 - Day 1, Part 2, Round 1 - Day 2, Part 2, and the scandal refresher here).
Everybody does it? No no one else has in the last two elections since the current elections laws were put in place.
There was a leak from Elections Canada to the CBC and the Liberals on the day of the raid? No, they were there for 2.5 hours before anyone else showed up.
The Conservatives did nothing out of the ordinary? No they were the only party that exceeded the national spending limit and had the national campaign meddle in local ridings to this extent.
So while we heard then of many of the shady practices and why the Conservatives were set to lose their legal case we had yet to hear from many of the Conservative party officials directly involved in this scandal. So they were called in this week. Best coverage again goes to Kady O’Malley (see here: Round 2 - Day 1, Part 1, Round 2 - Day 1, Part 2, Round 2 - Day 2, Part 1, Round 2 - Day 2, Part 2, Round 2 - Day 3, Part 1, Round 2 - Day 3, Part 2, Round 2 - Day 3, Part 3). So we’ve seen Doug Finley throw a tantrum and have to be escorted out in a desperate attempt to take the story away from the hearings and very troubling allegations that there has been intimidation of witnesses not to appear at hearings for which they have been summoned. Only 3 of 26 summoned have appeared and Conservatives claim there’s no reason to be suspicious?
We can see why they don’t want them to appear. With the latest hearings we heard from candidates and ad executives who said they had serious questions about the legality of what the Conservatives were doing and said that Conservatives were blatantly telling local candidates to give their local campaign money over to the national campaign and it was “none of their business” what it was for and they didn’t care if the local campaign benefited.
So with the Conservative party running scared on this issue perhaps the media should start paying more attention to the seriousness of the allegations here. Only more shady practices are coming to light and it's about time the public starts hearing more about them so they can know just how "accountable" this government is and how much respect they have for our institutions.
For those voters in St. Lambert, Guelph and Westmount Ville-Marie who want a government that will actually respect our democratic institutions instead of undermine them at every turn there’s a clear chance to send a message that you support our institutions that are revered across the world (and only hated in Conservative circles) – Vote Liberal on September 8th and put Harper on notice.
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5 comments:
I think the media is coming around, though it's been a slow, long journey.
You've seen this I presume.
They aren't doing themselves any favours.
This has been so slow for news on the TV. There are many things the Cons are doing, that would shock ones socks off, but no one says anything..only about Harper after Dion and the scandal that 2 Liberals are not going to run, next election.. never heard that there are a couple of Cons not running. It is all about Harper Harper , Harper and all good news!!!!!
You do know the whole committee hearing process is a partisan dog and pony show, right? You don't HONESTLY believe that Paul Szabo and others on the committee want to get to the bottom of things, do you?
The committee hearings matter to only one group of people in Canada: partisans. The rest of us great unwashed are far more interested in why the economy is tanking and how we're going to afford to heat our houses this winter. Those two issues trump anything this or any other committee of partisan politicians and their cronies have to offer.
Just wondering if you are now going to edit your post in regards to testimony from EC's Mayrand before the committee?
The part where he disclosed MP's of Lib's, NDP, and the Bloc currently are having their expenses reviewed, after Conservative MP Goodyear asked why other parties similar transfers were not being reviewed. You can see the video at Stephen Taylor's blog.
Guees you now know why they refused to let Conservative's call Lib and Dipper witnesses.
Stephen Taylor's post doesn't mention Liberal candidates paulsstuff, but even if it did it wouldn't matter because as Kady O'Malley noted there is a big difference betweenn being under review and being under investigation. EVERYONE's income tax returns go under review but to say you were being investigated by CRA implies they see a serious problem with your return. Stephen Taylor doesn't point to any non-Conservative candidates under investigation, only those under review and that is an important distinction as much as you like to pretend otherwise.
If we're going to talk about Maryand said he made it quite clear that no other party engaged in what the Conservatives are accused of re: In and Out and going over the national spending limits.
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