"I can't fire the leader of the opposition and with all the tapes I have on him, I don't want to"
- Stephen Harper, only about two weeks ago
No, he can't fire the leader of the opposition and the anti-Iggy taped-ads were unsuccessful, but he could, and most likely now have to, fire the Minister of Natural Resources for her tapes. The comments on the tape are completely unprofessional and inappropriate for a minister of the crown and if her mishandling of the isotope crisis and missing documents weren't enough, there is just no way to defend this or pass it off as someone else's fault. If there's one thing all politicians should know in Ottawa it's that you never say anything about anyone behind their back that you aren't prepared to say in person and that you should always have your "public" face on. I'm sure that's a lesson given to Ministers on their first 2 days of training on the job, or even to all MPs receive before they officially start their duties. This notion is not even news to any staffer/employee who works on the Hill. In Ottawa, you don't even enter a restaurant without the knowledge its quite possible what you discuss will be overheard by anyone.
Raitt should have shown better judgment and it's pretty sad to hear her insinuate that a serious health crisis is something "sexy" to help further her own aspirations. She has no one to blame but herself. Canada deserves better leadership on this very important file. And Canada deserves far better leadership than they've gotten on just about every important matter from this government.
The irony is though that Mr. Harper talked about tapes being used to sink his opponent, but in the end, it it seems that it is quite possible that one of his own ministers and her tapes will be assisting in the downfall of him and his government.
Garth Turner, here's lookin' at you kid....
More here, here, here, here, and here
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2 comments:
Raitt's comments were totally insensitive, but I think the real story here is that Michael Ignaiteff decided to prop up the Harper government because he was threatened with retaliation by the CEOs of three major banks from the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.
Good to know where he's getting his marching orders!
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9012061.html
Nice deflection, I see that you have posted that exact comment on other blogs as well. But as John McCallum clearly pointed out in the article you linked to, Raitt's account of that event and its supposed effect on Ignatieff's decisions on the budget is totally implausible.
Nice try to change the story though from what Raitt said about the Minister of Health and how the isotope crisis was something for her to take advantage of for her own aspirations.
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