Break out the popcorn, boys and girls. Things are about to get very fun in Big Daddy’s hermetically-sealed, accountability from thee but never from me alternate universe.
RCMP are searching Conservative party headquarters in Ottawa on Tuesday as part of an Elections Canada investigation into campaign spending. Conservative party spokesman Ryan Sparrow had no comment as he entered the headquarters, where the Mounties were executing a search warrant.
Elections Canada is probing party spending for advertisements during the 2006 parliamentary election campaign. The Conservative Party of Canada, having reached the $18.3-million advertising spending limit set out under the Canada Elections Act, transferred cash to 66 local campaign offices.
The local campaigns sent the money back to national party headquarters to buy local television and radio advertisements for their candidates. Elections Canada says the advertisements produced through the local offices didn't qualify as local spending because they were too similar to national ads. The ads looked exactly the same as the national ads, except for small print or the names of the individual candidates.
Financial agents for at least 35 of those Conservative candidates later asked to be reimbursed for those expenses. Candidates who get 10 per cent of the votes in their riding get a portion of their election expenses returned from Elections Canada. Elections Canada refused, saying the party paid for the ads, not the candidates.
The Conservatives maintain they didn't break any rules.
I’ll just bet they do.
Pay no attention to that brewing scandal behind the curtain. This could get delicious.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is downplaying concerns about an RCMP raid on Conservative party headquarters in Ottawa.
The Mounties executed a search warrant on the Tory offices today at the request of Elections Canada. Officials wouldn't say what the raid was about, but Elections Canada and the Conservative party have been engaged in a legal battle over alleged campaign spending irregularities from the 2006 election.
Harper told the House of Commons that the party remains "confident" in its legal position despite the raid. Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan said the party has co-operated with Elections Canada and he doesn't understand why a search warrant was necessary.
Let's just savour that last line, shall we? Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan said the party has co-operated with Elections Canada and he doesn't understand why a search warrant was necessary.
I just can't understand either, Peter. After all, didn't Big Daddy and his merry band of hypocrites ride into town on their platform of honesty, accountability and transparency? Why I do believe they did. My, my ... the more things change, the more they stay the same.
11 comments:
Of course they maintain they didn't break any rules. They may be nation destroying, morally bankrupt thugs but they're not complete idiots.
Only Presidents and other heads of state can admit to violating the Law and get away with it.
Hmmmm, White Cheddar or Garlic topping? so many choices....
This is going to be fun.
And the barking mad (I can hear the kennels now) pressure to get rid of the head of Elections Canada reboots in three...two...one...
It's not like EC hasn't warned them and warned them and warned them.
So about that stalled committee...
Don't be too enthusiastic; that drives rank-and-file Conservatives insane and like cornered animals, you don't what they're capable of. At the best of times, their behaviour is shocking and mystifying.
I'll wait for the evidence. If we can trust the investigative work (which we can't, necessarily), whatever happens happens. But subverting the electoral process is what this is about (and not about parites spending their own money) and if the Conservatives think that's no big deal, they've got another thing coming.
Given the degradation heaped upon his office earlier, I fully expect the head of EC to be assaulted with vitriol normally reserved for the murderer Bernardo. And it will somehow be connected with the CHRC stuff.
Can anyone tell me what Canada's New Government could have done to the RCMP to deserve this kind of a breach of loyalty, not to mention etiquette?
Not that this could be payback or anything like that.
Does this make me a bad person...?
On the contrary! It makes you funny.
I think we will be able to pop popcorn with the hot air that will be ensuing from the PMO momentarily. lol
Can anyone tell me what Canada's New Government could have done to the RCMP to deserve this kind of a breach of loyalty, not to mention etiquette?
Seer: The search warrant was the Elections Commissioner's action (which is within his mandate) and the RCMP was just carrying it out. This doesn't involve the RCMP. If the Commissioner finds any wrong-doing, he can request that the Public Prosecutor lay charges.
As I wrote at my place (from question period today):
'Peter Van Loan called this an "imaginary scandal". It's not so "imaginary" when you have the RCMP raiding your offices, is it Van Loan? I guess your "imaginary" lawyers will have to defend this "imaginary scandal" in "imaginary" court.'
Cheesecake-flavoured popcorn for me!
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