Bernier Resigns

[Shakeyhands]

Unprecedented? Didn't the last acting Liberal prime minster used to take documents with him when he went to visit male prostitutes?

wow.... and you still aren't banned.

[jdobbin]

Didn't the last acting Liberal prime minster used to take documents with him when he went to visit male prostitutes?

Do you still have those documents?

[Argus]

wow.... and you still aren't banned.

I don't believe your permanent state of self-righteousness can get people banned.

There were a lot of stories about Bill Graham's exploits when he was in Ottawa, and no one seems to have put much effort into denial, except the one about the underage boy prostitute whose rent he was alleged to have been paying. Even that one didn't draw a lawsuit against the magazine which published the allegation.

Edited May 28, 2008 by Argus

[madmax]

10% margins a nailbiter?

He is a weak CPC representative. Certainly not Cabinet Material. I didn't know there was vote splitting in the riding (infact, that shows him as being even more ineffectual). In Helenas riding their is no vote splitting in a Province that has been heavily dominated by Liberals during the last 15 years, and she CRUSHED her Liberal Opponent.

He is holding the riding on 2 factors. The incumbent effect is marginal, compared to the Party effect. He is the weak link, just like he would be the weak link in a Cabinet Position.

I wouldn't want him replacing the disgraced Bernier. Don't switch one weakness for another.

Why would we want one embarrassment replaced by another?

Edited May 28, 2008 by madmax

[madmax]

I don't believe your permanent state of self-righteousness can get people banned.

that shouldn't get one banned.

There were a lot of stories about .....

Bernier has Resigned.

Do you think he should still be the Cabinet Minister?

Do you think he shouldn't have resigned?

[Topaz]

The press is saying Bernier is spending time with his two kids, which I didn't know he had, too personal I suppose. Van Loan keeping saying the opposition parties are still asking too personal questions about the two, but its was Bernier's personal life that got him into this trouble when he left the documents at her place when he shouldn't have taken them there!!

[HisSelf]

.. OWNS a SECURITY COMPANY, seeking contracts with Airports.

Can you substantiate this? Sounds like we might be getting into James Bond territory here LOL.

[madmax]

Can you substantiate this? Sounds like we might be getting into James Bond territory here LOL.

Can I substantiate this? Are you kidding?

To support with proof or evidence; verify: substantiate an accusation. See Synonyms at confirm.

2.

a. To give material form to; embody.

b. To make firm or solid.

3. To give substance to; make real or actual

The information is coming from the media reports, and from her live interview.

This thing gets stranger with each passing day.

I like the James Bond reference.

The foreign minister, Maxime Bernier, resigned Monday after leaving the documents at the home of Julie Couillard, who has generated controversy for past ties to members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Quebec. Harper called Bernier's security breach a "serious error."

Biker gangs have long gained attention in the French-speaking province and have been accused of trying to extend their influence to the government and the courts.

Maybe this is what you are seeking.

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/stor...9122af6&p=2

Couillard also said experts examined her home and determined it was under surveillance and the activities within the four walls were being tape-recorded. She said she had her home checked after her burglar alarm behaved oddly, and she was told a microphone had been placed in the box spring of her bed.

"They didn't find any tape-recorder but they found places where a microphone had been in the box spring of my bed," she said, recounting how electronic eavesdropping experts had shown her the staple marks and the tear left in her box spring.

The allegation, if true, is bound to raise profound questions, including: Was her residence bugged before or after her association with Bernier became known? Who placed the surveillance device?

Canada.com, Canada - 21 hours ago

... revealed that Bernier's ex-girlfriend was part of a bid for an airport security contract a few years after she had been married to a member of a biker gang.

And

The Parti Quebecois says the Quebec government granted a prisoner-escort contract to a security company run by a man with a criminal record who was once the boyfriend of Julie Couillard.

Sylvain Simard, a Parti Quebecois member of the legislature, says the $166,000 contract was granted last year to the firm D.R.P. Investigation and Security Agency.

The company was owned by Couillard's ex-boyfriend, Robert Pepin, who once pleaded guilty to trafficking stolen goods and reportedly owed money to a Hells Angels loanshark when he committed suicide last year.

Newspaper reports have said Couillard played an active role in Pepin's company during other attempts to obtain airport security contracts.

Pepin was the third man with a shady past linked to Couillard.

And of course the suicides....

Concerns are being raised about the awarding of contracts by the Public Security Ministry, following revelations a contract for escorting prisoners was awarded to a firm with ties to biker gangs.

During question period, Parti Quebecois Treasury Board Critic Sylvain Simard produced budget expenditure documents revealing Agence d'Investigation et Securite D.R.P. Inc received a $166,655 contract in of February 2007 to escort prisoners to and from doctors appointments.

The company was owned by Robert Pepin who had ties to biker gangs, and pleaded guilty to charges of concealment of stolen goods.

Simard says his party discovered the contract "completely by accident" because of Pepin's ties to Julie Couillard, the controversial ex-girlfriend of former Federal Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier.

In 2004, Couillard was Pepin's live-in girlfriend, and was a Vice-President and shareholder of D.R.P. Their relationship ended in 2005.

Pepin committed suicide in May of 2007, shortly before he was scheduled to appear before Quebec's securities commision, which was investigating his company.

Can I substantiate any of this?

Why, the federal government isn't interested.

Don't worry be happy.

Edited May 28, 2008 by madmax

[HisSelf]

Can I substantiate this? Are you kidding?

The information is coming from the media reports, and from her live interview.

This thing gets stranger with each passing day.

I like the James Bond reference.

Maybe this is what you are seeking.

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/stor...9122af6&p=2

And

And of course the suicides....

Can I substantiate any of this?

Why, the government isn't interested.

Don't worry be happy.

Canada.com. I love it. I am not worried, and I am happy.

[madmax]

The press is saying Bernier is spending time with his two kids, which I didn't know he had, too personal I suppose. Van Loan keeping saying the opposition parties are still asking too personal questions about the two, but its was Bernier's personal life that got him into this trouble when he left the documents at her place when he shouldn't have taken them there!!

There are multiple failures on his part and the government. It could have been put to rest immediately, if Bernier had done the right thing.

He made a HUGE error in taking the documents to her home. If these were security contracts for private contractors involved in NATO activities, then we may speculate on why these documents were at her home.

However, if he is just a stupid idiot and a dupe, then he doubled his error, but not going back for the documents.

He says they "weren't talking", which is ..... well, a good enough reason to leave classified information at your girlfriends (sometime spouse, sometime travelling companion) house and not bother to retrieve it.

This guy is a fool. She states he called her up when the media publicity broke, saying it would pass over. So if he could call her about the media storm, I am certain he could have went there and picked up the documents himself, without having to be exposed as an incompetent doofus thinking with the wrong anatomy.

Of course he shouldn't have taken them their, in fact, why would he take documents into her home? Unless he wanted her to see them.

It would appear that these were security breaches by people who know about security.

And people with government and people with ties to Outlaw bikers and associates looking for ways to increase their business and security details.

I think, the media is just scrapping the surface of the iceberg.

This could be better then any James Bond Novel.

[jdobbin]

The Liberals are making allegations of cover-up. I wonder if the Tories will sue.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories

The Opposition Liberals levelled allegations of a cover-up in the Maxime Bernier affair Wednesday, accusing the Conservative government of sitting on a "national security bomb."

Liberal Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff said on CTV Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live that the timeline of events the Tories have given about the scandal over the misplaced classified documents doesn't make sense.

"We're talking cover-up here. The opposition simply does not believe the government's story," Ignatieff said.

[BubberMiley]

The Liberals are making allegations of cover-up. I wonder if the Tories will sue.

Then, like with Elections Canada, if the opposition challenges them on anything, they can whine that they're just bitter because they're being sued.

[jdobbin]

Then, like with Elections Canada, if the opposition challenges them on anything, they can whine that they're just bitter because they're being sued.

And then the Ethics Commissioner will say that Liberals can't ask questions in the House of Commons.

Edited May 29, 2008 by jdobbin

[August1991]

This is a huge loss of face for Canada on the diplomatic stage.

Huh? The huge loss of face of Canada was renting planes from Russia.

No, the huge loss of face is Canadian aid to Haiti and Sri Lanka - 50 years later, still abysmal basket cases.

Unprecedented? Didn't the last acting Liberal prime minster used to take documents with him when he went to visit male prostitutes?

How many ministers have left documents in compromising places? The condo of a boyfriend or a girlfriend is the least of security violations.

People on this forum should understand that as an ambitious bureaucrat, everything must be classified (otherwise it's not read). So, "classified" document is an otiose term.

Now Bernier is a different story. The Bernier Name is stronger then the CPC name in his riding.

Bernier has brought disrepute on his father's name and on the Beauce.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. He may have the ambition but I don't think he has the talent of Jean Charest. I may be wrong but I think our Bernier will go back into private business and leave public life. Bernier's like Frank Moores: He likes the ladies and the ladies like him.

The Liberals are making allegations of cover-up. I wonder if the Tories will sue.

Sue? Why?

This is a silly non-scandal that will disappear in a week or so in English Canada. Who cares in English Canada that a Quebec minister slept with a sexy woman? According to the Quebec-bashers, that's what happens in Quebec anyway. Most Quebec-bashers are Conservatives and they're not going to switch parties over this. For Dion to make a deal of this is too confusing to potential English Canadian Liberal voters.

In English Canada, this scandal will die very soon and the only reason it exists is because Dion (Rae/Ignatieff) are desperate.

In Quebec, outside of Montreal, the story is different. Harper is faulted because he should never have named Bernier to MFA. Now, if I were Harper, I'd be seriously troubled by that viewpoint.

Edited May 29, 2008 by August1991

[jdobbin]

How many ministers have left documents in compromising places? The condo of a boyfriend or a girlfriend is the least of security violations.

I think you keep forgetting that the girlfriend had associations with organized crime. No matter how many times the Tories say differently, this was much more about security.

Sue? Why?

Because that is standard operating procedure for this government.

This is a silly non-scandal that will disappear in a week or so in English Canada. Who cares in English Canada that a Quebec minister slept with a sexy woman? According to the Quebec-bashers, that's what happens in Quebec anyway. Most Quebec-bashers are Conservatives and they're not going to switch parties over this. For Dion to make a deal of this is too confusing to potential English Canadian Liberal voters.

In English Canada, this scandal will die very soon and the only reason it exists is because Dion (Rae/Ignatieff) are desperate.

In Quebec, outside of Montreal, the story is different. Harper is faulted because he should never have named Bernier to MFA. Now, if I were Harper, I'd be seriously troubled by that viewpoint.

Yes, let's make this about Quebec bashing.

Hell's Angels. Warning from the RCMP that they are trying to infiltrate the federal government. Former biker chick makes play for inexperienced foreign minister. Inserts herself into his professional life as minister. Access to important NATO documents.

Any of this starting to alarm you?

Harper can't be trusted to take security seriously. He ignored a warning from the RCMP on this? Just how does one assume the Hell's Angels might try to infiltrate government? What measures has the government taken to forestall that?

[August1991]

Yes, let's make this about Quebec bashing.

Dobbin, you entirely miss the gravity of this scandal for Harper.

It's not about Quebec bashing. It's about Harper in the Beauce. Harper did something Clark didn't. Harper made Fabien Roy MFA.

[jdobbin]

Dobbin, you entirely miss the gravity of this scandal for Harper.

Do I? I think that what I am seeing is a dismissal of security threats to Canada. September 11 happened because of a "failure of the imagination."

Harper couldn't even comprehend that a new relationship not vetted by security could pose a problem for a minister of Canada.

It's not about Quebec bashing. It's about Harper in the Beauce. Harper did something Clark didn't. Harper made Fabien Roy MFA.

Aside from Roy being a social credit, I don't know where you are headed.

Edited May 29, 2008 by jdobbin

[scribblet]

Well, this article says it a lot better than I can...

An attack driven by hypocrisy and sexism

RE-COPIED ARTICLE DELETED by moderator

Edited May 30, 2008 by Charles Anthony
excessive article quote deleted

[MontyBurns]

Hell's Angels. Warning from the RCMP that they are trying to infiltrate the federal government. Former biker chick makes play for inexperienced foreign minister. Inserts herself into his professional life as minister. Access to important NATO documents.

Any of this starting to alarm you?

Harper can't be trusted to take security seriously. He ignored a warning from the RCMP on this? Just how does one assume the Hell's Angels might try to infiltrate government? What measures has the government taken to forestall that?

I guess the Liberals can be trusted to seriously deal with the Hell's Angels. Whatever? It is the Liberals policies that allowed these gangs to fluorish in the first place.

[jdobbin]

I guess the Liberals can be trusted to seriously deal with the Hell's Angels. Whatever? It is the Liberals policies that allowed these gangs to fluorish in the first place.

The Tories continue to completely dismiss issues of security on this. The first questions on this subject were all ones involving whether security was assessed in regards to this someone who had criminal contact in their past. Harper didn't want to hear anything about it.

Even security experts have been appalled.

[Topaz]

From what we are getting fom the media it sounds like the government was or CSIS was watching her but the government in the House of Commons lead people to believe that it was a personal affair and so don't ask questions! IT became a national affair when Bernier took those top secret papers to her apartment, why?? The Cadman scam, the NAFTAgate, now this, who can trust a word of what Harper says anymore!

[jdobbin]

Well, this article says it a lot better than I can...

http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=547653

An attack driven by hypocrisy and sexism

David Asper, National Post Published: Thursday, May 29, 2008

Considering the National Post along with the rest of the media put Bernier and his girlfriend on their front pages when the swearing in happened, the hypocrisy is on the part of some of the media. They used sex to sell their papers.

It was the PMO who had an issue with what Bernier's girlfriend wore. The Opposition made no comment on it.

David Asper is a Conservative party member and close friend to the present government. This is just another attack on the Liberals using the standard "but the Liberals" argument. He uses his defence attorney background to argue Bernier's girlfriend is innocent until proven guilty. Well, sure she is. However, that is not the issue. The issue was and the question that was plainly asked was: Did Couillard at any time ever get vetted by the RCMP to assess her security status? The answer was no. The Tories said that private lives were off limits.

Asper cites how security experts should be listened to. In this case, they weren't as they were saying the Opposition had a point in their questions.

The sex and sexism argument is a false argument and Asper knows it.

[Argus]

Do I? I think that what I am seeing is a dismissal of security threats to Canada.

Like the Liberals have EVER shown the slightest interest in or concern for security.

Harper couldn't even comprehend that a new relationship not vetted by security could pose a problem for a minister of Canada.

Unlike Bill Graham's boy toys, you mean? Were they all get a thorough going over from the RMCP?

[jdobbin]

Like the Liberals have EVER shown the slightest interest in or concern for security.

The old "but the Liberals" argument. It is hardly a defence for not vetting people who might have posed a security threat today. The Tories promised to be different.

Unlike Bill Graham's boy toys, you mean? Were they all get a thorough going over from the RMCP?

If the Conservatives believed that someone posed a security threat for whatever behaviour, they should have asked the question in the House of Commons.

I think your basically saying is that private lives do matter when it comes to security, right?

[MontyBurns]

Like the Liberals have EVER shown the slightest interest in or concern for security.

Yeah really. Liberals and national security. Hah.

If it were up to the Liberals we would be terrorized by organized crime like in Columbia. Having no police or military is very useful for organized crime and biker gang operations.