The Official G8 Slush Fund Committee Hearing Thread

[olp1fan]

Is it weird that I am so pumped up to watch this? (hope its on tv) Can't wait to watch slimy Clement stutter

I expect not much to happen, no one is going down from what is said here so I have no delusions

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111101/clement-baird-talk-g8-spending-111101/20111101/?hub=TorontoNewHome

OTTAWA — Tony Clement will answer opposition questions for the first time in months about the controversy over $50 million in G8 legacy spending in his Ontario riding when he appears before a Commons committee on Wednesday.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird confirmed during question period Tuesday that he and the Treasury Board president will testify at the all-party public accounts committee.

Clement managed distribution of the multimillion-dollar fund in 2010 throughout his Parry Sound-Muskoka riding when he was industry minister. Many of the projects were a long way away from the G8 meeting site in Huntsville, Ont.

Baird has fielded all queries on the matter in the Commons because he approved the spending as the former minister responsible for infrastructure.

The auditor general released a report last month finding the Harper government clearly broke the rules when it set up and doled out the $50-million fund.

Interim auditor general John Wiersema said further audits of the controversial fund are pointless because there is no paper trail to follow.

The auditor general concluded the Tory government kept Parliament in the dark when it diverted $50 million in border infrastructure monies to create the G8 legacy fund.

It also found there was no documentation explaining how or why 32 beautification projects were ultimately chosen to receive funding even though many of them were hundreds of kilometres from the G8 site.

It concluded that public servants were shut out of the selection process and that Baird approved the projects based strictly on Clement's recommendations.

The NDP has since dredged up municipal records, using provincial freedom-of-information law, showing Clement funnelled funding applications through his constituency office rather than his ministerial office.

They also show he used his personal email account to discuss administration of the fund with municipal officials.

Opposition MPs suspect those measures were taken to avoid leaving a paper trail that could be reviewed by the auditor general or accessed through the federal freedom-of-information law.

[olp1fan]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/11/01/clement-parliamentary-committee-g8.html

Question: Exactly who in government approved the pilfering of the border improvement fund, and given the severity of the auditor general's findings, what disciplinary action has been taken against those responsible?

The auditor general also reported that public servants were not involved in selecting the 32 projects in Clement's riding that received the $50 million.

Question: Who selected the projects, by what criteria, and who authorized those responsible to circumvent all of the normal government funding procedures in place to ensure the prudent use of taxpayers' money?

The auditors who dug into the G8 spending were unable to find any of the usual government documentation showing how the projects were selected for funding.

Question: What happened to all the paperwork, and if it was destroyed, has the government called in the RCMP?

Documents obtained by Postmedia journalists and NDP researchers suggest Clement was personally involved in getting at least one friend hired to work on a G8 contract, and the minister may have also tried to pressure federal officials not to conduct a routine review of G8 spending.

Question: How do Canadian taxpayers benefit if a minister becomes involved in nepotism and meddling with officials trying to protect the public purse?

As head of the Treasury Board, Clement is now responsible for ensuring the Conservative government adheres to stringent rules intended to get the best value for Canadian taxpayers in all federal spending.

Question: Given all that has happened on the G8 spending file, if Clement cannot clearly and convincingly answer all of the above questions, why should Canadians trust him in such a pivotal cabinet role?

[olp1fan]

So nothing noteworthy happened

50 % of the questions wete from conservative mps

[jacee]

In-A-Gadda-Gaz-ebos, Baby

:Liveblogging Tony Clement et al on G8 ... CBC.ca

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2011/11/in-a-gadda-gaz-ebo-baby-liveblogging-tony-clement-et-al-on-g8-legacy-fund-at-public-accounts.html

Edited November 2, 2011 by jacee

[Topaz]

I haven't seen the whole hearings, just what I caught on the news but I did see outside of the committee room, Tony taking questions and when asked about the 50 Million, guess who jumped in behind the mike....big-mouth, court jester Baird. These two are guilty as hell and I'm tired of them saying when they KNOW they have done wrong, coming out and saying, well we'll do it right the next time. They use this reasoning to do their dirty work and get what they want! I was told by someone that worked in high security in Ottawa that Canadians really don't know how corrupt this government is! I told him, that he didn't have to tell me, I knew it but until the media gets takes a atand and reports what they know, they will get away with the G8/20 scam and more to come.

[olp1fan]

Canadians gave the cons a strong mandate to rip them off.

what happens next?

do they hound clement at question period still? or give up

Edited November 3, 2011 by olp1fan

[Topaz]

I just finished watch the hearing and why didn't Tony stand up and defend himself in the House? Is it just a game that him and Baird like to play. I do know, that the day the media were asking questions when this first came out, I never ever saw a more scared guy than Tony. He stood behind Baird with the fear of God on his face. I still think more is going on on this but we'll never actual know until a new government replaces this one.

[Shwa]

Municipal emails contradict Clement to show direct hand in G8 project wish-list: NDP

Clement testified he only played a “coordinating role” in deciding how the G8 money would be spent. Clement said he merely forwarded, without reviewing, the wish-list of 33 projects from mayors in his Muskoka riding to then-infrastructure minister John Baird, who decided where the money would be spent.

The NDP’s ethics critic, Angus, said: “This is simply not true.”

Clement had dismissed as a “myth” the Opposition’s accusations he and his officials had a hand in picking 32 projects which ended up receiving almost $45 million: “We were not involved in selecting these projects.”

But at a news conference Wednesday morning the NDP pointed to emails which suggest Clement’s office rejected a project, and was instrumental in whittling down the rest of the 242 originally submitted.

Clement had testified the mayors culled the list themselves, and that one project fell off the list of 33 sent to Baird because the local municipality decided it didn’t want it.

Angus said the 33rd project was a centennial centre in Gravenhurst.

“We have an email from the CAO of Gravenhurst to Mr. Clement’s constituency manager saying that Mr. Clement has advised that this project should be removed from the G8 project list. On the advice of Mr. Clement, please remove this project from the G8 list.”

“We now have, from our new documents, email (…) this is from Mr. Clement’s constituency manager (Sondra Read, saying) ‘send the letters to me and I will forward them to FedNor”—the federal agency responsible for economic development in northern Ontario.

Too bad recursive deletion of emails didn't extend to municipal email systems.

The documents show that municipalities certainly believed Clement had the final word on which projects would receive funding. Muskoka Lakes township, for instance, submitted its wish list to Clement “for your consideration and approval.”

[guyser]

I suspect that this is not over for Tony.

He should be implicated soon, confirming that in fact he did know what was to be built. The behind the scenes work is being done as we speak.

He did so since one of the local big wigs purchsed itmes in advance of the funding coming through, in fact before it had even been approved. (Tony knew it would be and said so privately)

Stay tuned.

[olp1fan]

if Tony goes down so does Baird and then eventually Harper

Harper put his yes man in the RCMP

its over

[olp1fan]

so apparently someone doctored clements testimony and he asked the speaker of the house to investigate

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/clement-denies-he-doctored-record-of-his-g8-testimony/article2246679/

this actually got a little more serious

the only people that could have altered it with Tony or his staff

and apparently MPs do alter what they say but never an absolute

Edited November 23, 2011 by olp1fan

[olp1fan]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2011/11/tale-of-the-tape-tony-clement-and-the-case-of-the-missing-sures.html

It seems the minister is as baffled by the vanishing verbal tics as the rest of us, at least according to his comments in the House after Question Period. Clement categorically denied that he or anyone in his office requested that the blues be changed. Over to you ... Rogue Hansard Compiler?

Here's Clement's letter to House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer:

Dear Mr. Speaker:

It has come to my attention that changes were made to the Evidence of the meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on November 2, 2011, including particularly my testimony.

There are insinuations I have made changes, or have caused changes to be made, to the Evidence.

I have not, nor has anyone in my employ.

These allegations form a serious breach of my privilege, which is impeding my work as a member of this House and a Minister of the Crown.

I will raise this matter at the earliest opportunity in the House this afternoon.

Should you deem a motion necessary in response to a prima facie finding of a question of privilege, I propose to move the following motion:

That the matter of the editing of the Evidence of the November 2, 2011, meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts be referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs for consideration and to report to the House.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours respectfully,

Tony Clement, P.C., M.P.

[Hudson Jones]

Canadians gave the cons a strong mandate to rip them off.

To be fair, majority of the votes went to the opposition.

[William Ashley]

committe stacked with a majority of tories

take 1

tory 1 What is a G8?

tory 2 I dunno

tory 1 almost lunch huh?

tory 2 yup.

tory 3 closure might be need to get this done in time.

tory 5 thats right! I saw stephen do that 10 times yesterday apparently he had to kick some epileptic liberals in the head when they went down and emergency measures had to be taken,

tory 2 I remember that.

tory 3 all in favour?

tory 1 phew good thing there wern't unions involved I didn't bring my earplugs

the next day at caucus meeting

tory 3 move to employ vorpal bunnies to provide more time for business tasks

tory 2 Rabbits of Caerbannog

tory 4 yes of course those little things

tory 7 they're conservatives right

tory 8 maybe even progressive

jay good thing I retired they arn't as nice as they look

tory 9 nicer than harper on valium

tory 8 yes of course

tory 3 all in favour

the following week

at stornoway little cat size parachuters touchdown at the edge of the property

passerby to promenader bud- odd no, parachuting rabbits...

for christ's sake John Baird is Minister of Foreign affairs boobies or stfu

the end is near

Edited November 24, 2011 by William Ashley

[Cameron]

I was told by someone that worked in high security in Ottawa that Canadians really don't know how corrupt this government is!

Oh Topaz, I love the third party quotes. A friend of a friend told me....

This is pork-barreling. Tony would be laughed at in the US. Doesn't make it right, but minor stuff in the grand scheme of things. If this is the most that comes out of Ottawa from the CP, then it will be smooth sailing for four years. The public will forget or doesn't care. Tony should be reprimanded but he won't because it's trivial in the grand scheme of things. When you turn on your TV the CP looks like Boy Scouts compared to other governments of the world.

This is in no way a justification if his actions. The system is hard to change. No politician will cut off the hand that feeds him. Every party has an agenda they want to pursue, so it becomes murky when you have all the kings horses at your disposal.

Edited November 24, 2011 by Cameron

[Cameron]

To be fair, majority of the votes went to the opposition.

Stop using that stupid quote. The NDP or the Liberals didn't get more votes. They are two separate parties, not one party.

[Topaz]

Did any one notice that most of the time Clement was reading his answers especially when the Tories were doing the questioning? Must keep on script, Tony. Refresh my memory, didn't Tony get into in 2006-07 for helping someone in their business or advertisement in his area? I can't quite remember the exact problem.

[olp1fan]

This is pork-barreling. Tony would be laughed at in the US.

Excuse me, we don't live in the U.S, this is Canada

[Cameron]

Excuse me, we don't live in the U.S, this is Canada

I'm using the US as an example of pork-barreling to the extreme.

[olp1fan]

I'm using the US as an example of pork-barreling to the extreme.

and we have different standards here in Canada than they do in the U.S

its interesting though cause even little scandals in the U.S forces them to resign...here in Canada under Harper they either get thrown under the bus for basically nothing or do all kinds of shit and are protected

[Shwa]

Oh Topaz, I love the third party quotes. A friend of a friend told me....

This is pork-barreling. Tony would be laughed at in the US. Doesn't make it right, but minor stuff in the grand scheme of things. If this is the most that comes out of Ottawa from the CP, then it will be smooth sailing for four years. The public will forget or doesn't care. Tony should be reprimanded but he won't because it's trivial in the grand scheme of things. When you turn on your TV the CP looks like Boy Scouts compared to other governments of the world.

LOFL! Well, sure, I mean compared to Rwanda or Vietnam, we got it good son. Eh?

The problem is, the CPC were just elected in May. Do you really think that this will be the "most that comes out of Ottawa" in the next four years? To be sure, according to your logic, it will only get worse.

This is in no way a justification if his actions. The system is hard to change. No politician will cut off the hand that feeds him. Every party has an agenda they want to pursue, so it becomes murky when you have all the kings horses at your disposal.

When you are elected on the notion that you will clean up the system, and then your loyal minions start pork barrelling and then lying to Parliament, well, thank God it will only be four years. I mean, it's not like we are Libya or something.

[Wild Bill]

Here's a link to an item that was on my homepage news this morning:

http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/canada/clement_denies_new_g8_fund_accusations_from_ndp/125755e4

"Treasury Board President Tony Clement maintains that he only had a "recommendation role" in the process for approving G8 legacy fund projects, despite new accusations that suggest otherwise from the official Opposition."

"NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice told question period in the House of Commons Wednesday the new documents suggest Clement wasn't being truthful when he testified about his involvement in the fund to two Commons committees."

I'm starting to waver on this one. At first I thought it was just the usual political mudslinging, which I suppose it still is! However, there's a LOT of smoke here! Perhaps there IS a fire!

Lord knows the NDP would dearly love to pin something on their hated Tories. They tend to stretch the slightest hint of something negative against their political opponents into crimes against the Universe! Still, could it be that after all this "crying wolf" there's actually a wolf there?

To me, "crying wolf" has always meant next to zero credibility but I can't deny that there is always a faint possibility of a valid warning. The problem is that after countless times of getting all worked up for nothing frustration sets in and you just ignore the mouthy little beggar doing all the shouting.

Also, the NDP might want to be very careful on this one. The folks in the areas who got federal money would be very grateful. They might not like some party saying that either they didn't deserve it or that it would be impossible for them to get more for another event in the future. Shutting down all those canoe museums in Shawinigan would not have been a smart way to entice voters away from Jean Chretien! Voters LIKE their pork and WILL vote for those who get it for them! Historically, the NDP has never been in a position to claim any pork at all.

This time might be different so I'm going to pay a bit more attention. As the old saying goes, even a stopped clock is right twice a day!

[olp1fan]

people don't lie if they have nothing to hide

There is a reason Tony Clement did not answer any questions during QP for half a year

[Topaz]

Oh Topaz, I love the third party quotes. A friend of a friend told me....

This is pork-barreling. Tony would be laughed at in the US. Doesn't make it right, but minor stuff in the grand scheme of things. If this is the most that comes out of Ottawa from the CP, then it will be smooth sailing for four years. The public will forget or doesn't care. Tony should be reprimanded but he won't because it's trivial in the grand scheme of things. When you turn on your TV the CP looks like Boy Scouts compared to other governments of the world.

This is in no way a justification if his actions. The system is hard to change. No politician will cut off the hand that feeds him. Every party has an agenda they want to pursue, so it becomes murky when you have all the kings horses at your disposal.

The only thing I'll say is, that what I said was told to me and I'm NOt naming names because people have lost jobs under this government when they whistleblow publicly, end of story.

[Cameron]

It's an interesting predicament. I remember someone telling me (don't know if it's true or not) that Trudeau, after he won a majority, would ram everything in a budget (example) in the first year so by the time the end of the term came, it was forgotten. The problem with Tony is that this isn't going away and it seems to be getting worse rather than better.

If things stay on this path, then the fate of the CPC is sealed. History shows you will eventually become stale and the voters will throw you out. Examples are easy: PET, Mulroney, the Chretien/Martin government's. They all started off strong but slowly lost ground over the years until they were defeated.