Will Stephen Harper cancel his trip to South America?

[August1991]

This sh*t hit the fan last week, his Chief of Staff resigned on the weekend, and then Harper appointed a teenager as a replacement.

Harper has a caucus meeting on Tuesday (tomorrow) morning and then he is scheduled to leave for South America in the afternoon.

If you were Stephen Harper, what would you do? Stay in Ottawa or run off to Peru?

On Tuesday, Harper will hold an emergency caucus meeting ahead of a planned trip to Peru and Columbia for a trade mission. That meeting will be the first time since Nigel Wright's resignation on Sunday that Harper will face direct questions from members of Parliament, many of whom have said that the controversy is far from over.

CTV News

Edited May 21, 2013 by August1991

[ReeferMadness]

None of the options is correct. Clearly, Harper will continue on his trip, claiming it's vital to Canada's national interest. Harper will hope that meanwhile, this will all blow over. Flunkies back home will answer questions (or more accurately, avoid answering them).

[scribblet]

None of those, he will go on the trip, and rightly so, trade is important.

Stephen Harper will confront the Senate expenses imbroglio head-on in an unusual open speech to his caucus, trying to calm public outrage by confirming his commitment to reform the Red Chamber.

The address Tuesday, with cameras rolling, will be the first time the Prime Minister has spoken to Canadians since the conflagration began spreading, eventually claiming his chief of staff on Sunday, after a $90,000 payout to beleaguered Senator Mike Duffy.

The Harper government has long proposed legislation to reform the Senate by imposing term limits and allowing for provincial elections of future senators, although the measures have not made any progress. The government has referred questions about the constitutionality of its reform plan to the Supreme Court, which slowed down the approval of the legislation that is being contested by some provinces.

Remainder of article here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-to-tackle-senate-crisis-with-unusual-open-speech-to-tory-caucus/article12032982/

[Moonlight Graham]

None of the options is correct. Clearly, Harper will continue on his trip, claiming it's vital to Canada's national interest. Harper will hope that meanwhile, this will all blow over. Flunkies back home will answer questions (or more accurately, avoid answering them).

Agree 100%. If Harper is smart, he'll gladly use this to get the heck out of the country and away from the media and opposition.

[jacee]

Agree 100%. If Harper is smart, he'll gladly use this to get the heck out of the country and away from the media and opposition.

Only if he keeps going!

Otherwise, we're here waiting.

[August1991]

"The prime minister is going to meet his caucus at 9:30, he's going to give a speech to them and then the media will be ushered out of the room so we'll have no opportunity to ask the kind of questions that need to be asked of the prime minister in a public setting," Fife told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday,

"He'll say he was in the dark on all of these activities and that the Conservative government needs to return to its roots -- that is running an ethical, transparent government. And if anyone in future is caught fleecing taxpayers they will be removed immediately from the caucus."

CTV

If Stephen Harper thinks that he can say that he was "in the dark on all of these activities" and then calmly fly off to Peru, then he either has a far better sense of humour than I thought or he is certifiably insane. In either case, and I may eat my words (politics is a strange game), he has zero chance of getting re-elected.

Edited May 21, 2013 by August1991

[Boges]

Just curious. I'm not sure if President Obama has any state visits scheduled in the coming weeks. But would it be prudent for him to also cancel all visits abroad because of the scandals facing his administration.

I'd argue the State Department spying on the AP and the IRS scrutinizing charitable applicants based on their political views is far worse than $90,000 in scammed housing allowance money from a Senator.

[August1991]

Just curious. I'm not sure if President Obama has any state visits scheduled in the coming weeks. But would it be prudent for him to also cancel all visits abroad because of the scandals facing his administration.

Sorry, Boges. This scandal is different. It reaches to the core of Stephen Harper's support, and raises the question of whether Harper is so tone-deaf to understand this.

Anyway, Obama doesn't face re-election.

Edited May 21, 2013 by August1991

[Boges]

He's kicked the offending parties out of the caucus. He can't kick them out of the Senate.

What else would anyone like him to do?

Perhaps he should say screw these guys, lets try and abolish the Senate now. It's more trouble that it's worth.

[August1991]

He's kicked the offending parties out of the caucus. He can't kick them out of the Senate.

What else would anyone like him to do?

.... and he also fired his Chief of Staff and appointed a teenager, polisci EA in his place.

But Boges, what can Harper do at this point? How can he explain that his CoS paid a "bribe" to a senator but he "was in the dark"?

I dunno. Maybe there will be a caucus revolt.

As I say, if Harper flies off to Peru, he has zero-chance of getting re-elected and I suspect that his caucus is making a similar calculation.

[Boges]

.... and he also fired his Chief of Staff and appointed a teenager, polisci EA in his place.

But Boges, what can Harper do at this point? How can he explain that his CoS paid a "bribe" to a senator but he "was in the dark"?

I dunno. Maybe there will be a caucus revolt.

As I say, if Harper flies off to Peru, he has zero-chance of getting re-elected and I suspect that his caucus is making a similar calculation.

Hyperbole is awesome. Dude is 36 and beeing working with the PM since 2008.

I'm just curious what you want Harper to do instead of doing his job this week in the wake of this "scandal" Quit? Fire more people. Or say he told Wright to pay off Duffy and didn't think news would get out? That's not illegal.

I think his mistake is trying to pander to PEI by naming a Senator from there. No one wants to live in PEI fulltime.

You say if he does his job and goes abroad to advocate for Canada elsewhere people will choose not to elect him. Last year Robocall was what was going to bring the PM down, no one talks about that anymore. I'd argue this "scandal" is far less incriminating than that one.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Boges

[August1991]

Hyperbole is awesome. Dude is 36 and beeing working with the PM since 2008.

In Chief of Staff terms, he's a teenager. In a fix, Harper chose him as a placeholder and because, obviously, he needed someone loyal. Novak is 35 and he's been with Harper well over fifteen years, since he was a teenager and working at the NCC.

I'm just curious what you want Harper to do instead of doing his job this week in the wake of this "scandal" Quit? Fire more people. Or say he told Wright to pay off Duffy and didn't think news would get out? That's not illegal.

I have no idea what Harper should be doing now. I'm not a politician or PM. But I reckon that Harper should not be flying to Peru. The optics are awful.

Fly to Peru? I'm reminded of Harper's decision to fly back to Calgary at the end of the 2004 federal election (or Obama's first debate in 2012). One has the impression that Harper doesn't really want the job.

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BTW, there's a humourous expression in French about Peru: Ce n'est pas le Perou !

Edited May 22, 2013 by August1991