Canada vs Duffy vs PMO

[WWWTT]

It's only started - but Day One for Nigel Wright filled in a lot of the blanks - and makes a lot of sense.

Ya Jesus makes a lot of sense.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/duffy-trial/article25949532/

But you're right about one thing, it's only getting started!

WWWTT

[Icebound]

Adscam had no relationship to this at all. Adscam was the outright theft of public money in the hundreds of millions to benefit the Liberal party.

This is some rich boy in the PMO trying to use his own money to pay off Duffy's expenses.

Well, a little bit of exaggeration may be okay, but I think Fraser's report said "up to 100 million", and when Gomery filed the report, he actually ended up with something like FIVE million.

So I would say that "hundreds of millions" is a pretty big stretch.

There is one other small difference in the two scandals, besides your interpretation above.

The day after the report, Martin faced the nation, and called an inquiry.

The day after the Senate scandal broke, Harper was running in the opposite direction and distancing himself as far as possible... repeating the same old line which is becoming increasingly difficult to believe with every email released into the trial.

There may, however, also be one big similarity: at the next election, the voters punished the Liberals at the polls.......

I mentioned this before and I will again. The issues of this election are not "security from terrorists" and the "economy". The issue is the integrity of our democracy.

...

[waldo]

I don't care if Harper knew or didn't know. This was a piddling little incident which mattered not at all to the government of Canada. It was a media event and an embarrassment to the Tories, so they tried to pay back the allegedly misappropriated money. Big deal. It's pretty telling that you equate this with a multi-year conspiracy involving a number of LIberal party operatives to spend hundred of millions of taxpayer money on their 'friends' in exchange for kickbacks at election time.

of course you don't care - Harper's your boy! There's nothing piddling about the incident at all... as is your misguided way, you appear to fixate on the money while conveniently ignoring the bigger picture/issues that speak to integrity, collusion, morals, ethics, respect for democracy, etc.. And it's always heartening to watch the deflection routines that invariably try to draw in long-past concerns... while absolutely refusing to take on any accountability/responsibility for the actions of those closest to Harper. By the by, how many operatives... were they elected... hundreds of millions???

.

[On Guard for Thee]

And I added my thoughts. Maybe you will see the connection while you are dreaming tonight.

You'd need to be dreaming.

[On Guard for Thee]

They did nothing of the sort. Nobody talked. That doesn't mean either was "exonerated". It's odd how any slight misdeed from any Tory immediately has you accusing Harper of being responsible, but even a massive, multi-year scandal involving the Liberal Party doesn't equate to the same sort of accusations on your part.

Well yes actually they did.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomery_Commission

[socialist]

Well yes actually they did.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomery_Commission

Well the leftist breakout issue certainly turned out to be a dud. The Nigel Wright testimony that the leftists were praying for to help their cause turned out otherwise. Just a bunch of screaming ninnies screaming about nothing.

Whoops! Now Thomas Marx and Justin Mao will actually have to come up with a platform and policies.

[socialist]

Ya Jesus makes a lot of sense.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/duffy-trial/article25949532/

But you're right about one thing, it's only getting started!

WWWTT

A fake scandal kept in the news forever makes it appear as if this must be the scandal of the century.

In reality, this Duffy/Wright payment is just about a wrong turn taken by a busy CoS.

BTW: it is Duffy who is on trial for many more offenses besides the Wright deal.

[socialist]

I still wonder if the reason Wright hasnt been charged is so he can be forced to testify. His story has to be one that has Harpers knees knocking the loudest.

Were you proud of Greg Weston when he ever so briefly worked for the CBC and fabricated stories about secret funds??

[socialist]

To be fair the Harperites did consult two outside bodies on what jet would be the best to purchase.

Unfortunately, they asked the US military and Lockheed Martin. Oddly enough the manufacturer of the jet and the principle client, who benefits greatly if more orders lower production costs, agreed that the F35 should be the only jet in the running.

How much public money has the Harper government spent on partisan ads? How much public money has the Harper government handed out with CPC logos on the cheques or CPC logos on display?

Harper has turned Adscam into business as usual.

I have a theory that the reason the election was called early was to give the Conservatives time to recover from the fall out of Nigel Wright's testimony. Had it been negative, it would give the CPC extended time to recover from a serious wound or to make a respectable showing.

And now the opposite has occurred. Mr Wright has just poured water on the flames of two years of conspiracy theory presented by the Opposition Parties. The exploitation of this issue was a critical part of the NDP strategy that has now been rendered useless to them

This was THE anchor dragging the momentum of the Conservatives. It is now anchors away for them to free them up and set the course for the remainder of the campaign.

[socialist]

I think Harper will be served with a subpoena, will invoke parliamentary privilege and will not testify. Duffy's lawyer is painting a picture that Duffy is only doing what he was told to do. Not sure if the Nuremburg defense is going to work here.

But for the strategy to work, to put the focus on Harper, the defence has to keep Harper in the forefront. To subpoena Harper to give him a chance to refute that picture has to be part of the plan. For Harper to refuse to testify would solidify the defence that Harper was behind all of this and play right into the defensive argument - after all, why won't he testify if he is not involved?

This trial is proving to be far more interesting than I anticipated.

Canadians will not follow this trial from now on. It has been established that Harper was not in the know how. The rest of the court proceedings will be mired in complex cross examinations about emails and the like. Canadians will tune out shorty, if they have not tuned out already.

[socialist]

So why isn't Harper coming after the Senate with a flamethrower? Under any other circumstances this nickle and diming at the proverbial trough would be fodder with a capital F for Senate reform.

These must be really galling days for the base.

The majority of Canadian get their news from the main stream media, so it the MSM does not report on Mac Harb, then the majority of Canadians will not know about Mac Harb. But the bigger issue is that the MSMwilling disregards the Liberal senator where that focus all their effort on a Conservative senator. $90,000 vs. $270,000, andf the MSM will ignore the $270,000, just like they virtually ignore the 2.7 million the NDP owe. It is a clear bias that proves the MSM journalists are not honest.

[socialist]

FALSE

They are referred to as MEMBER FOR... not member of parliament duh...

senators are also a title.

Regardless of what people "call them" they are all members of parliament.

Senators have legislative equivalent power up to the house of commons of the UK etc.. (they are limited constitutionally on monetary bills however)

"The Senate shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, consist of One Hundred and five Members, who shall be styled Senators"

IE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

Wonder how Mulcair would answer if asked about the 2.7 mil. during one of the debates?

I still can’t get my head around the fact that no one is pushing the NDP on this issue. Mulcair of course hopes that if he wins the election this will go away.

Edited August 14, 2015 by socialist

[socialist]

And? What I said is Member of Parliament is a proper title for the democratically elected representative of a constituency who sits in the House of Commons. You should understand people's confusion when you take a proper title and try to use it as a way to describe someone who is in any parliamentary position. Senators are not Members of Parliament. Why can't you just admit the silly error and move on? You're just digging yourself even deeper here.

Ironic that Aug 10 was the day that Mac Harb was to go to trial for his fraud on housing expenses. He too paid it back, quickly, and bailed into retirement on full Senate pension.

Nobody questioned where he got a quick couple of hundred grand. Not to this day. His name is never mentioned in the media chattering, it is never included in the Duffy, Wallin, Brazeau catchphrase and all the clucking that follows.

Harb, a Liberal senator, has been untouched by the scandal, and strangely has had his trial deferred several times now. He was charged in Feb 2014, same time as Brazeau. He was to go to trial in April, then deferred to Aug 10, and now that is off til 2016. What’s going on?

And no Joan Abernethy, no one is aware. Harb has been swept under the rug from the get go. These things get legs and wings because the media so decides.

They have been chasing the fat man across the lot and up the steps for a very long time. Even that seems extraordinarily predatory.

[On Guard for Thee]

I have a theory that the reason the election was called early was to give the Conservatives time to recover from the fall out of Nigel Wright's testimony. Had it been negative, it would give the CPC extended time to recover from a serious wound or to make a respectable showing.

And now the opposite has occurred. Mr Wright has just poured water on the flames of two years of conspiracy theory presented by the Opposition Parties. The exploitation of this issue was a critical part of the NDP strategy that has now been rendered useless to them

This was THE anchor dragging the momentum of the Conservatives. It is now anchors away for them to free them up and set the course for the remainder of the campaign.

Apparently you weren't paying attention today. Any water possibly poured on yesterday, evaporated under Bain's questioning.

[socialist]

Apparently you weren't paying attention today. Any water possibly poured on yesterday, evaporated under Bain's questioning.

The MSM will viciously attack any Conservative, whether MP, MPP, Senator or just your average Conservative that has some stature in the community relentlessly on even the smallest and most insignificant of things while ignoring major things done by the leftists like Mac Harb’s 270K theft or the NDP’s 2.7 million or Justin’s many gaffs and idiot statements.

The journalistic principles are repeatedly violated by the main stream media in their quest to get the Conservatives out of office. It is truly disgusting to witness. You cannot trust the main stream media.

[On Guard for Thee]

The MSM will viciously attack any Conservative, whether MP, MPP, Senator or just your average Conservative that has some stature in the community relentlessly on even the smallest and most insignificant of things while ignoring major things done by the leftists like Mac Harb’s 270K theft or the NDP’s 2.7 million or Justin’s many gaffs and idiot statements.

The journalistic principles are repeatedly violated by the main stream media in their quest to get the Conservatives out of office. It is truly disgusting to witness. You cannot trust the main stream media.

I'm talking about lawyers in a courtroom here, FYI.

[socialist]

I'm talking about lawyers in a courtroom here, FYI.

I'm talking about the whole charade here. FYI.

[On Guard for Thee]

I'm talking about the whole charade here. FYI.

The MSM attacks everyone who is attackable.

[WWWTT]

A fake scandal kept in the news forever makes it appear as if this must be the scandal of the century.

In reality, this Duffy/Wright payment is just about a wrong turn taken by a busy CoS.

BTW: it is Duffy who is on trial for many more offenses besides the Wright deal.

Ya actually by link was to a reference made to the bible that was used.

But somehow you completely ignored that!

WWWTT

[socialist]

Ya actually by link was to a reference made to the bible that was used.

But somehow you completely ignored that!

WWWTT

It would be wise of you to pay close attention what came to light today in the court proceedings.

It was NOT Wright who suggested that the RCMP would not be called on Duffy if he agreed to the payment. It was in fact Duffy who at first demanded that in lieu of payment, the RCMP would not be called on him. That might explain partly why Wright was never charged with bribery while Duffy was.

Furthermore, it has not yet been established that Duffy's housing expense claims were not legit. The judge has not ruled on that, yet. So it has not been established if the payment to Duffy was in return for clearing up illegitimate expense claims. If indeed, as Wright suggested, that Duffy's housing expense claims could have been legit, and that Duffy's greed regardless should not be a burden on taxpayers, then it is no one's business why Wright decided, out of his own pocket, to reimburse the tax payers for Duffy's greed.

So, stop pretending that the housing expense claim has been ruled on.

And please, please stop pretending that any of this has anything to do with Mulroney. And stop pretending that political party funds, by donation, are still monies to be decided upon by the tax payer. In short, stop misleading people!!!!!

[socialist]

The MSM attacks everyone who is attackable.

You obviously have not understood Wright's testimony.

Wright admitted today that he was not fully convinced that the expenses claimed by Duffy were not legit. Wright did think, however, that Duffy was greedy. Wright therefore decided that the tax payers should not be on the hook for Duffy's greed or be on the hook for unclear senate expense rules.

Therefore Wright always intended and did in fact pay back the tax payers. That is what he did, ultimately.

[socialist]

Ya actually by link was to a reference made to the bible that was used.

But somehow you completely ignored that!

WWWTT

Actually, it was Wright who did NOT agree with Duffy when Duffy at first demanded the RCMP would never be called on this issue if Duffy accepted the payment.

That might partly explain why Wright was never charged with bribery but Duffy was.

Pay attention to what actually was said yesterday, under oath.

[socialist]

If this trial shows that it was not criminal what Duffy and the PMO did but political, then this goes straight back to Harper when he and a number of Conservatives came down on Martin over the Ads scam, that Martin should have known what was going on in the PMO and now Harper's party can eat their own words, but then again, words mean nothing to Harper.

You're all getting into this legalistic gaffe about Wright and Duffy, and I don't for a moment doubt that, legalistically you're right. But let's face it, guys and gals, the only thing you are really interested in is "can we nail Harper?". I don't believe any of you really give a fig about Wright and Duffy and the constitutional aspects!

[Mighty AC]

I have a theory that the reason the election was called early was to give the Conservatives time to recover from the fall out of Nigel Wright's testimony.

Harper dropped the writ early to skirt election limits and out spend the competition. Unfortunately, Harper has no problems wasting public money on personal gain as this campaign extension will cost us millions. I refused to support Chretien back in the day, but thanks to Harper Jean seems squeaky clean now.

[Icebound]

".......the only thing you are really interested in is "can we nail Harper?". [/size]

The only thing that I am interested in is the ethical behaviour of my government officials, especially those in the top office in the land.