Pierre Pettigrew and his Chaffeur

[Argus]

So dear Pierre Pettigrew, that natilly dressed Quebecois, has footed the bill for his chauffeur (some 10k) to go on trips with him to Europe and Latin America. Or rather, you and I have footed the bills. At first the minister's staff suggested Bruno the chauffeur was acting as a "personal security advisor". I can believe he was doing something to the minister's body, but it probably wouldn't be accurate to describe is as bodyguarding. Especially as he has no credentials in the uhm, bodguard department. Now the minister is suggesting he takes Bruno along to "bounce ideas off him", and says he gets great suggestions from "Bruno".

I can imagine.

But I doubt they're the kind of suggestions we ought to be paying for.

Brian Mulroney recently suggested Kim Campbell was too busy with her boyfriend to campaign properly. Maybe Bruno explains why we've seen so little of Pettigrew lately.

[Canuck E Stan]

Argus,sometimes you're so anal.

[plusgood]

Do people really care that much? I accept the arguement that he came along as support staff, there are plenty of logistic jobs that require little or no training that the chaffeur or others could do. So it was a perk, big deal, he rewarded his long serving chaffeur with a trip overseas as a support staffer. Minister Pettigrew has the right to determine who to bring on his trips, I guess the usual is two support staffers, why not switch it up in order to keep high spirits among employees? I know in every single job I've ever held there have been certain perks, I'm sure most people have found that as well. Also the actual cost is not going to be $10,000 since Pettigrew did not bring is chaffeur along as an extra, but actually instead of another staff member. This wasn't a gift, a free $10,000 trip, it required 'support' type work to be done, and if it wasn't the chaffeur doing it, it would have been someone else.

[kimmy]

I recall you've mentioned Pettigrew's sexual orientation before, Argus. Is he "out", or is it media speculation, or is it just your suspicion?

At any rate, a good test for bias is to change some details and see whether it's still a news item. Let's give that a try:

Q: If a male cabinet minister were spending taxpayers money to bring an unneeded female staffer on trips abroad for sexual companionship, would that be a news item?

A: probably. I can't recall an identical situation (though I'd be surprised if it hasn't happened...) but I do recall it being news when a Defense Minister (can't recall his name at the moment) was paying his completely unqualified girlfriend to write reports for the department. I think he wound up being removed from Cabinet.

Has the media picked up on Pettigrew and his chauffer? Should they?

-k

[Canuck E Stan]

"but I do recall it being news when a Defense Minister (can't recall his name at the moment) was paying his completely unqualified girlfriend to write reports for the department. I think he wound up being removed from Cabinet."

And for his shame he now sits in the Senate.

And about the perks....At our place when quality goes up we get free coffee and donuts.

[LotusLandLunatic]

Pettigrew did not bring is chaffeur along as an extra, but actually instead of another staff member.

Pierre DID say that he "takes Bruno along to bounce ideas off of him and that he gets great suggestions from Bruno", didn't he?

Aren't there professional consultants for that?

I bet Bruno already has a grievence in, demanding to be back paid a consultant's salary from the time he started driving Mr. Pettigrew.

[LotusLandLunatic]

And about the perks....At our place when quality goes up we get free coffee and donuts.

Lemme guess.

Telephone Solicitor!?

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear kimmy,

Has the media picked up on Pettigrew and his chauffer?

I saw a bit in the newspaper today about it, but didn't have time to read it yet.

Should they?

It depends on definitions. Asset: a valuable addition or possession that gives value commesurate to cost, or) a little piece of ass.

[Canuck E Stan]

"Lemme guess.

Telephone Solicitor!?"

I supose they too get the same kind of perks,but no.

Not being in uppper government,us regular smucks get regular perks.

It must be grand to work in government with other people's money, and being able to determine where to perk an employee,it must be really gradifying.

[LotusLandLunatic]

It must be grand to work in government with other people's money, and being able to determine where to perk an employee, it  must be really gradifying.

Well ... Argus made a suggestion that Pierre may be perking Bruno with his pecker.

Can you beleive that?

[Canuck E Stan]

LotusLandLunatic,

I think an apology to Argus is in order from you.

Argus never said that - you said it,

Argus would never use a word like pecker.

[LotusLandLunatic]

LotusLandLunatic,

I think an apology to Argus is in order from you.

Argus never said that - you said it,

Argus would never use a word like pecker.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OH SH*T DAMN Canuckman, I didn't know that!

Would it help if I wrote a cheque for, say, 5000 bucks to Maple Leaf Forum?

If so please write one up and give it to Argus, I'll pay you later! Much later!! MUCH MUCH MUCH later!!!

THANKS!!

[Argus]

This wasn't a gift, a free $10,000 trip, it required 'support' type work to be done,

Labonte put on his expense claim that he was "escorting the minister".

and if it wasn't the chaffeur doing it, it would have been someone else.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, yeah. Probably true. I mean, Bruno didn't go with him to Bangkok, say, so I guess Pettigrew had to uhm, find another escort. No doubt they have services in Bankok which provide such excorts.

[Argus]

I recall you've mentioned Pettigrew's sexual orientation before, Argus. Is he "out", or is it media speculation, or is it just your suspicion?

Suggestions have popped up here and there, but the only place outside the internet which has outright said it was Frank magazine. Pettigrew is neither out of the closet nor in the closet. He is one of those guys, like Bill Graham, who are out to family, friends, campaign staff and workers, and his party, and to large segments of the gay community, but not to the general public. The media never mentions things like this as they have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Unless the MP outright says he's gay they won't ask and won't report anything which suggests he is.

The media will and have reported on him and his chauffeur, but I haven't seen any speculation about just "why" he was taking his chauffeur on trips. And I don't expect to. At most we might get a picture of the chauffeur, most likely in a tabloid, and get to see if he's pretty.

[Canuck E Stan]

More on Pettigrew and LaBonte

Driving Mr. Pettigrew

"Perhaps Mr. Labonte tested Mr. Pettigrew's preparedness for sudden attacks, leaping upon the minister from inside his Paris hotel room's boudoir, a la Cato. Or, perchance, he kept a black mask ready, like Kato, to don and then scatter all those intent on harming his boss. Those who point out that other government officials usually rely on local security on such trips, or that Mr. Pettigrew apparently decided to risk it without the security-conscious Mr. Labonte by his side on other travels, are ignoring the tremendous bargain to taxpayers that Mr. Pettigrew's globe-trotting chauffeur represented."

When's the movie coming out?

[Shakeyhands]

this is a pretty disgusting thread and those members that are making this a matter of Pettigrews sexuality, whatever it may be, should be: 2) ashamed of themselves and 2) banned from this site for showing their true colours. Disgusting.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear Shakeyhands,

this is a pretty disgusting thread and those redneck homophobes that are making this a matter of Pettigrews sexuality, whatever it may be,

Though I have partaken in the jocularity of the matter, I am certainly no 'homophobe'. One of my best friends is gay, and we both joke with each other all the time about it.

You are correct, though, that his orientation is of no matter in the case. the issue is whether or not the expenditure of gov't funds was useful for the country, or just Pettigrew personally.

Besides, if Pettigrew was suspected of cavorting with a female secretary, the 'Monica' jokes would be flying like 'wads of Bill's'.

[kimmy]

My first message in this thread included this handy gender-issues-sensitivity bias test:

At any rate, a good test for bias is to change some details and see whether it's still a news item. Let's give that a try:

Q: If a male cabinet minister were spending taxpayers money to bring an unneeded female staffer on trips abroad for sexual companionship, would that be a news item?

A: probably. I can't recall an identical situation (though I'd be surprised if it hasn't happened...) but I do recall it being news when a Defense Minister (can't recall his name at the moment) was paying his completely unqualified girlfriend to write reports for the department. I think he wound up being removed from Cabinet.

Or, as Fleabag more succinctly put it, if the employee were female rather than male, the media would be all over this.

In other words, if there's bias at work here, it's working in Mr. Pettigrew's favour, because he is not being asked any of the character-harming, reputation-scarring questions that a heterosexual politician would be facing.

But of course, the media knows that if they make even the suggestion, they'll be facing responses like this...

this is a pretty disgusting thread and those redneck homophobes that are making this a matter of Pettigrews sexuality, whatever it may be, should be: 2) ashamed of themselves and 2) banned from this site for showing their true colours.  Disgusting.

What's disgusting to me is that the media is applying a different standard in this case than they would if the subject of the rumours was a heterosexual politician. One could argue that the issue is the misuse of taxpayer funds, not the sexual angle, however we know from history that a politician faces extreme scrutiny if there's reason to suspect that personal relations are an element of the story-- ask Art Eggleton.

But in this instance the media keeps its lips sealed, or at most veiled references:

Perhaps Mr. Labonte tested Mr. Pettigrew's preparedness for sudden attacks, leaping upon the minister from inside his Paris hotel room's boudoir, a la Cato.

-kimmy

[BHS]

I recall you've mentioned Pettigrew's sexual orientation before, Argus. Is he "out", or is it media speculation, or is it just your suspicion?

Suggestions have popped up here and there, but the only place outside the internet which has outright said it was Frank magazine. Pettigrew is neither out of the closet nor in the closet. He is one of those guys, like Bill Graham, who are out to family, friends, campaign staff and workers, and his party, and to large segments of the gay community, but not to the general public. The media never mentions things like this as they have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Unless the MP outright says he's gay they won't ask and won't report anything which suggests he is.

The media will and have reported on him and his chauffeur, but I haven't seen any speculation about just "why" he was taking his chauffeur on trips. And I don't expect to. At most we might get a picture of the chauffeur, most likely in a tabloid, and get to see if he's pretty.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Riiiiigggghhht. You wait and see what happens when a Conservative MP gets outed. The CBC will be shouting it from the rooftops. Liberal media types are happy to ignore sexual orientation as long as you think pure, Liberal thoughts. Look at the idiotic kerfuffle about Dick Cheney's daughter, and John Roberts' plaid pants (somehow indicating potential homosexual leanings). Do you think the media in Canada will behave any differently?

You heard it here first: when a Conservative MP gets outed, the media will include it in every story they can, regardless of how inappropriate the inclusion of such information may be.

[BHS]

this is a pretty disgusting thread and those redneck homophobes that are making this a matter of Pettigrews sexuality, whatever it may be, should be: 2) ashamed of themselves and 2) banned from this site for showing their true colours.  Disgusting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did you have to include "redneck homophobes" in your post? Why not just "members"? It's pretty ironic that in a post where you complain about the bigotry of others and call for bannings you would choose to include your own slurs, and thereby risk your own exile.

[Greg]

This thread is dangling very close to being offensive and I think it is in everyone's interest to let it die or get to the point. Pettigrew's sexuality should not be the issue.

[Argus]

This thread is dangling very close to being offensive and I think it is in everyone's interest to let it die or get to the point.  Pettigrew's sexuality should not be the issue.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think the point is pretty darned clear. This is the misuse of our money in order to bring someone on foreign trips who has no business being on foreign trips.

Now the only aspect of Pettigrew's sexuality which is relevant - and it IS relevant - is that if he were straight there would not be the suspicion he was bringing along his lover. That's only because the chauffeur is a male. If the chauffeur were female and Pettigrew were straight, again, there would be that suspicion.

When questioning the lame explanations as to why a chauffeur was being brought on international trips we're forced to consider what OTHER reasons, aside from those suggested by the government, might be behind this expenditure of taxpayer money.

It was initially suggested by the minister's staff that he was a "security consultant" which fell fairly quickly in that he has no credentials for this. Then the minister said he "bounces ideas" off the chauffeur. Again, this seems odd. Pettigrew is hardly what one might call the common man. He's an intellectual elitist and a clotheshorse with a love of fine wines. Hard to imagine him sitting around a tavern scarfing back Molsons with taxi drivers and chauffeurs. And thus, hard to believe he would care would some "ordinary" guy, like a chaffeur, had to say about international politics and foreign - er, affairs.

It was inevitable that the suggestion he was along for "companionship" would arise, and the ministers's sexuality cannot be divorced from that given the gender of the chaffeur.

[Argus]

this is a pretty disgusting thread and those redneck homophobes that are making this a matter of Pettigrews sexuality, whatever it may be, should be: 2) ashamed of themselves and 2) banned from this site for showing their true colours.  Disgusting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

PC types kind of disgust me, too. Hypocrites, the lot of them.

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear Argus,

Then the minister said he "bounces ideas" off the chauffeur. Again, this seems odd. Pettigrew is hardly what one might call the common man. He's an intellectual elitist and a clotheshorse with a love of fine wines. Hard to imagine him sitting around a tavern scarfing back Molsons with taxi drivers and chauffeurs. And thus, hard to believe he would care would some "ordinary" guy, like a chaffeur,

I suspect you may be right, Argus, but here is a point to consider...(again, I refer to "Yes, Minister") Pettigrew may not hang out with drivers, but other drivers do. Thus, lots of otherwise unknown information may come to light to a minister through 'the help', and if one of them is particularly astute, (and loyal), it could be that Pettigrew does derive benefit from that person's acumen.

I'll bet the housekeepers and chauffeurs at Sussex, or Downing Street, know a lot more about who does what (or whom) than we'd care to imagine.

[Canuck E Stan]

It appears that the knives are out for Pettigrew from everybody, the media,Quebec,his fellow Liberals and maybe even Martin himself. Could this be the last election for Pettigrew?

Offside on policy and out of town when crisis hits, Pierre Pettigrew is the 'kamikaze' foreign minister