On political smears

[Argus]

I wasn't sure where to put this. Thought about the media group, but it's not just about media

This is the story of a woman who decided to get involved in politics. She got the nomination for the conservatives in Alberta. And then she got smeared as a racist by the NDP, with the enthusiastic support of the Liberals and the media. Yet the accusation was based on anonymous, incomplete experts from  years old social media posts, the entirety of which were never made public. So when people say that good people don't want to get involved in politics, this is one of the reasons why.

She's now suing all concerned; the NPD, the Liberals and the CBC among others.

What happened to Caylan Ford 20 months ago, when she was running as a candidate for the United Conservative Party in Alberta, should terrify anyone thinking of running for public office. What has happened to her since should worry the rest of us.

Now, she is finally fighting back. After her candidacy was ended by false accusations that she is racist and a “white supremacist,” she’s suing those she says defamed her, including the Alberta NDP, the CBC and the Toronto Star. Anyone concerned about the polarization of our political discourse should be rooting for her.

Ford was the kind of candidate parties dream of: a Mandarin-speaking former federal foreign affairs adviser; a campaigner for persecuted minorities with a master’s degree in international relations and another in human rights law from Oxford; a documentary filmmaker; and a locally raised young mother of two. She won a competitive nomination and was poised to defeat the incumbent NDP justice minister in Alberta’s May 2019 election.

Then, less than a month before election day, with a must-win seat in jeopardy, the NDP’s attack machine went into action. An anonymously sourced article in Press Progress, a pro-NDP news website, reported that several years earlier in a private Facebook conversation, Ford had “complained ‘White Supremacist Terrorists’ Are Treated Unfairly,” and “echoed white supremacist rhetoric.” Within minutes, the NDP called on her party to remove her. Under pressure to be a team player, and with little time to react, Ford withdrew rather than cause a distraction. By the next day, it was national news.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/howard-anglin-the-smear-campaign-that-took-down-a-promising-politician

[Queenmandy85]

Thank you for a great post. Politics has taken on a corosive tone.

I was canvassing for a Conservative candidate in the early eighties when a voter said she wouldn't vote for him because he owned the local pornographic theatre. I went back to the campaign headquarters and reported what I heard. It turned out the candidate was one of a group that was buying the theatre to turn it into a community theatre with classic movies, and live theatre. The source of the rumour was an NDP activist who heard a snippet of the story and wanted to believe he was Saskatoon.s "Porn King." 

She did end up apologizing and the Conservative won but it shows why really good people are reluctant to run. 

[OftenWrong]

On 12/22/2020 at 9:25 PM, Queenmandy85 said:

it shows why really good people are reluctant to run. 

It has ever been thus and is only a matter of degrees. It evolves along with our attitudes in general. Look at the media we consume to see how it defines us.

Even more fundamental to the problem is it's almost impossible to be rich and "good" at the same time. It's kind of like the 2nd law of thermodynamics, or something. All things decay to shit if left unattended, and eventually even when attended.

[Adam1980]

So in an ideal world I suppose the parties should be trying to procure these types of high achievers, better than average humans and bringing them into the party fold. Then in theory they could accomplish good things at the local level, and throw their good ideas into the party 'idea cauldron' and let the ideas get discussed and argued over and rejected and refined until something good pops out at the party level and appeals to voters. Then move up the food chain...

I wonder if this is why we don't really see much originality and good ideas at the federal / provincial level. Too much perversion and filters for the good stuff when one begins the journey.

Good thread. 

[Adam1980]

On 12/22/2020 at 8:25 PM, Queenmandy85 said:

The source of the rumour was an NDP activist who heard a snippet of the story and wanted to believe he was Saskatoon.s "Porn King

One hopes that the activist would've actually thought something real and bad was being done...my wager is 1/2 laziness, 1/2 malignant self serving intent.

[Queenmandy85]

6 hours ago, Adam1980 said:

One hopes that the activist would've actually thought something real and bad was being done...my wager is 1/2 laziness, 1/2 malignant self serving intent.

I actually knew her. She was not a malignant person. It is human nature to want to believe something that reinforces our bias. She believed the rumour and felt it important to "protect" the community, but did not verify the rumour. You only have to read this forum to see all the slander directed at politicians such as Sheer, Trudeau, Goodale, Svend Robinson etc. In this particular instance, the NDP'er apologized to the Tory candidate in person and publicly. 

The lesson is, it is acceptable to disagree with a person's politics but don't make it a personal attack. Politics, like in sport, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it is how play the game.

[WestCanMan]

On 12/22/2020 at 11:59 AM, Argus said:

and the CBC among others.

The same CBC that won't give any credence to Tony Bobulinski was busted for spreading defamatory rumours from a largely-unknown FB poster.

Our media is entirely bogus. 

The CBC needs to be de-funded. Sink or swim ijjits.

[WestCanMan]

16 hours ago, Queenmandy85 said:

It is human nature to want to believe something that reinforces our bias.  

That was true fifteen years ago. Now it's human nature to repeat things seen on national news that are known to be lies. 

Quote

You only have to read this forum to see all the slander directed at politicians such as Sheer, Trudeau, Goodale, Svend Robinson etc.

Svend lol. How was he smeared? I know he was a shoplifter but I didn't hear any 'smears'. I don't pay much attention to local politics though.

[Michael Hardner]

Quote

You just don’t have the same attempts to separate the violent terrorists from the wider community of belief.

Well this sounds like a *principle*, which is something I can get behind.  I'm not sure who she's complaining about, but ok.

When there are acts of terror - can we all agree to separate the violent terrorists from the wider community of belief ?  We can call it "Caylan's Law"   I'm all about the principles, you see.

[OftenWrong]

This story reminds me of what happened to Patrick Brown, and how he we not given enough time to defend himself. He was railroaded at the last minute and in stepped Doug Ford, a man already notorious for his shady past.

The system is totally corrupt and rigged. Only we are not so good at hiding it in Canada these days.

[Michael Hardner]

Just now, OftenWrong said:

This story reminds me of what happened to Patrick Brown, and how he we not given enough time to defend himself. He was railroaded at the last minute and in stepped Doug Ford, a man already notorious for his shady past.

The system is totally corrupt and rigged. Only we are not so good at hiding it in Canada these days.

"Rigged" or "flawed" ?  Seems to me like you're saying Doug Ford played his cards and won.  

I still don't get what the Patrick Brown issue was.  He served a drink to a woman or ?  I would have liked to see how Wynne would do against him but ... Ford is papa Ontario now and likely for a few elections more.

[WestCanMan]

21 minutes ago, Boges said:

Perhaps you can cite instances where JT accepted donations from a head of a racist organization. 

Trudeau is the leader of the party as well. So he would, kind of, call the shots. Not an Apples to Apples comparison. But I'd love to see the scandal that would follow if he did. 

Of course he was offered/sent donations by at least one terrorist. There's not one fanatical terrorist in the western hemisphere that doesn't fully support Justin Trudeau at this point in time. 

It's literally impossible that none of them sent him a donation. It's just a matter of whether or not he was well-informed enough of who the donor was, and then willing to deny the transfer of funds.

I'm considering sending Trudeau a donation now, and then declaring myself a jihadi online, so that if Trudeau wins the next election I can have him cast out of the Liberal party.

 

FWIW I'm not a Sloan supporter, I'm a Dr Lewis supporter (O'Toole was actually my second choice iirc), but this sets a dangerours precedent.

A person can work their whole lifetime to forward their political career and have it all taken back by one low-level donor....? 

Sure OT, maybe the mod can move this. 

[GrittyLeftist]

This is an interesting thread.  It prompted me to go back and revisit the story.  After much googling, I was not able to find the controversial comments in context.  This is very strange to me.  I mean, if I were in Mrs. Ford's shoes and believed my comments were being taken out of context, I suppose I would publish the entire "secret" conversation in full, provide that context, and then answer any questions Canadians had for me. 

If I were a reporter, rather than insinuating that someone is a white supremacist, I would give the raw, unedited transcript, highlighting the problematic areas, and then let the public decide.  Was anyone else able to find her comments in their entirety?  I can only find snippets and excerpts.

I fully agree that there is too much character assassination in Canadian politics.  Voting based on policy > voting based on party > voting based on personality.  Character assassination is useless for refuting policy.