Isn't this convenient, "in and out-gate" is suddenly back in the news as Elections Canada has decided to charge 4 senior Tories despite the fact that this went to court and Elections Canada lost. Thumbing their noses at the court ruling, this supposedly unbiased institution won't let it go. Expect the CBC to go bonkers on this simultaneously, as Odagate simmers and the left needs a fresh dose of political catnip. I don't get how they can lose the court case and press charges anyway. Should someone be charged with a crime if the court clears them of any wrongdoing?
I still remember when they raided the Conservative election headquarters and they had the CBC reporters meet them at the scene of the raid. It was awfully considerate of them to notify the CBC ahead of time. I fully expect the Tories to win this court challenge just as they won the last one. Ultimately the average Canadian doesn't care if local candidates buy national advertising. What helps the national brand helps the local candidate. This is a non story, but it will give Soloman to rant about.
I thought we were done with in and out-gate when the Tories won the initial court challenge. Evidently Elections Canada wants to go forward regardless of what the courts decide. How much money do you think EC has spent on in and out-gate? That would be an interesting Access to Information request...
The Liberals will try anything. If there isn't a scandal, create one, or go back to what seemed to be one. But not. I wonder how many of the left are with Elections Canada?
ReplyDeleteThe PM says the law was changed after the election, hmmmm.
ReplyDelete@aka_pooch
Elections Canada is going to destroy the implicit trust the public gives them. What happens to a public institution when the public sees them as an arm of a political party?
ReplyDeleteAll this stuff is beginning to look a bit convenient following a couple weeks of polls showing the Conservatives approaching a majority. If I were more cynical, I would say there seems to be a whole lot of people out there wanting to help Iggy improve his numbers.
ReplyDeleteDon Martin on Power Play had excellent show today, I recommend watching.
ReplyDelete@aka_pooch
Don't forget EC gave those extensions to Liberal leadership contestants and now the court has given them to the end of this year.
ReplyDeleteClearly the culture of corruption that infests the Liberal party has infected the bureaucrats at EC. It would be interesting to find out how much taxpayers money is being wasted by EC on this obvious, and disturbing witch hunt. EC impartiality has to be questioned, along with their sanity.
ReplyDeleteMarc Mayrand
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Born in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, Marc Mayrand studied law at the University of Ottawa and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
He taught briefly, then joined the national Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy in 1982, and stayed until 2007. He rose to the top job there in 1997.
In 2007, he was appointed Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Canada, an independent agency of the Parliament of Canada responsible for supervising the election campaign financing and voting methods. He refused to alter the voting procedure to require Muslim women to remove the veil, as it was not in the Elections Act as written by parliamentarians.
Trudeau was PM when Mayrand started his snivel servant career.
ReplyDeleteIn my riding, we just had an Assistant Returning Officer appointed who has been an active Liberal EDA board member for years.
ReplyDeleteOne small problem with Elections Canada conspiracy theory: Elections Canada didn't make the decision to prosecute. The Commissioner of Elections referred the case to the Public Prosecutions Service who recommended that charges be laid. The PPS was created in in 2006 and staffed by the Harper government. The decision to file was made by prosecutors appointed by Stephen Harper.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there has never been a shread of evidence that reporters were tipped to the search Conservative party headquarters by Elections Canada.
Also, the federal court's decision in the in-and-out rebate case was based on the fact that Elections Canada had NOT filed charges against the Conservative Party in tis matter. In other words, the court said either this spending is legal and you have to pay the rebates, or it's illegal and you should be filing charges, but you can't do one and not the other. Elections Canada has now said, yes, this campaign spending was illegal and we are both filing charges and denying the rebates.
So, basically, most of post is based on factual errors.
(As an aside, Elections Canada is appealing the federal court decision in the earlier case on the basis that they should be able to deny the rebates even if they can't lay charges because the burden of proof is higher for proving an offense--over spending, false returns--than in a civil case like the disagreement over the rebates.)
Who cares...this comes up now after 5 years and the Liberals at 23% in the polls. Elections Canada did a similar stunt with cameras and CBC wondering around the hallways of the Conservatives offices years ago. Who you kidding?
ReplyDelete1/ first the bogus Bev Oda NOT
2/ Then..Canada is bad in Libya
3/ Kevin Page Liberal stooge appears
4/Now we get Elections Canada
5/ every media outlet in the country smearing the Govt. non stop with the CBC & CTV
6/all because the CPC cut off the Kairos group and are at majority territory in the polls.
Maybe Elections Canada should start telling us about the numerous extensions they gave to the Liberals to fund their campaigns when they had the leadership for Liberal leader. They STILL haven't paid back the money.
Elections Canada biased? You bet.
Elevtions Canada is full of partisan appointees,mostly from 13 of Liberal rule. My brother-in-law is/was a lifetime member of the LPC,and worked diligently for them for many years. When he retired,he was appointed to a position with EC.
ReplyDeleteHe refuses to discuss politics with me now,as he says he's supposed to be impartial. He manages to say that with only a trace of a grin.
EC is about as impartial as the CBC.
DMorris
EC could easily prove they are not bias and are not acting out as agents of the Liberal party by finally going after the Liberal party for their nefarious, criminal behaviour involving Adscam. EC, like most Canadians are well aware of the criminal activity surrounding the Liberal party of Canada with Adscam, but EC remains conveniently and inexplicably silent on this well known case of theft and malfeasance. EC has obviously been infected with the Liberal party's "culture of corruption".
ReplyDelete