Winston Churchill used to say, "a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on". Today a Liberal allied bureaucrat illegally leaked an incomplete draft report from the Auditor General alleging a misleading of Parliament on G8 Summit spending. The media has been going bananas. This prompted Sheila Fraser to come out and say that this report should not have been released because it was still in the fact checking stages and that the public should be cautioned to wait for the final report.
Barney Fife at CTV was trying to make it sound like the Tories were trying to funnel money into Tony Clement's riding for partisan purposes. The headline on Power Play was "Tories may have broken law on G8". It is irresponsible to draw any conclusion about alleged criminal activity until the investigation is complete, when all you have is an early draft from the middle of an audit that had yet to be fully fact checked. There's a reason these reports are supposed to be kept secret until they are finished, but I suppose the Liberals were desperate and one of their supporters obtained and leaked a document from an incomplete investigation.
At the time of the Summit, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page (certainly no friend to the PMO) reviewed the Summit budgets and concluded that all the spending was reasonable, albeit expensive. Yes the Summits were expensive because we ambitiously planned to host two Summits at once, and many people on both the right and left were against this before it even took place. It is perfectly reasonable for anyone to be opposed to Canada hosting the Summits, but going so far as to allege fraud or some criminal activity is premature if not absurd.
The Conservative Party said today that they would like the final report released, and they wouldn't be saying that if they knew they had done something wrong. CTV News is running this story every ten minutes on a loop. I did not watch Soloman today, but I'm guessing it is all he talked about. He gets pretty worked up about G8-gate.
It's the hypocrisy of the Conservatives that bugs me. Everybody knows that the Liberals played their shady games and I have no doubt that an NDP government wouldn't behave any differently. Still, for a party that hasn't missed an opportunity to trumpet Liberal malfeasance and has placed integrity and transparency at the heart of campaign after campaign...pasting decade old quotes in official statements and passing them off as current...it's incompetent on top of hypocritical.
ReplyDeleteI've haven't voted Conservative since the merger with Reform so it's not like they're losing my vote over this but good grief I'm steamed that they believe the Canadian public is so stupid as to buy into this crap.
"Today a Liberal allied bureaucrat illegally leaked an incomplete draft report from the Auditor General alleging a misleading of Parliament on G8 Summit spending."
ReplyDeleteLike to speculate much? Please provide any sort of proof for this statement or I will consider it entirely fabricated.
And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what the AG's final report says, this is a win for the Liberals. Instead of preparing Harper for the crucial leaders debate, his top advisors are trying to put out this fire.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the media goes, the Liberals have been winning every single day. The coalition story has been dropped even though it is in the Bloc 's official platform, Jack layton has endorsed it and Mr. Ignatieff completely dodged the question when asked about it just after voting down the government. Not to mentioned there is a coalition agreement in place. Do you think the media would have let Harper off the hook so easy? No. Despite the media being so biased against the Cons, the polls are still sticking in majority territory. A win today? Maybe. But are voters buying it? No. Do they see through the obvious media bias? I think so.
ReplyDeleteHey Liberal SRule...here is the "proof" you demanded by the AG
ReplyDelete"AG's statement:
"We will not release or comment on our audit report on the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund. Under the Auditor General Act, we can only present reports when Parliament is sitting. The Office of the Audit General of Canada remains the custodian of its reports until they are presented to the Speaker of the House of Commons for tabling.
I strongly caution the public to wait until our final report on the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund has been tabled in Parliament and made public.
We work very hard to keep our reports confidential before they are tabled. There are indications that an early draft of this report may have been released by someone outside our Office. Our normal audit process requires that we share early drafts of our reports with government departments. We do this so they can validate the facts on which our conclusions are based, provide any additional relevant information, and so they can prepare responses to our recommendations. Sometimes during the process of fact validation, additional information is brought to our attention. Only the final report that is tabled in Parliament represents our audit findings and conclusions."
Joan Bryden specifically said she got this "draft" from an "opposition supporter"....funny how she got a later one that did NOT point the finger at the Tories - but of course, releasing THAT one would not suit their purposes, now would it.
What a joke our media are in this god forsaken country.
A Liberal allied bureaucrat? How do you know this? Why not the NDP? The CPC sometimes copies a NDPer by mistake. Anyway, the CPC very quickly (and illegally) released yet another draft to the press. It's also not the final version.
ReplyDeleteLibrano supporters feeling kinda cocky. Another pseudo scandal pushed by the MSM.
ReplyDeleteEven for a draft report the implications are pretty easy to understand.
ReplyDelete1. The conservatives, namely Clement, bypassed the proper procedures to approve funding. This is most likely illegal.
2. The projects that were done often had nothing to do with the G8/G20 summits which is what the money was supposed to be for.
3. The conservatives misrepresented what the AG said, badly, in a way which would make them look better. Even if not intentional (I doubt it wasn't) that is still sad.
Please Iceman don't be a total hypocrite. At this rate someone's going to toss you a shovel after you are already in a 30 ft hole.
Alberta Girl,
ReplyDeleteYou did not provide any proof for Iceman's statement. You did correctly state however that Bryden got the draft from an opposition supporter, not a "Liberal allied bureaucrat", like Iceman incorrectly alleged. Please understand the issue before you address a question.
"Please Iceman don't be a total hypocrite. At this rate someone's going to toss you a shovel after you are already in a 30 ft hole."
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have said it better than myself. This blog used to be worth reading but Iceman (and a lot of other Cons) are getting ridiculous.
David Akin posts the Feb report,
ReplyDeleteand it is different from the CP accusations about the Jan report...
note this AG report was leaked by a person only identifying self as 'conservative supporter' (imo CP was duped)
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/CanadaVotes/News/2011/04/11/17953826.html
Hey, anon. prove it WASN't a liberal. :6
ReplyDeleteWhy should anyone assume it would be an NDP infil? When the libs stoop to this sort of stuff all the time & also know the inner workings of federal government... something the NDP won't ever get to do outside of coalitions!
"Still, for a party that hasn't missed an opportunity to trumpet Liberal malfeasance and has placed integrity and transparency at the heart of campaign after campaign...pasting decade old quotes in official statements and passing them off as current...it's incompetent on top of hypocritical." ~ehh...
Care to notice that the things being brought up from back then still live strong in the lib party amongst their back benches? They haven't changed their tune on any of it but instead got WORSE!
They've blown they're chance to reform long ago and this election will be the end of them PERIOD
Oh, but how the Liberal cheer leaders, who prefer not to use their names, flock to this, yet another, fabricated scandal like flies flock to a pile of manure. However, better not to count your chickens before they hatch on this attempt.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore and more importantly, this alleged scandal, pales in comparison of the Liberal track record. I have yet to hear anyone in my area getting excited over this.
This is obviously another manufactured scandal that was rigged for release today. The Toronto media frauds along with their bureaucratic cohorts had this thing set up before the election. Anyone with any common sense can see that.
ReplyDeleteThe full frontal dishonesty and corruptness of these slime balls is a never ending continuum and is why it’s more important than ever to work for a majority Conservative government. Do you want these crooks running Canada and your life? Just listen to the reeking dishonesty of some of these liberal commenters. It speaks volumes of what they’re all about.
These scoundrels will destroy Canada is given a chance and the people of Canada will see through this like they’ve seen through all the other manufactured propaganda that these snakes have attempted to manipulate us with.
CBC has been all over this non story 24/7 all day and night. Could this be their problem once again...new poll today
ReplyDeleteConservatives....40%
Liberano$....... 28%
NDP.............15%
Suck it up .......losers.
At least the money was spent, and those business that got it paid workers. They will all be paying income tax on those profits. Unlike adscam where millions were passed in brown paper bags, never to be heard from again, or to advertising agencies for no work, reports that were never written, and the liberals never said they were sorry or repaid the money. Leadership candidates still owe thousands of dollars. This money was spent and the projects will not be destroyed. Praise for the hosting of the summits are coming in from the leaders of the countries that attended.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has their head in the sand it is the coalition supporters.
"I am an American Democrat. I will vote for Kerry in November"
ReplyDeleteVery creepy,
this guy wants to Prime Minister of Canada.
A very convenient "scandal", well timed, just before the debates. Liberals and their media are desperately corrupt and will do and say anything to seize power... very disturbing, third world thuggish behaviour. Once again we witness the Liberal/Separatist/NDP coalition and their media whores co-ordinating a well timed, preconceived smear campaign. While it's clear the Liberals, Separatists, NDP are dishonest and corrupt to the core, it is truly disturbing to behold the corruption and deliberate manipulation of the electoral process by the MSM.
ReplyDeleteOne thing no one mentions.There was no stolen money,just money spent where it was needed in a Canadian community.No BROWN envelopes,no THEFT,no payola,no corruption,just money well spent.Money that we know where it went,unlike the Liberal millions perhaps and more likely BILLIONS that we know nothing of.
ReplyDeleteWow , these liberal commenters are swamping everything. The National Post comment site is like the G+M now. Ordinary Canadians are being pushed out by these coalition supporters.
ReplyDeleteThe media is definitely leading the Liberal war room.
Well Liberal Srules....see I DO understand the issue...Liberal/NDP...tomato/tomatoe...potato/potatoe.....
ReplyDeleteThey are one in the same LS.
Don't be so flippin arrogant!!!!
Alberta Girl, your previous comment does nothing to reassure me that you understand the issue. Why did you bring up a comparison between the Liberal and NDP?
ReplyDeleteThe point I was trying to make is that Iceman incorrectly stated that a "Liberal bureaucrat" leaked the document, when in actual fact no one, except for Bryden, knows who leaked the document and so no one should make baseless acquisitions about who did leak the document.
UN..LS...Sweetie - try to keep up
ReplyDeleteshe SAID it was "an opposition supporter"
The Liberals and NDP are in opposition
ergo...it HAD to be a Liberal or NDP supporter.
Sigh....trying to explain simple things is really quite trying sometimes.
Alberta Girl, the Bloc is also in the opposition. Couldn't it also have been them considering Duceppe is not a Harper or Conservative fan since he called him a liar in the first week of the campaign? In the end, you will believe what you want no one knows who leaked the report except for Bryden.
ReplyDelete