Draft auditor General's G8/G20 report alleges government illegality
April 11, 2011 - 4:19pm
A gift from the gods! Just in time for the debates. Another nail in the Conservative coffin.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/04/11/cv-election-ag-report.html
The auditor general says the Harper government allegedly misinformed Parliament to win approval for a $50-million G8 fund that lavished money on dubious projects in a Conservative riding.
And she suggests in a draft report the process may have been illegal.
And she suggests in a draft report the process may have been illegal.
Now that there's evidence that the law has been broken, the RCMP might have to open a criminal investigation during the election and even lay charges against some Conservative Members of Parliament.
The Canadian Press were on the job. We'll see what Postmedia, the Sun chain, Globe/CTV, and the CBC do with it.
The auditor-general so spooked Paul Martin with the sponsorship material that he scuttled his own ship. Harper will not rise to the bait in the same way, unfortunatley.
That said, this is the real deal. Straight illegal patronage. Mike Harris style polticos feathering their nests.
What is the best way of making something out of this? I like the RCMP angle JKR.
This IS the Liberal Sponsorship Scandal!
Looking at this issue from Harper's perspective, he may want to release the report before the dabates instead of being hammered on hiding the report during the debates.
If the report is as bleak as it seems, Harper's probably caught between a rock and a hard place.
I feel like Oscar the Grouch, loving the stench coming off the latest collection of conservative garbage.
No wonder there is so much walking across the floor between these two parties - lib/con same old story!
This IS the Liberal Sponsorship Scandal!
Hilarious.
LeakWatch: So, why can't Sheila Fraser just release the final version of the G8 report ...http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2011/04/leakwatch-s...
And it's just the tip of the G8 fiasco iceberg. The allegations of how fifty million dollars was spent in one rural Conservative riding will only raise questions about how more than one billion was spent in urban Toronto. The implication will undercut their entire claim to being good fiscal managers AND remind Torontonians of the G8 headache all in one go. To add icing to the cake, the whole story will be framed in a context of possible criminal behavior and further disrespect for Parliament.
Right on the eve of the debates!
I wonder if this could be to the 2011 election what the RCMP investigation of Goodale was to 2006?
In any case its all good - corruption and scandals on the part of the Tories being a hot issue is a godsend to the NDP since the Liberals have no credibility at all on this issue.
This article is great.
Tories left scrambling after leak of G8 report, call for release of final draftThe Conservative election campaign is in full damage-control mode following a bombshell report from the auditor general that's critical of government spending during last June's G8 meeting.
An early draft of the report, a chapter of which has been seen by The Canadian Press, accuses the government of misinforming Parliament to win approval of a $50-million fund for spending in Industry Minister Tony Clement's riding.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/federal-election/leaders-cut-ap...
[display of feline vindictiveness]
And who is the middle of this shit storm? Tony Clement! -- and bagkitty dances his happy dance of schadenfreude.
[/display of feline vindictiveness]
Baird just gave a press conference and said the revised Report contains no reference to illegalities whatsoever. The G-G said she will not release the Report before Parliament meets again after the election.
How does baird know what the "revised" report says?? Cabinet ministers are not supposed to see the report until its tabled. For all we know he's just lying about what's in the revised report to try to stall until after the election.
And it's just the tip of the G8 fiasco iceberg. The allegations of how fifty million dollars was spent in one rural Conservative riding will only raise questions about how more than one billion was spent in urban Toronto. The implication will undercut their entire claim to being good fiscal managers AND remind Torontonians of the G8 headache all in one go.
Particularly as Toronto, unlike Huntsville, has absolutely nothing to show for it all - except a few vicious toys for the blackshirt boys to use on us in the future.
Oh what a happy day this is.
Whaddaya mean "feel like"?
Damn you, smug Calgarian! But not as much as I damn Tonyyyyyy who I've hated since the Harris years. And I'm doing a bigcitygal happy dance myself.
You're talking about the sound and water cannons aren't you? There's an expense worth the money. *eyeroll*
I think you're forgetting the spy cameras that were mounted at key downtown intersections and never taken down. Fuckers.
But Maysie don't you feel much safer while walking downtown?
I never felt unsafe.
Except when armed state-paid thugs took over my city.
If you can misspend $1.2 billion on masturbatory police-state exhibitionism, I'd like to know how.
Damn.
This happy thread has taken a turn. And it's Catchfire's fault. Again.
The Cons are claiming that the report will not actually suggest any illegality or misleading of Parliament, and they leaked a draft to Robert Fife of CTV which he read out a little while ago. Still, even the particular draft that the Cons are relying on is damaging, so hopefully this will FINALLY drop Harper down into minority territory and Canadians will start paying attention to the corruption.
Sheila Fraser:Tories misquoted me on Summit costs
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/04/11/cv-election-weston-ag-fraser.html
And the AG is saying that the Dear Leader and his party are lying
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/04/11/cv-elec...
The opposition parties need to build a narrative that shows all the corruption and lies Harper has been involved in. It's ludicrous that he still has big leads in the polls. Why aren't Canadians waking up?
Don't they care that Harper hired Bruce Carson, a convicted criminal, to work for him? It's time all this stuff was tied together to expose who Harper truly is.
Separate issue:
Tories used praise for Liberals to defend summit costs: Fraser
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/04/11/cv-elec...
By my count, that is three posters linking to the same article in the space of 20 minutes. Now, the first two have the same time stamp, so I am going to assume a "simul-post", but the third time?
[school teacher voice]
We must pay a little attention to what other people say [post].
[/school teacher voice]
When I looked at several more polls today showing Harper with huge leads, it really struck me how disgusting this situation is. Here we have a man who does everything from hiring a known criminal to be his adviser to being found in contempt of Parliament, and Canadians don't seem to care. They continue to reward him with huge numbers, so no wonder he feels emboldened to do whatever he wants. Canadians appear to condone everything Harper does. If Harper doesn't take a sharp drop in the polls this week after the latest G8 scandal, I think it will be safe to say that Canadians have no intention of punishing him.
A lot of evidence of corruption among the Liberals started to surface as early as 2000 (remember the auberge in Shawinigan and the beginnings of the sposnorship scandal went all the way back to there) - it took about four years before it started to actually have an impact on Liberal polling numbers.
On P&P Scott Reid suggested this (A-G's Report) could be Harper's "Waterloo" moment.
Lens Solution, you took the words out of my mouth. I have a theory that the Cons like it when the Canadian public is turned off by politics and disengaged, and even encourage it.
On P&P Scott Reid suggested this (A-G's Report) could be Harper's "Waterloo" moment.
I doubt it. I'm not getting my hopes up. Harper seems to be able to lie his way out of anything.
I think the best we can hope for is that it drops him out of majority territory.
'It’s beneath contempt': NDP's Martin
“This was complete misrepresentation and a fraudulent use of a quote about an event that happened years before, cut and pasted into this context,” Martin said.
Martin told the CBC's Solomon that Fraser pointed out in the letter that she wasn’t even a witness before that committee.
"She made no official comment about (it), because she was in the middle of her investigation about the G8/G20,” Martin said.
“The auditor general is the most trusted individual on Parliament Hill. For (the Conservatives) to misrepresent and to falsify her comments is unethical. It’s dishonest. It’s beneath contempt.”
This is unbelievable!
The Conservatives plagerized the Auditor General !!!!
This is a criminal act!
Sheila Fraser should sue the government.
I can't believe Canadians will vote for this kind of government that's "beneath contempt."
Auditor-General boxes Harper in
The problem for Mr. Harper is if the final report is bad news for him, it is hard to see how he gets to May 2 without this issue dogging him day in, day out.
Here's the Feruary report released by the Cons today.
AG report on infrastructure
http://www.torontosun.com/news/decision2011/2011/04/11/17953806.html
This is pretty bad - now the Tories are themsleves leaking drafts of the report they were never supposed to have had in the first place - to prove that they weren't criminals - just incompetent and wasteful!!
I have a theory that the Cons like it when the Canadian public is turned off by politics and disengaged, and even encourage it.
Don Newman posted an article that touches on this very subject over at ipolitics.ca today. Towards the end he says:
The attack ads will be designed to discourage Liberal and uncommitted voters from going to the polls. In a low-turnout election, right-wingers have found their supporters are less numerous but most motivated. Anything they can do to keep the turnouts low helps their chances.
The attack ads may make ordinary people cringe and turn off of politics, but they don’t deter the people who don’t want to register their guns, don’t think a woman has a right to chose, the people who think we need big new prisons even though the crime rate is going down.
Newman's great. I hope Solomon invites him on P&P soon.
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Cons and ex-cons! And weeks to go yet!
The opposition parties need to build a narrative that shows all the corruption and lies Harper has been involved in. It's ludicrous that he still has big leads in the polls. Why aren't Canadians waking up?
Don't they care that Harper hired Bruce Carson, a convicted criminal, to work for him? It's time all this stuff was tied together to expose who Harper truly is.
The polling in the days just before the vote should be mighty interesting.
I really hope this sticks to them. I'm just not convinced it will. If hardcore/softcore con voters didn't care about contempt of parliament, why would they care about misappropriation of funds?
For softcore Con voters contempt of parliament could be chalked up to political games by the opposition. This latest scandal is of the Con's own doing and it contradicts their claims of being fiscally responsible. Now the hardcore Con voters will continue to support Harper and will argue that a) the report shouldn't have been leaked and b) we all should wait until the final report before judging.
and for anyone who has ever had children or been one c) the Liberals did it too. (Like that's an excuse, but I guarentee it will be used)
“This was complete misrepresentation and a fraudulent use of a quote about an event that happened years before, cut and pasted into this context,” Martin said.
Martin told the CBC's Solomon that Fraser pointed out in the letter that she wasn’t even a witness before that committee.
"She made no official comment about (it), because she was in the middle of her investigation about the G8/G20,” Martin said.
“The auditor general is the most trusted individual on Parliament Hill. For (the Conservatives) to misrepresent and to falsify her comments is unethical. It’s dishonest. It’s beneath contempt.”
This is unbelievable!
The Conservatives plagerized the Auditor General !!!!
This is a criminal act!
Sheila Fraser should sue the government.
I can't believe Canadians will vote for this kind of government that's "beneath contempt."
Stockwell Day keeps claiming that he doesn't know how the plagerized words appeared!
Absolutely disgusting!
We need to get Canadians to feel very angry and outraged about this, so that they will be motivated to go out and vote against Harper!
Don't know if it's new but saw a good NDP ad talking about cleaning up corruption by the Cons. Well timed for sure.
The Cons are doing a good job with their spin. They leaked a version of the report tonight that doesn't talk about illegality or misleading Parliament, and so obviously Harper tomorrow in the debate will claim that the final report won't be so bad for his government afterall.
There's so much spin going on right now it's hard to keep track of it all, but I'm positive the A-G said about that other leaked version - hey, not so hasty - wait until you read the final report.
Did I not hear rumours a few weeks ago during the committee hearings on the contempt issue that there might be more things revealed during the campaign that would seriously damage the Conservatives and their "Standing Up for Canada"sloganeering???
The Conservatives don't seem to be getting too damaged so far. They still have big leads in the polls.
Unfortunately nothing seems to stick to them.
Outside the Ottawa bubble, is anyone really paying attention?
Got the debates and this juicy little morsel that came up yesterday...
Let it sink in for a few days...Then we'll see....
From what I've read,the Conservatives have topped out at around 40%.Meaning that they only seem to hold their base and not much more.There is still alot of undecided voters in vote rich Ontario,and with this G8/G20 stuff coming out (and the potential fallout from the illegality of it) I suspect some of those voters on the fence will start to look for alternatives...
The Cons really have been busy muddying the water since the AG story broke earlier today. That's something they're very good at and seems to be effective in confusing Canadians to the point where they don't know what to believe. I mean, I expected a swift response but even I was shocked by how fast they leaked the revised report.
Yup. The Conservatives are very, very formidable. I never thought it would be so difficult to bring Harper down when he first came on the scene, but he has turned out to be an incredibly strong foe.
We'd also have to consider the current situation as evidence that when economic uncertainty prevails, significant portions of a well indoctrinated commodity society will permit themselves to be susceptible to an agenda which best exemplifies their most selfish impulses. A lack of basic honesty, criminal behaviour, warfare, etc are merely seen as tools that must be employed to preserve the only existence people are familiar with. It doesn't seem to matter how bad things become, how corrupt and treacherous the system is, so long as the favoured demographic remain convinced that they'll retain their first in line status for the every increasing slim pickings. Systemic problems are never traced back to the source, because they are always depicted by the corporate media as either being someone else's fault, requiring measures up to and including war to address, or the time honoured ‘that's just the way things are' excuse.
Yup. The Conservatives are very, very formidable. I never thought it would be so difficult to bring Harper down when he first came on the scene, but he has turned out to be an incredibly strong foe.
It's not actually these Conservatives that are so formidable, it's the consensus presented by the 'converged and consolidated' corporate media that is so difficult to fight.
Layton just sent a letter to the other leaders and to Sheila Fraser asking for a meeting Thursday morning to find a way to release the final draft of the A-G's Report. Being discussed on P&P.
Sheila Fraser's response:
The Office of the A-G has not received the letter, and furthermore, said she will be in Nunavut the rest of the week.
P&P panel is suggesting a teleconference.
So these unelected people who are not members of parliament are going to try and force an officer of parliament to turn over documents and break the law? That's almost as bad as getting the GG to prorogue so you can stay in the PM's office.
Well, it was Layton who wrote the letter. And there have been two leaks of draft copies of the Report already. The argument is that it is the public's right to know. All the party leaders are onside with the idea, and even so is the Speaker of the House.
Yes, Layton who is unelected and not an MP. That's a great argument but it's asking a civil servant whose job it is to make sure politicians don't break the law to break the law.
Despite the best efforts of her (Fraser's) office, the law has been broken already - twice - and only by releasing the final report can Canadians be confident that nothing shady (like a cover-up) is going on.
Three wrongs make a right?
Now you're getting it! Welcome to the world of politics.
The Office of the A-G has not received the letter, and furthermore, said she will be in Nunavut the rest of the week.
Politics? She's having nunavit!
Incorrect, babble is a pro-indigenous place, or at least aspires to be. That means not mocking First Language language names--especially when the joke is based on a mispronunciation. Please be more conscious of your language in the future.
Can someone please explain to me whether the NDP voted against releasing this report in committee. I am seeing writing suggesting the NDP is in bed with harper on this and that Jack Layton is willing to support the Tories. I am under the impression that the New Dems voted against releasing the report. I would really like to understand this. Can anyone clarify this for me?
Thanks.
For Arthur:
NDP defends blocking motion CBC News Posted: Apr 12, 2011
Chistopherson also defended a decision to block a motion that could have allowed Fraser's report on G8 spending to be released during the election.
The Hamilton Centre NDP candidate told reporters on Tuesday that a motion came up before the House of Commons's public accounts committee that would have opened the door to permitting the auditor general's report to be released when Parliament was not in session.
The NDP voted with the Conservatives on March 24 to put off the motion to a future meeting. However, the Conservative minority government fell on March 25.
Christopherson, who was vice-chair of the Commons committee, said on Tuesday, however, that the Liberal request came up on short notice without time to examine the proposal or bring in the auditor general to discuss the change in policy.
"Of course I realized there was some partisan advantage for me, and other MPs, if I allowed this to happen, but it was not in keeping with the democratic traditions of Parliament, nor was it respectful of the office of the auditor," Christopherson said.
"The hypocrisy of the move was too much. Political parties have done their fair share of sitting on auditor general reports in the past."
He said there are very strict rules around how the auditor general's reports are released and that changing the practice for partisan gain would be wrong.
"In my view I did the right thing in terms of why I'm there and whose views I'm representing in that committee," Christopherson said.
The NDP candidate said he'd make the same vote if he had the chance to do it again. Christopherson said now that the draft reports are in the public realm, he said it would be beneficial to release the final report.
"It wasn't about the content, it was about the integrity of the auditor general's work. These rules are in place for very good reasons," he said.
@boom boom:
So, what do I say to people who say the NDP went along with the Tories?
"Christopherson, who was vice-chair of the Commons committee, said on Tuesday, however, that the Liberal request came up on short notice without time to examine the proposal or bring in the auditor general to discuss the change in policy"
I am very sorry, I don't understand what "change in policy" is being discussed. It is a change of policy regarding releasing auditor general reports in a draft form without discussion? Could you expand on this for me a little. I don't get it.
Thanks.
Unfortunately it seems like the G8/G20 scandal that we all thought would break the Cons a week ago has turned out to have no effect. The opposition leaders don't seem to even be talking about it anymore.
Why aren't they pointing out that the Cons even tried to manipulate something that Sheila Fraser didn't really say?
Unfortunately it seems like the G8/G20 scandal that we all thought would break the Cons a week ago has turned out to have no effect. The opposition leaders don't seem to even be talking about it anymore.
Their pollsters told them it had no traction.
Stockwell Day said it was an error and he apologized. What now - have a debate as to whether it was an error or deliberate? Whether Day was sincere or not? This is all penny ante stuff, in my view. They should attack Harper for being in the pocket of the wealthy, for following U.S. foreign policy and doing them one better, for ruining the environment, for attacking women and youth, etc. And they should offer a vision of how they will do things differently. But they can't - not really. I haven't heard one of them say, "The minute we're elected, safe withdrawal of every single soldier from Afghanistan." "The minute we're elected, Kairos gets all its funding back." (Oh, remember Bev Oda? nothing about that either. "No traction.") "The minute we're elected, not one more penny to the oil companies." Etc. Something exciting, popular, and verifiable.
I am having an argument with someone on this and I need help. Can someone please explain to me why what the NDP did was the right thing? If it wasn't, why not. And again, what does "the Liberal request came up on short notice without time to examine the proposal or bring in the auditor general to discuss the change in policy" mean? I don't understand and would really like to be able to discuss this intelligently.
Thanks.
Arthur, I will answer your question. A notice of motion for this committee requires that the notice of motion be received by committee members 48 hours prior to the meeting. The Liberals didn't get their notice of motion there on time. Thus, Chistopherson voted on a procedural matter to the main motion. The main motion was challenged on a point of order (or out of order). The Chair ruled it in order, and there would have been an "appeal to chair". Since the notice did not get there (and to the committee members 48 hrs prior to the mtg), he voted that the motion was out of order (and not on the actual motion itself).
It was procedural.
That said, the Liberal who brought this motion forward and sits on this committee sure messed it up as how come he/she couldn't get the motion there on time. What a dork!
I am having an argument with someone on this and I need help. Can someone please explain to me why what the NDP did was the right thing? If it wasn't, why not. And again, what does "the Liberal request came up on short notice without time to examine the proposal or bring in the auditor general to discuss the change in policy" mean? I don't understand and would really like to be able to discuss this intelligently.
Thanks.
The Office of the Attorney General is an independent office and it has very strict rules on who gets to see drafts of its reports and when the final report is released to parliament. Those kinds of rules are not something to be revamped by the use of a hasty motion thought up in a campaign back room.
This is one of most important offices for protecting the public purse so I had to agree with the NDP vote. If the Liberals had tabled this motion in time to debate it and have it sent to Fraser for comment then it is likely it should have been supported but not the way it was done. Haste makes for sloppy regulations where smart people can find loopholes big enough to drive trucks through. The next time someone in a campaign room has an idea about using the Independent offices for partisan purposes I hope there are well thought out rules in place not ones thought up on the eve of an election.
Thank you NS. I'm a public school trustee and have taken a parliamentarian course.
Chistopherson didn't actually vote on the motion to release the document but if the rule of order was followed. He voted correctly. Rules of order are about democracy.
Hi everyone:
Thanks for all of that. I was able to think it through, and I just shut up my Lib pal. He didn't have any come back at all then to mumble something about "Layton is helping Harper", and that was it.
I think they are getting worried now. I am not sure the New Dems are going to necessarily do better then last time; I must admit I feel more optimistic though. But what this shows is the Libs are clearly starting in some quarters to get a little desparate.
Glad to see it. Thanks again for putting up with me on this. It was important to me, and I appreciate that everyone cared enough to take the time to help me with this.
My sincere and respectfull thanks to eveyone!
lol Arthur - the tag "Layton is helping Harper" is the same tag "a vote for Layton is a vote for Harper" - yeah, it's the shell game of libs, because they think they are the Canadian universe - they are not!
Hi everyone:
Thanks for all of that. I was able to think it through, and I just shut up my Lib pal. He didn't have any come back at all then to mumble something about "Layton is helping Harper", and that was it.
I think they are getting worried now. I am not sure the New Dems are going to necessarily do better then last time; I must admit I feel more optimistic though. But what this shows is the Libs are clearly starting in some quarters to get a little desparate.
Glad to see it. Thanks again for putting up with me on this. It was important to me, and I appreciate that everyone cared enough to take the time to help me with this.
My sincere and respectfull thanks to eveyone!
And here is what I had to put up with today:
"Art FYI.
From the World Socialist Web Site"
Layton's readiness to again do a deal with the Harper government has reportedly caused frictions within his parliamentary caucus and unease among sections of the trade union officialdom.
Some of the social-democratic politicians and union bureaucrats fear that the NDP's alliance with Harper and his Conservatives will further alienate NDP voters and compromise a party that is already rightly viewed with disdain by many workers for its impotence and utter subservience to big business.
~~~~
Gary Doer is NDP. Greg Selinger is NDP. Art Crammer is NDP. In MB I am NDP. Jack Layton was NDP, but in his dealings with the devil, Jack is not a true NDP."
Laughable, a Lib telling me what a socialist is; and telling me to vote Lib. Unbelievable!
yeah, well ignore. I just laugh at that stuff. My come back if I can't get them to come on side, is say that the Liberals are sounding pretty desperate!
@janfromthebruce:
That is what I thought. Dam insulting though!
well Arthur, insult back and they get your drift and back off!
@janfromthebruce:
This just applies to me, I am an ex Military Officer and try to take seriously being a gentleman. I don't always manage but I try my best. So, it isn't in my nature to insult back. I wish things didn't bug as much though. Now that I am out of the service, I allow myself the "luxury", of getting irritated. It isn't necessarily the best thing for me, but it works, kind of, lol.
Thanks again for everything today. I really do appreciate it.
Best regards!