More problems for Harper as his inconsistencies are starting to add up here.
When will our prime minister tell the truth?
Nigel Wright was ‘dismissed,’ Stephen Harper says — at odds with May statement that former chief of staff resigned
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/28/nigel-wright-was-dismissed-steph...
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1775
.
How wretched and what unfortunate timin' as well.
Doubts arise about top dog on eve of Conservative conclave
http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1162999-leger-doubts-arise-about-to...
.
And don't think for a second that Stephen Harper is the only one who is going to be caught up in this growing scandal. Read the full article to see how James Moore and others are now in serious difficulty over their inconsistencies.
Things left unsaid: Shifting messages on Senate scandal
Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press
Published Monday, October 28, 2013 12:36PM EDT
OTTAWA -- "We would have a cup of coffee, I think, once or twice," former prime minister Brian Mulroney told a 1996 deposition of his relationship with German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber.
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman," U.S. President Bill Clinton famously told reporters in 1998 about his dalliance with a White House intern.
Neither answer was necessary false, but both left out key information -- Clinton had other kinds of intimate relations with Monica Lewinsky, and Mulroney received cash-stuffed envelopes in a business arrangement with Schreiber during those casual meetings.
Similarly, the Senate expenses scandal has become a study in carefully chosen words and information left unsaid. The government has disclosed precious little detail about the $90,000 payment made to Sen. Mike Duffy by Nigel Wright, the prime minister's former chief of staff.
Monday offered a fresh example: after insisting for months that his chief of staff resigned in May over the controversy, Stephen Harper himself told radio station News 95.7 Halifax that Wright was "dismissed" for writing the cheque.
"I had a chief of staff who made an inappropriate payment to Mr. Duffy -- he was dismissed," Harper said in the interview.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/things-left-unsaid-shifting-messages-on-s...
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1825
The PM vs. the media
No kidding Harper wanted to get out of town, but this whole Senate scandal is now escalating out of control on Harper.
Mulcair questions timing of PM's trip to Brussels
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mulcair-questions-timing-of-pm-s-trip-to...
You want to abolish the Senate my ass.
You're probably longing for the day when you become a Canadian Senator.
And what's stopping you from abolishing the Senate as you do have a majority government, you poor helpless thing you.
Senate scandal a disruption to economic agenda, Flaherty says Finance minister speaks after meeting with private-sector economists
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senate-scandal-a-disruption-to-economic-...
FLASHBACK STORY: Tories lamented Wright 'resignation' last May
http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/politics/inside-politics-blog/2013/10/flashb...
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1850
Tyee Poll: How will Stephen Harper come out of this one?
http://thetyee.ca/Polls/2013/10/28/How-Will-Harper-Fare/?results=true
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Senate leader mulls lighter penalty for Duffy, Wallin, Brazeau Rumours swirl about shorter suspensions and retention of benefits for Duffy, Wallin, Brazeau
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senate-leader-mulls-lighter-penalty-for-...
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1900
How clueless are these people, journalists, anyways? There is only one way to clean up the Senate. It is the NDP way. It is the only way. It The Senate must be abolished. What's not to understand here!
Time to clean up the Senate
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/time-to-clean-up-the-s...
How clueless are these journalists anyways? There is only one way to clean up the Senate. It is the NDP way. It is the only way. The Senate must be abolished. What's not to understand here!
Time to clean up the Senate
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/time-to-clean-up-the-s...
So do these lighter sentences just mean Harper is giving into Duffy's blackmail, and that the Duffster has the goods on Harper?
Just askin'!
Let this be a lesson to all Canadians. When you go to see the prime minister on a private matterr secretly record the conversation so he cannot come back and lie to Canadians about what was said.
So the Duffster has received 2 payments from the CPC. What do you have to saay about that Prime Minister?
Oh that's right, you just don't know anything about it.
Tell you what prime minister - that excuse is wearing a bit thin to Canadians by now.
Maybe Harper your speechwriters need to come up with some better bullshit to feed Canadians cause they sure as hell ain't buying what you are selling any more!
Remember Harper does not have a lot of friends, even within his own entourage, and will escape with difficulty this attempted coverup..
Harper now looks screwed, blued, and tatooed.
Wright, Duffy, Harper, LeBreton, Novak, Olsen, and whoever else was involved, they are all scumbags caught trying to deceive and some even ripping-off the Canadian public.
The Duffster's no Canadian hero, and is going done on this for sure, but he seems intent on taking Harper down with him, and so far it looks like his mission is succeeding.
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1965
I think Harper is done.
One thing for suere, there is now all out war going on amongst the Conservatives, and it looks good on them.
Harper picked a fight with the wrong guy, and the Duffster is going to take Harper down with him.
And Wright had better be very, very careful what he says if he even dares to do that now.
Mike Duffy says Conservatives paid 'to make this go away'Embattled senator drops more bombshells in latest tirade in the Senate
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-duffy-says-conservatives-paid-to-ma...
Why does anyone think Harper appointee Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen recently resigned his post?
Isn't it obvious to all?
His expenses need to be investigated bty the RCMP as well!
It sure is beginning to look like we have scratched the tip of the iceberg on this growing by-the-minute Canadian Liberal and Conservative Senate scandal.
------
1984 - ah ha!
Why does anyone think Harper appointee Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen recently resigned his post?
Isn't it obvious to all?
His expenses need to be investigated bty the RCMP as well!
It sure is beginning to look like we have scratched the tip of the iceberg on this growing by-the-minute Canadian Liberal and Conservative Senate scandal.
------
1984 - ah ha!
'His' post?
I thought Carolyn Stewart-Olsen is a female Senator!
Sorry you're correct, and thanks.
So did the BC Liberals learn from Harper's gang or did Harper's gang learn from Christy Clark's gang, that is how to get asround the Freedom of Information laws in Canada and BC?
Because that is what scumbag Nigel Wright did with his emails to the Duffster with his personal email account - such an exemplorary Canadian citizen isn't Nigel Wright!
I suppose in the circles in which Wright travels his only mistake was in getting caught.
Delacourt is correct of course.
What a bunch of scum Liberals and Conservaties we have had involved in the governments of Canada. For shame!
Canadians portrayed as the real losers in Senate scandalThat ‘mob’ Mike Duffy is talking about includes you, the voter
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/10/25/canadians_portrayed_as_th...
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2020
I almost pitty, but don't, the useless Globe and Mail trying to defend their corrupt choices for Canadian government. No wonder Joe and Jane Canadian are constantly getting hosed with press like them.
I think Harper is done.
I sincerely hope you are right. However, I listened yesterday to a radio interview -- I think it was on "Sunday Edition" -- with journalist Paul Wells, of Macleans, who has a new book out about Harper. He emphasized a point worth bearing in mind -- that Harper is very cunning and has a strong, if not a majority, core of support, I think Michael Enright asked Wells straight out whether Harper had blown it this time (or words to that effect) and Wells cautioned that Harper is above all else a survivor and should not be counted out too soon.
Wells also alluded to an earlier incident where Harper had promised some $$$ to someone and then later denied knowledge of the deal but it went to court and the PMO or whoever had to pay up. Unfortunately I was unfamiliar with the incident and didn't write down the names (Wells says the anecdote is in his book); does anyone know what that might refer to?
.
While highly unscientific as a poll, the Power and Politics Ballot Box Question today of over 2,000 respondents is devastating with regards to the public's judgement of Harper.
How involved do you think the PM was in the Wright-Duffy deal?
Very 96%
Somewhat 1%
Not at all 3%
When this thread was started less than a week ago, it was a bit of a hunch.
But when your best friends in the press write stuff like this it's, as they say in tennis, "Love, Set, Match", and Game Over for Prime Minister Harper.
The Coservatives might as well start looking for a venue for a leadership convention.
Sen. Mike Duffy claims there were two cheques
Stephen Harper's Halloween gathering Thursday with party faithful in Calgary got scarier Monday after Mike Duffy exposed some more skeletons implicating the Prime Minister's Office in the Senate spending scandal.
Duffy accused the PMO of a "monstrous" fraud, saying a second cheque of $13,560 was cut to cover his legal bills on top of the $90,000 Harper's former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, gave him to repay expense claims.
Duffy says Wright arranged both cheques and hinted there could be others.
Duffy says the sordid affair is part of a "dirty scheme" of threats and intimidation to force him to accept Wright's payment to protect Harper from a political embarrassment that was agitating the party's base.
Senators Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau are fighting attempts to expel them from the Senate without pay and benefits over spending violations.
Duffy said the second cheque was sent to his lawyer, Janice Payne, by Arthur Hamilton, a lawyer for the Conservative party, which paid the bill.
The former broadcaster tabled e-mails and other documents including a cancelled copy of the cheque he said helps prove his defence he was framed by a Senate committee that was doing the bidding of the PMO to discredit him.
"I can only conclude that this was a set up planned by the Senate leadership under the direction of the PMO and designed to destroy my credibility ... if and when I ever went public about the real story behind the $90,000."
In one e-mail, Wright informs Duffy he broke no rules when he claimed housing allowances - now the focus of a police investigation.
"I am told that you have complied with all the applicable rules and that there would be several senators with similar arrangements," Wright says in the correspondence dated Dec. 4, 2012.
Duffy said despite heart issues he stopped by the Senate on Monday to counter an "avalanche of untruths" by the government leader, Claude Carignan, Marjory LeBreton, Harper's former lieutenant in the chamber, and others.
The PMO issued a statement Monday, saying Wright "is on the record naming those he informed of his arrangement with Mr. Duffy, and he's assumed sole responsibility for his actions.
"The Prime Minister was not aware of the arrangement and had it been presented to him he would not have approved of such a scheme," the statement read. "We remain steadfast in our view that Senators who have claimed inappropriate expenses should not be collecting a paycheque from the public.
"If you have questions about Mr. Duffy's legal fees you should contact the Party."
Last week Duffy said four lawyers were involved in the negotiations in the Wright transaction - a deal he said he was coerced into taking or be fired.
He said the PMO and Senate leadership were part of a coverup and a conspiracy to commit bribery and extortion against a sitting parliamentarian.
In Monday's bombshells, he also exposed the PMO for concocting a story that he got a loan from the Royal Bank to cover the $90,000 and then later used their story to smear him when that was shown not to be the case.
http://www.torontosun.com/2013/10/28/sen-mike-duffy-claims-there-were-tw...
IMO The worse thing that could happen is for Harper to resign and likely take the baggage with him. The best case scenario is he clings to the job and goes into the election damaged and vunerable on the issue of integrity.
Harper created this mess by cynically appointing non-residents to the Senate
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/karl-nerenberg/2013/10/harper-created-th...
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2150
I'm beginning to think I was wrong, and Harper may indeed be close to being "finally done". Here's an interesting video contrasting some statements Harper made in the past to the current Harper.
Harper is hurt, but not dead and he's stubborn and has survive shocking scandals because, plus he controls too many of the internal tory mechanisms for the Convention to kill him, remember this will be a delagate convention I believe and I have no doubt Harper would stack it in his favour.
No I don't believe this will be the end of Harper, at least not yet, there is more fun to come.
Whether or not Harper was personally involved from day one of this Duffy Senate caper, which I and most other Canadians now believe, or other people like Nigel Wright were responsible for all the dirty deeds, this was done in the PMO's office and the buck stops with Harper. It is time for Harper to now do the proper and honourable thing, and that is to resign. Otherrwise he will end up destroying the Conservatives chances in the next election. Disagree with Conservatives all you want, and they may be stupid in a lot of ways, but when it comes to self preservation, Harper will get the boot if he is becomes too much of a liability. I think Harper has now crossed that line, and as a Conservative I would be saying out with the likes of you Harper - you done bad things.
Harper is too in control of the internal mechanisms of the party, it will not be easy to boot him from it, heck he build it and he's a control freak.
No one said it wqas going to be easy, and actually it is going to become a bigger and bigger Conservative mess the longer Harper tries to hold on. Does anyone think Duffy is all of sudden going to clam up in the next couple of days. Highly unlikely.
Nathan Cullen was fantastic on Power and Politics today bringing Mulcair into the picture but was then quickly cut off by that creepy kid who moderates the show.
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2235
Harper is too in control of the internal mechanisms of the party, it will not be easy to boot him from it, heck he build it and he's a control freak.
Then he'll simply take the Conservative brand with him. Whatever you can say about Harper and his control-freaksih tendancies, Harper is now damaged goods, and as time goes on, we are going to see that he will not be electable.
Precisely A24.
Harper is too in control of the internal mechanisms of the party, it will not be easy to boot him from it, heck he build it and he's a control freak.Then he'll simply take the Conservative brand with him. Whatever you can say about Harper and his control-freaksih tendancies, Harper is now damaged goods, and as time goes on, we are going to see that he will not be electable.
Mike Duffy affair an indictment of current system of government
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/national/Mike+Duffy+affair+indictmen...
So Harper's pushback continues with the help of a few corporate media types like CTV, eh!
The more likely scenario is that the vast majority of Canadians want Harper to start telling the truth
Poll: Vast majority want senators suspended immediately without pay
http://www.cp24.com/news/poll-vast-majority-want-senators-suspended-imme...
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It's possible that Conservatives might throw Harper under the bus. There's enough Conservative MPs frustrated by the scandal and that really wanna rid themselves of it. Wouldn't be that different from McGuinty passing the torch to Wynne.
Would that push the Conservatives out of power though? I lean yes, only because a Conservative leadership race would be divisive, and Conservative would have to openly talk about their agenda. It would all be on the table: immigration, gays, abortion... All the Reform party stuff that Harper worked hard to keep quiet. The voters would see the ugliest parts of the Conservative party. And it's not even to say that the PC-Reform coalition comes out of it unified. A party split would be a bit much, but I could envision real animosity and hard feelings.
This has got to be devastating both for Harper and all Conservatives as international opinion is now turning on Harper as well.
Canada scandal deepens as prime minister accused of cover-up
A Canadian legislator at the heart of a spending scandal on Monday accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of being involved in a cover-up deal, deepening a crisis that has engulfed the Conservative government.
Senator Mike Duffy made his allegations just days before a Calgary convention of the ruling Conservatives, who have lost support in the polls since the scandal broke in May and are now trailing the opposition Liberals.
The crisis is the worst to hit the right-leaning government since Harper came to power in early 2006 on a promise to boost accountability. Harper exercises strict control over the Conservatives - also known as the Tories - and such broad signs of division and dissent inside the party are unprecedented.
Duffy made his allegations in the Senate chamber, where comments are subject to Parliamentary privilege and make him immune from prosecution.
Duffy and two other senators - all appointed by Harper - face suspension without pay for allegedly charging too much in expenses. Duffy denies he did anything wrong but he said agreed in February to repay C$90,000 ($86,000) in expenses after Harper told him to do so on the grounds the affair was becoming a political embarrassment to the party's core supporters.
Duffy said he had been coached by the prime minister's office to say he had taken out a loan to pay back the C$90,000. In fact, Harper's chief of staff, Nigel Wright, wrote him a check to cover the amount.
Referring to the aftermath of the February meeting with Harper, Duffy said: "So I'm back home ... after the Prime Minister's decided we're going to do this nefarious scheme."
http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCABRE99M11920131029
Mike Duffy drops another bombshell: there were 2 chequesEmbattled senator implicates Conservative Party lawyer in latest Senate tirade
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-duffy-drops-another-bombshell-there...
This is what the Harper big fans are saying on their websiotes!
Ha! Ha! Ha!
http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2013/07/new-government-leader-in-the-senate-...
This is what the Harper big fans are saying on their websites!
Ha! Ha! Ha!
http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2013/07/new-government-leader-in-the-senate-...
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2315
Stephen Harper stumbles and Mike Duffy gives us more
http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/10/28/the-sketch-stephen-harper-stumbles-an...
Tories' morale left battered amid Mulcair haymakers
But in so doing Segal has also put a different - more serious - face on the growing internal discomfort over the authoritarian style of the current prime minister.
Up until now, that discomfort was mostly voiced by mavericks such as former MP Garth Turner or, in the current Parliament, Brent Rathgeber or by disgraced Conservatives such as - in the case of this week - Duffy and Wallin. For different reasons they mostly have had in common that they had little left to lose by standing up to the prime minister.
But Segal falls in another category. A lifelong Tory whose distinguished contribution to public service is testimony to the fact that it is possible to be both fiercely loyal to a party and principled, his appeals to the better instincts of the Conservative party will not be easily dismissed.
Even after the Senate showdown is over, Segal's admonitions will continue to nag at the conscience of many of his fellow Conservatives, some of whom do not always like what they see when they look in the mirror these days.
That group won't include the Conservatives who subscribe to the approach of an eye for an eye favoured by the prime minister. They will dismiss Segal's inconvenient interventions as manifestations of a liberal-friendly bleeding heart.
But the psyche of those red-meat Conservatives also took a beating this week - albeit not in the Senate but in the House of Commons and at the prosecutorial hands of NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair.
It is fair to say that none of Mulcair's recent predecessors could have delivered the performance that he gave in both languages this week as he meticulously tore sections of Stephen Harper's thin Senate narrative to shreds.
This is a rare opposition leader who not only knows the difference between a bark and a bite but also does not let go once he has sunk his teeth into his opponent.
(As an aside, that should make for quite a set of televised election debates in 2015.)
In different circumstances one might have felt sorry for the prime minister who had to submit to Mulcair's relentless inquisition over the past week.
But as prime minister, Harper has added chapter and verse to the take-no-prisoner handbook. He mercilessly crushed Mulcair's opposition predecessors into oblivion and routinely resorts to similarly hardline tactics to browbeat his Conservative colleagues into submission.
More than one cabinet minister has the bruises to show for the fact that Harper has no use for a velvet glove to drape over his iron fist.
Anyone who remembers his or her school days knows that few events do more to undermine the authority of a bully than a successful challenge to the notion that he has the complete run of the schoolyard.
It is too early to know which, of the appeals to conscience and principle of Segal or the Mulcair-inflicted dents in the battered armour of the prime minister, will result in the most lasting damage to Conservative morale but the combination makes for a more vulnerable Harper than a short week ago.
http://www.journalpioneer.com/Opinion/Columnists/2013-10-28/article-3450...
Tom Mulcair stops in Brandon as byelection date loomsNDP leader tours Manitoba riding amid ongoing Senate expenses scandal
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/tom-mulcair-stops-in-brandon-as-b...
No turning away from Senate cicus!
http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/Fisher+turning+away+from+Senate+cir...
