Ethics commissioner clears Harper, Emerson of wrongdoing

[3chordcharlie]

3-20-2006 Update
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Ethics commission clears Harper, Emerson of impropriety

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1142874726534&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154

This is exactly what I thought 'should' happen here - the appearance, or at least possibility of misconduct was blatantly obvious, but that doesn't mean anything technically 'not allowed' occured.

I still think Harper is a snake, and he doesn't get any points for trying to prevent this inquiry from happening, but fortunately, it did happen, and hey look - the issue is cleared up, at least from a legal standpoint. It's not, of course, going to do Harper any good when it becomes ammunition for the next election campaign, but at least Harper can state truthfully that an investigation found no wrongdoing.
_______________________

Michael Fortier, the new Conservative cabinet minister who had to be appointed to the Senate because he didn't run in the Jan. 23 election, indicated some lingering doubt Tuesday about accepting his new job.

A day after his surprise appointment as minister of public works and government services in Ottawa, Fortier told reporters: "I didn't run in the election because I didn't want to run in the election."


Fortier is a party organizer who had worked on Harper's 2004 campaign for the leadership of the Conservative party and went on to co-chair the party's national campaigns in 2004 and 2006. Harper has said he took the unusual action of appointing a non-elected person to cabinet in order to have a Montreal representative at the cabinet table.

No Conservative candidates from Montreal ridings were elected on Jan. 23, although 10 Conservatives won seats throughout the province of Quebec.

Asked how he was received by former Reform members in the Conservative ranks, who have long opposed appointing senators, Fortier said "people [in the caucus] gave me the impression they're happy to see me."


Linky

Harper specifically, and his party in general have railed against unelected ministers, with Harper recently making such 'ambiguous' statements as "To become a minister, you have to be elected." (Globe and Mail source).

It looks like we are off to a great start with Harper.

This is in addition to another Conservative cabinet member who was eected (two weeks ago!) as a Liberal, and changed parties before parliament ever reconvened. While changing parties is not unprecedented, doing so immediately following election in a 'safe' riding,

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I give Harper a maximum of 24 months in office before there's another general election...

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
I give Harper a maximum of 24 months in office before there's another general election...

That's pretty much a given for a minority government though.

I just think he's proving that he really is as useless as I thought

 

[sandorski]

The Liberal switcher is the only controversy I can see, but even that makes me go "meh". The worst part of having an unelected Cabinet member is that they can not participate in Parliament nor can they face questions directly from the Opposition. That could be a problem, but afaik Public Works isn't an especially powerful post(could be wrong) and I'd think someone's going to be keeping an eye on it either way.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: sandorski
The Liberal switcher is the only controversy I can see, but even that makes me go "meh". The worst part of having an unelected Cabinet member is that they can not participate in Parliament nor can they face questions directly from the Opposition. That could be a problem, but afaik Public Works isn't an especially powerful post(could be wrong) and I'd think someone's going to be keeping an eye on it either way.

It's been done before, and it's only a little sketchy, though the usual procedure is to have someone step down and hold a byelection so the minister can eventually fulfill his responsibilities by actually attending house sessions.

What makes this much worse is the amount of time that Harper has spent railing against this sort of thing. It's quite hypocritical, exactly what I expected from Harper, and illustrative of why he did not receive my vote despite a reasonable election platform.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: sandorski
The Liberal switcher is the only controversy I can see, but even that makes me go "meh". The worst part of having an unelected Cabinet member is that they can not participate in Parliament nor can they face questions directly from the Opposition. That could be a problem, but afaik Public Works isn't an especially powerful post(could be wrong) and I'd think someone's going to be keeping an eye on it either way.

It's been done before, and it's only a little sketchy, though the usual procedure is to have someone step down and hold a byelection so the minister can eventually fulfill his responsibilities by actually attending house sessions.

What makes this much worse is the amount of time that Harper has spent railing against this sort of thing. It's quite hypocritical, exactly what I expected from Harper, and illustrative of why he did not receive my vote despite a reasonable election platform.

Exactly. Pot/Kettle, Liberals GST elimination, etc. That's Politics, can't really trust what has been said, just what's been done.

 

[Rainsford]

People who believe anyone in politics actually supports accountability and responsibility in government haven't been paying very much attention. Perhaps our neighbor to the north has yet to have a great example, but down here in the United States of Texas, we all should be remembering what platform Bush ran on. Amazingly, we believed him as well.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: sandorski
The Liberal switcher is the only controversy I can see, but even that makes me go "meh". The worst part of having an unelected Cabinet member is that they can not participate in Parliament nor can they face questions directly from the Opposition. That could be a problem, but afaik Public Works isn't an especially powerful post(could be wrong) and I'd think someone's going to be keeping an eye on it either way.

It's been done before, and it's only a little sketchy, though the usual procedure is to have someone step down and hold a byelection so the minister can eventually fulfill his responsibilities by actually attending house sessions.

What makes this much worse is the amount of time that Harper has spent railing against this sort of thing. It's quite hypocritical, exactly what I expected from Harper, and illustrative of why he did not receive my vote despite a reasonable election platform.

This is my issue with it too. He was against even appointing senators, yet he then appointed one, and put him in the cabinet. This country just elected Bush Jr Jr.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Rainsford
People who believe anyone in politics actually supports accountability and responsibility in government haven't been paying very much attention. Perhaps our neighbor to the north has yet to have a great example, but down here in the United States of Texas, we all should be remembering what platform Bush ran on. Amazingly, we believed him as well.

Well, I never believed the guy... but a few Canadians here at P&N sure seemed to think he was going to be the country's saviour.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I hope - strange to hear myself thinking that, considering my distaste for Harper, but politics makes for strange bedfellows - that the Conservative victory will mean there will be no more musings on the implementation of Sharia law in Ontario.

 

[stratman]

I was pretty happy to hear that Emerson switched over. I'm hoping that he will partly balance out the social conservatives in the Conservative party, make sure Canada doesn't become the States' lackey. Sure, it doesn't reflect well on Harper at all, but I never liked Harper anyway.

So I think the Emerson switch is good for Canada, and bad for Harper. What made Harper look worse though was the Senate appointment, imo.

Curious to hear what Stunt has to say on the matter.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
I hope - strange to hear myself thinking that, considering my distaste for Harper, but politics makes for strange bedfellows - that the Conservative victory will mean there will be no more musings on the implementation of Sharia law in Ontario.

That's already a dead proposition.

Originally posted by: stratman
I was pretty happy to hear that Emerson switched over. I'm hoping that he will partly balance out the social conservatives in the Conservative party, make sure Canada doesn't become the States' lackey. Sure, it doesn't reflect well on Harper at all, but I never liked Harper anyway.

So I think the Emerson switch is good for Canada, and bad for Harper. What made Harper look worse though was the Senate appointment, imo.

Curious to hear what Stunt has to say on the matter.

I agree to the extent that I have no problem with Emerson except that this switch was so fast it really smells like 'pre-planned' though I cna't be sure.

I already know what Stunt thinks; it's 'interesting'

 

[desy]

People jump sides all the time
I'm sure Harper welcomes his experience and a more 'middle' member to stop Ontario's boohooing over 'scary' religious Westerners. :roll:

Senate appointments, lets see he has been in power 2 days and he is supposed to fix the senate already 'with a minority gov't' ?
Yeah right, if there is an open senate seat its his duty to fill it as the rules stand right now. .

If Harper sneezes to the right people will be screaming told you so , TOLD YOU SO!
He said he and his team will make mistakes as a rookie squad oh but make sure you condemn before parliament has even had a chance to sit . . . .

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: desy
People jump sides all the time
I'm sure Harper welcomes his experience and a more 'middle' member to stop Ontario's boohooing over 'scary' religious Westerners. :roll:

Senate appointments, lets see he has been in power 2 days and he is supposed to fix the senate already 'with a minority gov't' ?
Yeah right, if there is an open senate seat its his duty to fill it as the rules stand right now. .

If Harper sneezes to the right people will be screaming told you so , TOLD YOU SO!
He said he and his team will make mistakes as a rookie squad oh but make sure you condemn before parliament has even had a chance to sit . . . .

"To become a minister, you have to be elected".

Could you please point out the ambiguous part of that statement?

Funny that you're worried about him being condemned before parliament sits - somehow Emerson, who ran and was funded as a Liberal, managed to jump ship before parliament ever had time to sit. I don't have a particular problem with people changing parties, but this one will always smell fishy.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: desy
People jump sides all the time
I'm sure Harper welcomes his experience and a more 'middle' member to stop Ontario's boohooing over 'scary' religious Westerners. :roll:

Senate appointments, lets see he has been in power 2 days and he is supposed to fix the senate already 'with a minority gov't' ?
Yeah right, if there is an open senate seat its his duty to fill it as the rules stand right now. .

If Harper sneezes to the right people will be screaming told you so , TOLD YOU SO!
He said he and his team will make mistakes as a rookie squad oh but make sure you condemn before parliament has even had a chance to sit . . . .

It wasn't that he appointed a senator, it was that he then appointed that senator to be a cabinet minister.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: desy
People jump sides all the time
I'm sure Harper welcomes his experience and a more 'middle' member to stop Ontario's boohooing over 'scary' religious Westerners. :roll:

Senate appointments, lets see he has been in power 2 days and he is supposed to fix the senate already 'with a minority gov't' ?
Yeah right, if there is an open senate seat its his duty to fill it as the rules stand right now. .

If Harper sneezes to the right people will be screaming told you so , TOLD YOU SO!
He said he and his team will make mistakes as a rookie squad oh but make sure you condemn before parliament has even had a chance to sit . . . .

Wow, talk about an apologist... nobody is saying he is supposed to 'fix' the senate in 2 days... but you really don't see the outright lie and hyprocricy here?

 

[fornax]

Originally posted by: desy
People jump sides all the time
I'm sure Harper welcomes his experience and a more 'middle' member to stop Ontario's boohooing over 'scary' religious Westerners. :roll:

Senate appointments, lets see he has been in power 2 days and he is supposed to fix the senate already 'with a minority gov't' ?
Yeah right, if there is an open senate seat its his duty to fill it as the rules stand right now. .

If Harper sneezes to the right people will be screaming told you so , TOLD YOU SO!
He said he and his team will make mistakes as a rookie squad oh but make sure you condemn before parliament has even had a chance to sit . . . .

Oh, come on desy, that's ridiculous even for you. Remember Harper's screams and moans when Belinda changed sides? And we don't expect him to fix the Senate (in fact I don't expect him to fix anything), but after arguing for years for an elected Senate he turns around and appoints a senator.

I do think that any elected MP (edit: who switches sides) should resign and run in a by-election, and I said that when Belinda switched allegiance. However, Stronach was re-elected this time on the Liberal ticket in Newmarket-Aurora with nearly half the votes. Do you honestly believe that Emerson would have been be elected if he ran on the Conservative ticket?

Edit: badly worded sentence.

 

[3chordcharlie]

B.C. Tory MP James Moore, who was expected to get a Cabinet post before Mr. Emerson's move to the Conservatives, was asked if he would apply the same words to the new International Trade Minister as he did to defector Belinda Stronach.

Mr. Moore called Ms. Stronach the "poster child for hypocrisy" after she left the Tories to become a Liberal minister last May and help Paul Martin survive a non-confidence vote.

"There are two kinds of people in public life. People of principle and people like Belinda Stronach," Mr. Moore said then.

Mr. Moore, while arguing yesterday that the two situations are "very different" because Ms. Stronach approached the Liberals whereas Mr. Harper approached Mr. Emerson, refused to elaborate when pressed by reporters.

"Look, David Emerson is, as I said, a talented British Columbian who is going to do good things for the province," Mr. Moore said repeatedly.
(National Post)

I'm still searching for what exactly makes this so different from the Belinda situation except for the possibility that Emerson never even intended to sit as a Liberal.

 

[3chordcharlie]

"This looks like expediency, even hypocrisy," a veteran Conservative MP from Western Canada said of the appointments of David Emerson, who was elected last month as a Liberal, and Conservative campaign co-chairman Michael Fortier, who didn't run but will get a Senate appointment.

"This is shocking. It's just unbelievable. Who was Stephen talking to? We campaigned against this kind of stuff," the MP said.

A rookie MP said: "I'm not sure how I'm going to explain these appointments to my constituents. It's bewildering."

The MPs did not want to be identified because of caucus secrecy, but wanted it known that other Conservatives also question the political wisdom of the appointments.

The caucus meeting was described as unusually quiet, with Mr. Harper doing most of the talking. "Everybody was in shock," the western MP said.
(Globe and Mail)

At least some members of the CPC realize that their party ran on a platform of accountability in government, specifically decried unelected ministers, screamed like banshees when Belinda Stronach crossed the floor (due to a naked power-play by Harper which offended most of Canada), and now has thumbed their nose at all of that.

What really gets me is the members still willing to go on record calling Stronach a hypocrite, but Emerson a 'talented person who is going to work hard for Canada'. What a load of crap.

 

[DotheDamnTHing]

hypocrisy at its finest

 

[speg]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

B.C. Tory MP James Moore, who was expected to get a Cabinet post before Mr. Emerson's move to the Conservatives, was asked if he would apply the same words to the new International Trade Minister as he did to defector Belinda Stronach.

Mr. Moore called Ms. Stronach the "poster child for hypocrisy" after she left the Tories to become a Liberal minister last May and help Paul Martin survive a non-confidence vote.

"There are two kinds of people in public life. People of principle and people like Belinda Stronach," Mr. Moore said then.

Mr. Moore, while arguing yesterday that the two situations are "very different" because Ms. Stronach approached the Liberals whereas Mr. Harper approached Mr. Emerson, refused to elaborate when pressed by reporters.

"Look, David Emerson is, as I said, a talented British Columbian who is going to do good things for the province," Mr. Moore said repeatedly.
(National Post)

I'm still searching for what exactly makes this so different from the Belinda situation except for the possibility that Emerson never even intended to sit as a Liberal.

Nothing, except that Harper just spent his whole campaign talking about accountability and cleaning up - and then goes and does the very same thing he condemend the Liberals for doing.

 

[3chordcharlie]

The Liberal riding association in Vancouver Kingsway wants David Emerson, who left the Liberals for a Conservative cabinet job two weeks after the federal election, to repay almost $97,000 in campaign donations.

Within days of winning the riding for the Liberals in the Jan. 23 vote, Emerson defected to the Conservatives and was offered a cabinet post in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government.


(CBC)

This shouldn't be too much of a surprise, I'm not sure if there's a precedent for it though.

 

[Stunt]

The Liberals are hard up for cash...especially after paying off all their dirty money...

Unlike the NDP and Conservatives, Liberals have very low funding; and with the new rules against special interest and corporate donations, they will likely die though debt.

 

[Stunt]

Also, Emerson sat as a Liberal cabinet minister and was elected in 2004 as a Paul Martin star candidate.
This is not a questionable defection and controversy as the idiots on the Left want to think.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: Stunt
The Liberals are hard up for cash...especially after paying off all their dirty money...

Unlike the NDP and Conservatives, Liberals have very low funding; and with the new rules against special interest and corporate donations, they will likely die though debt.

You guys have special rules against special interests and corporate donations? Damn.