Friday, March 04, 2011

Does Elections Canada have it in for the Tories?

I am not usually one for conspiracy theories, but when it comes to Elections Canada I make an exception.

Check out my Ottawa Citizen column on the current legal battle between the bureaucrats and the government.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you Gerry 100%. The day Canadians saw that camera crew from CBC in the hallway of the CPC,the writing was on the wall. They found ziltz.The biggest scandal here is the Liberals unpaid leadership money that EC keeps extending.
Elections Canada is proving its anti-conservative bias once again. It's pretty sad to have the body entrusted with our democracy acting in such a partisan manner, with the full support of Liberal partisans and the press.

The Federal Court ruled the in-out scheme legal. Here's the decision: http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2010/2010fc43...

For anyone interested google this...Evidence of how Liberals & the NDP engage in their own In & Out funding efforts. Its all their starting with NDP Libby Davis and ending with Paul Martin's Liberals. Note: The in & out was started by the BLOCK..they are the godfathers of it....google that one too.
When CBC runs a story, you know its nothing but a vendetta against the Govt.and they knew where to go to get the help.

Anonymous said...

Both the RO and the ARO in my riding are both known strong Liberals. How can we expect impartiality from them?

mike d said...

Sun new's has to show the double standard in the new's media or I will not buy there product.You talk about propaganda ctv,cbc,are absolutely terrible and make me sick.Please sun news be different some sign's out there seem to suggest you will not be much different?

mike d said...

I hope sun news is different or I will not buy there product,but comments like Atkin's are troubling,I'm just tired of cbc, ctv propaganda.

Anonymous said...

Gerry do you know who Elections Canada is responsible to? Clearly it's NOT the government... Who do they answer to for crap like this?

Anonymous said...

If we are not in an election, can you put an 8 page Election ad in a paper, last month and then ask for donations to be sent elsewhere, by The Liberal party advertised by CBC here...Is CBC working for the Liberals? They are paid by the Govt...Taxpayers. Elections Canada...where are you??

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2011/02/14/pei-liberal-campaign-brochure-newspaper.html

Anonymous said...

The Canadian House of Commons appoints the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada to head the agency. The Chief Electoral Officer in turn appoints the Commissioner of Canada Elections, who ensures that the Canada Elections Act is enforced; and the Broadcasting Arbitrator, who allocates paid and free broadcasting time during electoral events. The Chief Electoral Officer is seconded by the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer and Chief Legal Counsel and a staff of some 330 representing five executive directorates. During an election, staff at Elections Canada headquarters increases to 600 and to approximately 190,000 across Canada.

Lynn said...

This matter begs the question,"who are the people who work for Elections Canada"?

Are they appointees of any particular government or political Party,or are they just a bunch of guys who answered a "Help Wanted" ad in the newspaper?

If Canada had a responsible media,we might find out some truths in matters like this.

The answer just MIGHT be the crux,as they say.

DMorris

Anonymous said...

Liberal propaganda show of the CBC that is campaigning for the Coalition party(Election Canada, where are you) There was Pat Martin, Joe Volpe and Evan Solomon ATTACKING the lone Conservative(like the election debates) on Election Expenses…what a pack of hypocrites…..remember this in 2006…when pat Martin was against Joe Volpre and tonight they are together…how odd,,,It was okay with Elections Canada though…lololol

Apotex donations:Volpe’s campaign was hindered by controversy. In May 2006, the Canadian media reported that he had received $108,000 in donations from current and former executives of the drug company Apotex Inc., and each of their spouses and children. All of the donations were for $5,400, the maximum allowed for individual donations under the law, while five cheques were in the names of children under eighteen years of age. Companies are banned from donating money to a federal leadership campaign and individuals are prohibited from donating money on behalf of someone else, although donations from minors are not illegal. Critics charged that the Apotex contributions may have been an attempt to sidestep Canada’s laws on corporate donations. NDP MP Pat Martin accused Volpe of deliberately orchestrating fraudulent donations and asked the Elections Commissioner to investigate whether “individuals may be trying to circumvent campaign fundraising limits”. After Volpe threatened a libel suit, Martin said that his initial accusation was an overstatement but maintained that his call for an investigation was justified. While other parties criticized the donations, Liberal national director Steven MacKinnon stated that the party would not launch an investigation, arguing that it was the responsibility of Elections Canada to regulate donations.[84][85] The donations were parodied by a website called “YouthForVolpe.ca”.[86]

Volpe responded by promising to return any donations that contravened the letter or spirit of the law. He returned the five cheques from minors after extensive media criticism, and denied that any laws had been broken. The controversy nonetheless damaged his candidacy.[87][88][89] Sukh Dhaliwal withdrew his support from Volpe after the controversy broke, saying “I think this thing should not happen in any campaign”.[90] Other Liberals requested that Volpe withdraw from the contest due to negative publicity, but he said that this was not an option he was considering.[91] In July 2006, Volpe argued that the Federal Accountability Act should be amended to prevent persons under eighteen from contributing to political campaigns.[92]

On December 5, 2006, Elections Canada stated that Volpe had not violated election financing law in accepting the contributions.[93]

wilson said...

You did good on P&P today Gerry!
In the end, Duff pretty much backed up your Liberal bias take,
as he said over 500 complaints to EC with very few investigations,
and we know which party gets investigated!

Question Gerry,
Can Joe public complain to the AG about Elections Canada?

AG Sheila Fraser did a performance audit on Commish Ouilet and found few investigations into many complaints.

I'm thinking Duff, with his volumes of EC un-investigated complaints, and you too Gerry.

From what I researched,
Elections Canada has not had a performance audit since Liberals and Kingsley ran the show, in 2005.

Sean M said...

Clearly EC has a vendetta against the PM and the Government. Only a Liberal or a Separatist or a NDP'er wouldn't be able to see the selective nature of EC enforcement of the rules. Convenient witch hunt. As far as EC goes, it's okay for Separatists to invent this scheme and to use it, and it's okay for Liberals to get away with everything under the sun, but it's not okay for the Tories to do exactly the same thing. EC needs to be investigated for their obvious double standards, bias and corruption. Disgraceful.

Gordie Canuk said...

Just another day at the office Gerry, conspiracies abound. I'll get the measuring tape and we'll get you fitted for your tinfoil hat.

For the left its big business conspiring against democratic freedoms, using puppets like Harper to while wave the flag and recite the Bible.

For the right its the Liberal intelligensia (sp) out to steal their money and freedoms, an effort to impose some godless, anti-family, intellectual autocracy on the great unwashed.

Tin foil hats all around. The in and out affair smells, but it isn't a witch hunt, just taxpayers getting screwed again...smaller scale than Chretien's adscam but its JP Public who pays for it al.