Politics in 2013

[PuckChaser]

Did the Ontario Union of Teachers or some union in Ontario own part of the Maple Leafs?

That ain't chump change.

They owned controlling interest in MLSE, which is the Raptors, Blue Jays, Leafs, and Toronto FC. Sold it to Bell/Rogers for $1.32 Billion last summer.

 

[Edward Campbell]

The Teachers' Pension Plan owned the team collection of hockey players.

Slightly off topic, but the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is one of the richest, best managed and most aggressive investors in North America.

It's CEO is Jim Leech (RMC class of 68) (Old Sweat: he served as a subaltern in 4CMBG Sigs in 69/70, do you remember him? He was a first rate athlete. Younger brother of MGen (Ret'd) John Leech and son of the late Brig George Leech, former Comd 2CIBG.)

 

[Old Sweat]

Slightly off topic, but the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is one of the richest, best managed and most aggressive investors in North America.

It's CEO is Jim Leech (RMC class of 68) (Old Sweat: he served as a subaltern in 4CMBG Sigs in 69/70, do you remember him? He was a first rate athlete. Younger brother of MGen (Ret'd) John Leech and son of the late Brig George Leech, former Comd 2CIBG.)

No, I never had the pleasure as I rotated home in 1967 to get back on the golden anglo gunner circuit of Shilo, Petawawa and Gagetown with side trips to Kingston, Ottawa and St-Hubert.  :facepalm:

 

[Edward Campbell]

No, I never had the pleasure as I rotated home in 1967 to get back on the golden anglo gunner circuit of Shilo, Petawawa and Gagetown with side trips to Kingston, Ottawa and St-Hubert.  :facepalm:

Oh, yes ... all the "resorts" of our careers - I missed Shilo (as an officer) and St Hubert (as other than a visitor) but the rest: oh joy!  :

 

[mariomike]

Did the Ontario Union of Teachers or some union in Ontario own part of the Maple Leafs?

That ain't chump change.

The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System ( OMERS ) also has an impressive portfolio.
http://www.omers.com/investments/Our_Investments_Major_Investments.aspx

 

[Brad Sallows]

>They simply don't have the resources to be much of a player by comparison.

Not every contribution is made directly in dollars.

As the brouhaha over Duffy shows, people believe that one form of corruption is when a person or organization gives money to a politician or party, expecting some sort of future favour.

 

[Jed]

>They simply don't have the resources to be much of a player by comparison.

Not every contribution is made directly in dollars.

As the brouhaha over Duffy shows, people believe that one form of corruption is when a person or organization gives money to a politician or party, expecting some sort of future favour.

No political party would even be able to function without this sort of an unstated 'quid pro quo' between supporters and representatives. This would be a great Utopian world to strive for, but I don't see it ever happening in the real world.

This is why I don't see this matter as a major corruption issue. Just something that is off colour, and not quite right.

 

[Remius]

Jed, I think I disagree with that assessment.  This whole thing stinks.  You have a senator that has spent public money inappropriately and dare I say with complete disregard and contempt.  This isn't a case of him getting a free lunch.  It's 90 000 dollars.  Then he states he was going to pay it back as if he was the one doing it because it was the right thing to do.  But it turns out the PMs COS arguably the closest person to the PM pays his debt off in a clear case of inapropriate behaviour and suddenly the problem goes away.  Only it doesn't because it comes to light.  And it looks bad.  Really bad because now more details are emerging about double dipping, lies and who knows what else.  If Mike Duffy isn`t corrupt he sure is doing the best he can to look that way.  And if all of this was just a simple mistake or misunderstanding then the PM, his COS, Mike Duffy et al are all looking pretty incompetent. 

The COS did the right thing to step down.  It had to happen.  The next step is once the second audit goes through and the RCMP decides whether or not to lay charges, Mike Duffy needs to step down as senator.  He can no longer be effective and represent his province.  His office is tarnished no matter what the outcome.

He did something bad, someone tried to make it go away with money.  That`s corrupt.

 

[Jed]

Jed, I think I disagree with that assessment.  This whole thing stinks.  You have a senator that has spent public money inappropriately and dare I say with complete disregard and contempt.  This isn't a case of him getting a free lunch.  It's 90 000 dollars.  Then he states he was going to pay it back as if he was the one doing it because it was the right thing to do.  But it turns out the PMs COS arguably the closest person to the PM pays his debt off in a clear case of inapropriate behaviour and suddenly the problem goes away.  Only it doesn't because it comes to light.  And it looks bad.  Really bad because now more details are emerging about double dipping, lies and who knows what else.  If Mike Duffy isn`t corrupt he sure is doing the best he can to look that way.  And if all of this was just a simple mistake or misunderstanding then the PM, his COS, Mike Duffy et al are all looking pretty incompetent. 

The COS did the right thing to step down.  It had to happen.  The next step is once the second audit goes through and the RCMP decides whether or not to lay charges, Mike Duffy needs to step down as senator.  He can no longer be effective and represent his province.  His office is tarnished no matter what the outcome.

He did something bad, someone tried to make it go away with money.  That`s corrupt.

I have no argument with everything you say here. What has come to light looks pretty damning for Sen. Duffy. It also looks quite foolish of the PM's COS. He has obviously done the right thing in putting in his resignation. 

My point is that this is not a black and white world. There is broad range between the right thing to do, the expedient thing to do and the immoral thing to and the evil thing to do. Democratic politicians of all parties work in a world of compromise in order to lead us, preferably by a consensus of opinion, in the optimal direction.

If the money, (the money used to help Sen. Duffy pay back his allegedly grafted expense claims)  did not come out of the public purse I personally don't think this matter comes even close to being evil corruption. What I personally despise even more than the common greed you find in the average human being is a true righteous hypocrite who allows no fault from others yet overlooks his own foibles.

Airing one's dirty laundry to the world is something that I wish had never come into fashion. The world is a less gentile and sadder place with all this fake honesty and false righteousness. I prefer true humility, honest shame and eventual forgiveness.

As a citizen and taxpayer, I demand that we have above average politicians hold public office and that they be personally accountable. 

I also understand that politicians operate in a world that requires daily compromise and that they sometimes take the wrong path. For me, it is how they recover and get themselves back on the right road that shows their true character and mettle.

 

[Nemo888]

So Duffy getting 90,000$ to keep quiet and go away is not an issue for you? Deliotte called him in advance so clearly it was not an independent inquiry. Paying him off makes it look even more like a cover up. Duffy had well over that amount in assets and could easily have gotten a loan.

Wallin's 300,000$ in mostly fake travel expenses are next. Then we can take back Harb's 22,000 a year fake housing allowance. Likely we will have to pay back Brazeau the 48,000$ fine as ironically he met all the criteria. This inquiry was anything but independent. It was a witch hunt for Brazeau that backfired on the PM.

 

[The Bread Guy]

My point is that this is not a black and white world. There is broad range between the right thing to do, the expedient thing to do and the immoral thing to and the evil thing to do.

And where does "not following the rules" fall in this spectrum?

Democratic politicians of all parties work in a world of compromise in order to lead us, preferably by a consensus of opinion, in the optimal direction.

Again, true as long as it's within the established rules.

If the money, (the money used to help Sen. Duffy pay back his allegedly grafted expense claims)  did not come out of the public purse I personally don't think this matter comes even close to being evil corruption.

When it comes to conflict of interest, it's not JUST the conflict, but the APPEARANCE of conflict - why would a key political aide of the PM cut a $90K cheque to a senator to bail him out?  And if it was a "gift", why were legal beagles needed?

I also understand that politicians operate in a world that requires daily compromise and that they sometimes take the wrong path. For me, it is how they recover and get themselves back on the right road that shows their true character and mettle.

True - and it took a while before the principals involved in this one to do the right thing (even if not all have done what many think is the entire right thing yet).

 

[Edward Campbell]

Political pundit John Ibbitson guesses at Prime Minister Harper's response to l'affaire Duffy (and Brazeau and Wallin and Wright and let's not forget Harb) in this article which is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright ct from the Globe and Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/globe-politics-insider/harper-seeks-forgiveness-from-friends-over-senate-expenses-scandal/article12033423/#dashboard/follows/

Harper seeks forgiveness from friends over Senate expenses scandal

SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

John Ibbitson
The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, May. 21 2013

The Senate expenses scandal is potentially a bigger problem for Stephen Harper than his near defeat at the hands of a Liberal-led coalition in 2008 because this time he has angered not his enemies, but his friends.

The good news for the Conservatives is that the damage can be reversed, if Mr. Harper says and does the right things, starting at Tuesday’s caucus meeting.

For in the end, it’s much easier to seek forgiveness from your friends than from your enemies.

Conservative MPs are not hesitating to tell reporters of the outrage they are hearing from constituents over news that Nigel Wright, former chief of staff to the Prime Minister, paid off Senator Mike Duffy’s dodgy travel and living expenses with his own money and didn’t tell anyone.

After all, the Reform Party was born of Western anger – an anger that spread nationwide – at unaccountable elites who governed Ottawa in secrecy and with a long-entrenched sense of privilege.

The great damage of this scandal is that it makes it appear the Conservatives are beginning to resemble what it was they came to Ottawa to replace. This is how a political party loses power by eroding its base.

As The Globe’s Steven Chase and Daniel Leblanc report, Mr. Harper will tell the caucus Tuesday that the government supports stricter accounting of senators’ expenses, and is committed to electing senators to fixed terms, subject to a Supreme Court reference. That’s a start, but it may not be enough. The Conservative back bench has been progressively marginalized over the past seven years, culminating in a revolt over the PM’s refusal to permit any discussion in the House around abortion issues.

Now the Prime Minister’s Office has acted so egregiously that even the Tory shires are up in arms, which strengthens the hands of the MPs who speak for those shires. A weakened PMO will have to work with a restive caucus to re-establish cohesion – an essential, but not sufficient, condition for recovery.

To secure his long-term future, Mr. Harper must then take control of the political conversation. That means making economic growth the issue, not backroom deals. It means bringing Conservative guns to bear on NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, rather than on their own feet.

And it means starting the 2015 election campaign right here, right now.

Canadians like to make fun of the two-year presidential election cycle that effectively begins the day after the mid-term elections.

But Canadians could be about to witness the same thing. The NDP and the Liberals will use the Senate expenses scandal to frame an election narrative based on trust in government and time for a change. (Which, if you remember, was the Conservative narrative in 2004 and 2006.)

Mr. Harper, who is never happier than when he is campaigning, will want the ballot question to be on the economy and which leader can be trusted to manage it. (Which, if you remember, was what he ran on in 2008 and 2011.)

In that sense, Tuesday’s caucus meeting is a vital prologue to the campaign to come, which will launch with the upcoming cabinet shuffle and a throne speech that will be an election platform by another name.

The Tory campaign will accelerate with party (and government) advertising, financial appeals to the base (assuming the base is still listening) and unrelenting attacks on the leadership qualifications of the opposition.

The campaign will carry on, pretty much without ceasing, until May 2015, when the next election is likely to be held. It won’t be pretty, but it has worked for the Tories in the past, it worked in B.C. last week and the Conservatives will count on it working again.

If the Senate scandal fades, that will advantage Mr. Harper as the campaign begins. If it deepens and entrenches, then the opposition will have the upper hand.

Either way, expect everything short of lawn signs for the next two years – assuming, that is, Mr. Harper can win back his caucus and his base. If he can’t do that, well, who knows how this ends.

I agree that the prime minister needs to change the channel back to "who can manage the economy?"

But, I also think he has to mollify Canadians; uncharacteristic as it may be for Stephen Harper he must admit to having made errors in judgement and he needs to throw Duffy, especially, under the bus - even the police bus. Nigel Wright can, and I am very sure will, come out of all this without real damage - maybe, in fact, his reputation for loyalty will be enhanced.

 

[GAP]

initiating the 2015 campaign rhetoric now would be a huge mistake in timing....now it needs to be a "changing of the channels"

 

[Edward Campbell]

Columnist Margaret Wente pretty well sums up what many (most?) politically aware people are thinking in this column which is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the Globe and Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/columnists/margaret-wente-ottawa-insiders-look-after-themselves/article12032223/#dashboard/follows/

Ottawa insiders look after themselves

MARGARET WENTE
The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, May. 21 2013

How could such a smart guy be so stupid?

That’s what everyone’s asking about Nigel Wright, the Prime Minister’s former right-hand man.

No doubt that’s what Mr. Wright is asking himself right now as he pounds the pavement on those long, lonely predawn runs. Whatever possessed him to write a $90,000 cheque to a senator who was being audited for illegitimate expense claims? Did he actually think no one would find out? Did he consider the consequences if they did? Did he even check to see whether it was legal?

Stephen Harper must be wondering, too. He and his former chief of staff are two peas in a pod – disciplined, focused, laser sharp, and crisply in control. But now, a penny-ante scandal has blown up into a major crisis about abuse of power. And all because Nigel Wright tried to be a good guy.

Mr. Harper promised Canadians a different kind of government – modest, anti-elitist, respectful of the taxpayer’s dime. Now it turns out that Conservatives can milk the system just like everybody else. And when they get caught, their buddies in high places will bail them out.

The Conservatives are looking like the kind of people they used to loathe. But that’s what happens when outsiders become insiders. People start to feel entitled. They can’t resist rewarding their friends. They get used to drinking $16 orange juice and feeling incredibly important. They get a little greedy, or a little venal. And when the orange juice hits the fan, their colleagues go easy on them because, hey, it’s just good old Duff

How could a well-paid senator with a lucrative former career be so broke? (Just asking.) And why was Mr. Wright so eager to help him out? Was it merely pity, and the hope that a repayment would shut down the audit? Or was it something else? How could Mr. Wright not have informed his boss on such a sensitive political issue – especially a boss with a passion for micromanaging? But I don’t think Mr. Harper knew. He would have seen the implications, and stopped it right away.

This story will not end now that Mr.Wright has thrown himself under the bus. Rules and laws may have been bent and broken. Other politicians will probably be found to have taken advantage of a system that seems designed to protect its own. Above all, a lot of people who really did believe in the Conservatives are saying: This isn’t right.

What Mr. Wright should have done, back in February, was advise Mr. Harper to throw Old Duff to the wolves – along with anyone else who might have been abusing the public purse. He should have advised Mr. Harper to have every senator audited until their teeth rattled, and to hell with party loyalty.

Mr. Harper knows it’s not the cancellation of the long-form census that enrages voters, or his so-called dictatorial style. Those things only matter to the pundits. It’s the $16 glass of orange juice. It’s the $90,000 get-out-of-trouble-free card. It’s the puffed-up politician who claims to live somewhere he doesn’t, or the ones who fly around on the people’s business and charge a fortune for it. It’s people overfeeding at the public trough, then assuming that all they have to do is pay back the money and everything will be okay.

But it’s not okay. And everyone knows it.

I have said many times that the Conservatives will, sooner or later, make themselves unfit to govern ...

...
I know, with absolute certainty, that sometime between now and 2020 the Conservative Party will become fat, lazy, corrupt, bereft of ideas, and, generally, in need of a few years in the political reserve (opposition) to regroup and reorganize. I seriously doubt that Thomas Mulcair can lead the NDP far enough into the political centre to make them a safe government for Canada. While the Liberal record, post M. St Laurent, is spotty on pretty well every issue, even Justin Trudeau has renounced much of the policy vandalism and sheer lunacy that his father, Pierre Trudeau (Canada's worst ever prime minister), foisted upon us and the Liberals are, in my opinion, the best hope we have to be a (barely acceptable) government in waiting.
...

Have they already gotten there - to Bryce Mackasey and David Dingwall land?

No, I think not, but I do think the party - caucus and back rooms - needs to take a good hard look at what it wants to achieve between now and about 2020. They, the Conservatives - politicians and insiders, need to tell Canadians why we need them to stay in government. Mike Duffy is not the problem but he is a symptom ...

    ..............   

Liberal Bryce Mackasey (left) was the poster boy for greed
and corruption and crass patronage in the 1980s, now it's
Conservative Mike Duffy (right). They are symptoms of a
long standing Ottawa disease.

 

[Jed]

Wallin's 300,000$ in mostly fake travel expenses are next. Then we can take back Harb's 22,000 a year fake housing allowance. Likely we will have to pay back Brazeau the 48,000$ fine as ironically he met all the criteria. This inquiry was anything but independent. It was a witch hunt for Brazeau that backfired on the PM.

As far as Sen. Wallin is concerned, this issue is and always has been, the rules regarding primary  place of residence and travel expenses. No one know the details on this just like we don't know the details on your travel expenses.

I do know that she has spent a great deal of time in small town Saskatchewan doing her job and is well loved by the people out here. She has the support of one and all except for a few political hacks and slobbering second rate journalists who see gain in her downfall.

If you ever had to travel by air from Saskatchewan to Ottawa you would know that direct flights are rare and hard to come by. You almost always have to go through T.O. and then carry on to Ottawa. The travel time takes as much time as flying to Europe from a larger city including going through customs.


So, if you think this was just a witch hunt for Sen. Brazeau, think again. I really doubt he was also conducting a witch hunt on Sen. Wallin.

 

[Edward Campbell]

I listened to Prime Minister Harper's address to his caucus. I don't think he went far enough and I suspect he will, sooner or later, have to go the whole hog and apologize for his own bad judgement.

But, and it's a Big BUT, I also considered that his conclusion - what Canadians want - is correct and I also concluded that neither Thomas Mulcair nor Justin Trudeau has the mix of policies and the team necessary to get this country back on a sound socio-economic footing in this new, difficult world. Therefore, just moments ago, I phones Conservative Party of Canada HQ and increased my monthly donation to the maximum allowed by law.

I think l'affaire Duffy stinks to high heaven and I want real, punitive sanctions. But even more, I want a reformed, elected Senate and I want a reformed, smaller, better focused national government. In other words I want something like Stephen Harper's Canada and I'm willing to put up my own money to help get it.

 

[Jed]

I listened to Prime Minister Harper's address to his caucus. I don't think he went far enough and I suspect he will, sooner or later, have to go the whole hog and apologize for his own bad judgement.

But, and it's a Big BUT, I also considered that his conclusion - what Canadians want - is correct and I also concluded that neither Thomas Mulcair nor Justin Trudeau has the mix of policies and the team necessary to get this country back on a sound socio-economic footing in this new, difficult world. Therefore, just moments ago, I phones Conservative Party of Canada HQ and increased my monthly donation to the maximum allowed by law.

I think l'affaire Duffy stinks to high heaven and I want real, punitive sanctions. But even more, I want a reformed, elected Senate and I want a reformed, smaller, better focused national government. In other words I want something like Stephen Harper's Canada and I'm willing to put up my own money to help get it.

My sentiments, as well.

 

[dapaterson]

Therefore, just moments ago, I phones Conservative Party of Canada HQ and increased my monthly donation to the maximum allowed by law.

So, they're crooks and liars, and to punish them, you're giving them more money.

I expect Mike Duffy to shortly begin a new career running a construction company in Montreal - he's got the "underhanded payments" part down pat...

 

[Edward Campbell]

So, they're crooks and liars, and to punish them, you're giving them more money.

I expect Mike Duffy to shortly begin a new career running a construction company in Montreal - he's got the "underhanded payments" part down pat...

Yep. Prime Minister Harper didn't say enough, not by a long shot, and I am convinced that he will have to: a) say more and, more important b) do something ~ audits, even more disclosure, police investigations, etc.

But: what's the alternative? Mulcair's NDP? Trudeau's Liberals? Do we really want Libby Davies or Hedy Fry with their hands on the levers of power?

My solution: the devil I know ... and trust, as far as we can trust any politician.

 

[dapaterson]

Better solution:  Not one red cent until they order the RCMP into the Senate and open the books of both houses to the OAG for public discussion and disclosure.

Tell them that you're cutting them off until they reform.

Giving them more because "They're less incompetent" just encourages a race to the bottom.