Conservatives: cheats and liars
I am filled with rage at our offensive, crypto-Republican right wing minority government today. Let’s look at few things in order of ascending offensiveness.
First we’ll start with financial irregularities, disregard for the rule of law, and good old talking points spin:
Elections chief counters Tory defence on expenses practices
Elections officials found no evidence that other political parties engaged in a scheme to circumvent spending limits as the Conservatives are accused of doing in the 2006 federal election, Canada’s chief electoral officer said Tuesday.
Elections Canada has alleged the Tories overspent on election ads by disguising the cost of national ads as local expenses in an “in-and-out” scheme that involved the participation of 67 candidates — including four cabinet ministers.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s party has denied any wrongdoing, and repeatedly maintained that all parties engage in the practice.
..
So, just to review: disregard the law, claim that the violations are a question of interpretation (does that sound familiar?), spin it as a common practice (which, incidentally is a lie, the major point of the article linked above), then claim persecution. Classy. Classy all the way,
I’d say Maryland and Corbett deserve plaudits for doing their jobs, despite what must have been strong pressure from the standing governmnet.
Tags: canada,election,i hate humans
Lachlan O’Dea
Someone with a Voice
Trish
Richard B.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:58 pm
My outrage is tired. As far as I can tell, there is zero difference between the 3 major parties in Canada. They all say whatever they think the people want to hear just to get elected. Once elected, they completely ignore the people to advance an agenda known only to them, placing blame on the previous government (if it was a different party) to justify breaking any promise they feel like.
IMO, voting for a specific party is ridiculous. I vote locally for the guy I think is being straight with me and, if he has been in office before, how he has followed up on any promises or statements he has personally made in the past.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Seriously, you don’t see a difference? You think the country would run the same under the Conservatives as the NDP or the Greens?
I could understand saying the Liberals and the PCs (back when they existed) would do essentially the same things in office, as they are both driven by the same corporate agenda, but the more left wing parties would definitely do some things differently (many of which would probably be disasters, if well-meaning ones), and the current Conservative apparatus is clearly driven by some ideological imperatives that go beyond the traditional right wing; they’re much more Reform than they are PC.
I do agree that if there were a way to prevent parties from forming, and still get things done, that parliament would be better off with a “vote for the person you trust locally” algorithm, but I don’t see how it could work in practice–how would decisions get made without endless horse-trading, and who would play the role currently played by the PM and Cabinet–or rather how would it be decided who would play that role.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Of course there are differences, but they only really appear once the party is elected. Look at the last 3 premiers of Ontario (not counting Ernie Eaves). NDP, Liberal and PC. They all said exactly what people wanted to hear during their election campaigns. Once elected, what they did has been siginificantly different. Thats why I think voting for a party is not a good idea, unless you are on the inside and know what the ‘real’ plan is, not the press spun plan designed to sound like what you want to hear.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
[...] I am so strongly opposed to Harper and his lot getting a majority government. It’s like they weren’t paying [...]
October 1st, 2008 at 6:45 am
[...] – bookmarked by 6 members originally found by SuvhOohl on 2008-09-22 Conservatives: cheats and liars http://www.chrismclaren.com/blog/2008/07/15/conservatives-are-wangs-part-1/ – bookmarked by 5 [...]