Conservatives Are Entitled to Their Entitlements...And Their Appointments Too!!!

Stephen Harper and his lie machine appointed 148 friends to government positions prior to this election being called. This, I would call, is a GOTCHA moment. Does this explain why Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg decided to call it quits? I would imagine many of these appointments had to go through his office first.


You may recall that in May of this year, I was warning Canadians about this. In Fact, I warned about it here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here and here, and here. And now, what better timing then during an election campaign for Canadians to find out how many untruths this Conservative Government has made since the release of their 2006 Election Platform.

Below is a portion of the Conservative Lie Book from the 2006 Election Campaign. It can be seen in its entirety here. OOPS! Turns out the Conservatives don't want you to see the great big Blue lie book. They've pointed it to their 2008 site. Now why do you suppose they did that? That's okay. Jim Curran saved some tasty morsels for you to see.

Here are some excerpts from those posts that I think are worth reading. My favourite is this one:

The Liberals have repeatedly appointed insiders, in some cases completely unqualified,to important public offices. Liberal candidates and MPs have received appointments as heads of Crown corporations, board members, and ambassadors. Liberal staffers, including some of those responsible for the sponsorship program, have worked their way into key positions in the public service.

• Ensure that all Officers of Parliament are appointed through consultation with all parties in the House
of Commons and confirmed through a secret ballot of all Members of Parliament, not just named by the
Prime Minister. This appointment process will cover:
- The Ethics Commissioner
- The Auditor General
- The Chief Electoral Officer
- The Information Commissioner
- The Privacy Commissioner
- The Registrar of Lobbyists

Today's Stand Up Comedy manual excerpt. This is Stephen Harper's message to Canadians taken from his 2006 campaign manual.

The time for accountability has arrived.
Canadians will soon be able to finally hold the Liberals accountable. After 12 years in power,the Liberals must be held accountable for the stolen money; accountable for the broken trust;and accountable for all that they failed to accomplish because of this government’s total preoccupation with scandal and damage control.
For those Canadians seeking accountability the question is clear: which party can deliver the change of government that’s needed to ensure political accountability in
Ottawa? We need a change of government to replace old style politics with a new vision. We need to replace a culture of entitlement and corruption with a culture of accountability. We need to replace benefits for a privileged few with government for all.

Everyday Canadians – the hardworking people who pay their taxes and play by the rules – want and deserve a new government that will put the people’s interest ahead of self-interest. And this election provides them with a chance to tell Liberal Ottawa that they've had enough; that they’re tired of being forgotten; that it’s finally their turn.

Now don't you think these are words that Mr. Harper can choke on right about now?

Lie number 1. Standing up for Who?



Table of Contents for the entire document.

Wait for it....ACCOUNTABILITY



Lie #2
People who work hard, pay their taxes, and play by the rules want accountability from their political leaders. We don’t expect politicians to be perfect. But we do want to know that our tax dollars – money we’ve worked for – are being spent properly and wisely. Above all, we want and expect our dollars to be spent legally.
Now does that include Minister Flaherty's untendered $122,000 speech? Or Bev Oda's $5000 taxi ride to the Junos?
Lie #3
• Extend to ten years the period for which Elections Act violations can be investigated and prosecuted.
10 years is a lot. Yet Pierre, the stretcher of the truth, Poilievre brings out a 1997 ruling to the House of Commons. Irrelevant at best.
While campaign donations are regulated, it is still legal to give unrestricted amounts of money to political candidates during an election campaign, including MPs who are not cabinet ministers.Thanks to this loophole, some MPs have accumulated large, secret trust funds. The Chief Electoral Officer estimates millions of dollars may be held in these trusts.
Yet we still don't know who donated to Stephen Harper's Leadership Campaign. Big Secret.
Lie #4
The Liberals have repeatedly appointed insiders, in some cases completely unqualified,to important public offices. Liberal candidates and MPs have received appointments as heads of Crown corporations, board members, and ambassadors. Liberal staffers, including some of those responsible for the sponsorship program, have worked their way into key positions in the public service.

• Ensure that all Officers of Parliament are appointed through consultation with all parties in the House
of Commons and confirmed through a secret ballot of all Members of Parliament, not just named by the
Prime Minister. This appointment process will cover:
- The Ethics Commissioner
- The Auditor General
- The Chief Electoral Officer
- The Information Commissioner
- The Privacy Commissioner
- The Registrar of Lobbyists
I guess an unelected person sitting in cabinet like Michael Fortier doesn't really fit here.
Lie #5
The Liberal government commissions some $25 million per year in polling and public opinion research. Much of this polling is conducted by Liberal-connected polling firms. The Auditor General revealed that Paul Martin’s Finance department commissioned polling for which there were “only verbal reports” – nothing was written down so there was no paper trail. Yet the Martin government prevented the Gomery Commission from investigating this part of the Auditor General’s report.
The plan
A Conservative government will:
• Ensure that all government public opinion research is automatically published within six months of the completion of the project, and prohibit verbal-only reports.
Conservatives have spent over $39Million in the past 12 months alone. What about their hidden polling on the death penalty? Countless other polls none of us know about.
Lie #6
Under the Liberal government, abuse of the government contracting process has become
commonplace. Former Liberal cabinet minister Art Eggleton, for example, awarded an untendered contract to a former girlfriend. He was later appointed to the Senate by Paul Martin.
The plan
A Conservative government will:
• Review and amend all contracting rules to make the government’s procurement process free from political interference.
• Appoint a Procurement Auditor to ensure that all procurements are fair and transparent, and to address complaints from vendors.

Back to the Hon. Minister of Finance and his speech contract...

Lie #7
Strengthen the power of the Auditor General

In Light of the recent statements by Sheila Fraser, can anyone believe this?

Anyway, you now see how the game is played, so feel free to browse through the rest of this bull and point out the lies.


Jeff has more on this. So does Impolitical.