Susan Delacourt, Judy Sgro...Then and Now

It's no great secret that the Conservative Party (in particular Jason Kenney) has made it their special mission to destroy Dr. Ruby Dhalla and win the riding of Brampton Springdale in the next general election.

Yesterday the Star's Susan Delacourt was caught wearing her tin foil hat when Conservative spinster Alykhan Velshi lied about three Liberal MPs crossing the floor. Not only could she not verify the story, but she also protected Velshi's identity as the source of the bullshit.

The same Delacourt then issues a veiled threat in Dr. Dhalla's direction:

Q: Is the Star picking on Ruby Dhalla?

A: I see that Ms. Dhalla has posted on Twitter today that it's tough to be a female politician. Indeed it is. It is also difficult to balance on one leg, have a telephone conversation with the TV blaring and type on the blackberry while walking. Those examples are just as relevant to this story as Ms. Dhalla's gender. I believe she knows that the story could have been much worse, and we'll leave it at that.

Then, today, Delacourt tries the old backhanded apology after the PMO outs her source for her:

Velshi, when asked on Monday whether there was any truth to speculation about Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla (Brampton-Springdale) crossing the floor to the Conservatives, said that there had been talks with three Liberal MPs, but Dhalla was not among them. Velshi made the remarks in the Commons foyer, with other reporters nearby.

According to Velshi, the three Liberal MPs had made the approach to the Conservatives, but he did not know their names. He volunteered, however, that Dhalla wouldn't be a good catch because "she's going to lose" to the Tories in the next election.

At this point I'm not sure which of the two, Delacourt or Velshi is more full of shit.

This is the same Toronto Star that broke the bullshit Nannygate story about nothing. I'm going to bet lots that Kenney's office had a lot to do with seeking out the immigrant nannies that made up the false allegations about Dr. Dhalla.

But the story doesn't end with the Conservatives. No Sirry. The Geniuses at the OLO thought they better put some MORE distance between themselves and the star MP Dhalla. So they get Judy Sgro to come out against one of their own's private members bills. Problem with that is that Sgro supported this bill in the past.

If the OLO is serious about winning back the immigrant vote, they otta start thinking of ways to circle the wagons against Jason Kenney's spin machine.

As for Sgro? She owes Dr. Dhalla an apology I would think.


THEN


Hon. Judy Sgro (York West, Lib.) May 13, 2007 at committee:

I'll keep my comments as brief as possible.
Ms. Beaumier, I appreciate your being here. I know this is an important issue to all of us. You're aware that we are currently undertaking a poverty study. Hence, this whole issue you are raising of course becomes part of the overall strategy we are looking at--how we deal with poverty in Canada, such as whether or not everybody who lives in this country should be able to receive some sort of guaranteed income to ensure they have a few cents in their pocket, and dignity.

You referenced the south Asian community in particular. And you can tell by the people who are in attendance today that they're clearly watching this issue very carefully. Many of them come over as family members, we all know that, and they end up providing the child care that many of the parents can't find otherwise. The $100 they may receive as a child care benefit isn't going to the senior anyway, because the reality is that it's going in to help them maintain their living standards.

NOW

The legislation, tabled by Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla, was designed to allow elderly immigrants to qualify for the pension benefits after being in the country for three years, instead of the current requirement of 10. But Judy Sgro, the seniors and pensions critic, said the Liberal party wants to come up with a more comprehensive approach to addressing pension issues.

“The leader (Michael Ignatieff) and the Liberal caucus feel the solutions to the challenges facing our national pension and retirement systems must be addressed holistically and with a comprehensive national vision,” Sgro said in a statement released late on Monday afternoon. “Expenditure of public dollars must never be made without careful consideration of the long-term ramifications on the public treasury.”

Sgro said the Liberal party believed that increasing Old Age Security benefits “was not the most appropriate method” to improve government support for new Canadians. She estimated that, if adopted, the plan would cost the government between $300 million to $700 million.

The Harper government blasted Dhalla’s legislation last week after it was introduced, saying that ministers and MPs were being flooded with phone calls complaining about the proposal. But at the time, Dhalla said that it was not a Liberal bill and should be viewed only as a private member’s bill.

A spokesperson for Ignatieff said that Sgro issued her release to make it clear that the legislation was not party policy, but that MPs are not forced to vote in any particular way on a private member’s bill.