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New day, new political scandal

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jade_lee

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The Story Stephen Harper's Lawyers Don't Want You To Read
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UPDATE: welcome National Newswatch readers.

Harper & Co Try to Muzzle Embarrassing Herald Story

Allnovascotia.com

By David Bentley

June 8, 2009

There`s a highly embarrassing sequel to last week's Ottawa hullabaloo over cabinet Minister Lisa Raitt's misplaced nuclear-sensitive documents - and the Harper government is pulling out all the stops to prevent The Halifax Herald from telling it.

The newspaper will be in court in Halifax today to defend against anapplication for an injunction to muzzle information gathered by Hill reporter Steve Maher.

Allnovascotia.com understands Maher listened to a tape that was recorded by Jasmine MacDonnell, the Nova Scotian who resigned as Raitt's press secretary after Atomic Energy of Canada documents were left at the bureau of CTV - which broke the story last week.Opposition members like Halifax West MP, Geoff Regan, said Raitt herself should have resigned pointing out that's what External Affairs Minister, Maxine Bernier, did after sensitive papers were left at the apartment of his biker chick girlfriend, Julie Coulliard.

Stephen Harper & Co apparently believe Raitt's political future couldbe seriously in doubt if the Herald publishes what was on the Jasmine MacDonnell tape.

According to one unconfirmed report*, the federal Minister of Natural Resources was recorded making some less than flattering comments about her cabinet colleague, Leona Aglukkaq, the fed Health Minister who entered parliament for the first time last year as the MP for Nunavut.

Allnovascotia.com understands that the Herald will be confronted in court by lawyers representing MacDonnell. But sources suggest that Harperites are plotting the strategy.

There`s a suggestion that the way the Herald obtained the tape willeven be characterized as a breach of criminal code.The paper is expected to respond with a Charter argument, declaring that nothing less than freedom of the press is at stake.

The Raitt Affair already features a couple of Nova Scotians - and now that reporter, Steve Maher, has been drawn in, that makes a third.

Raitt is originally from Cape Breton, according to the Toronto Star,though she has a master degree in chemistry from Guelph and a lawdegree from Osgood Hall.She lives in Oakville with comedy writer, David Raitt, and was previously CEO of the Toronto Port Authority.Jasmine MacDonnell is 26 and the daughter of Ralston MacDonnell, thewell-known engineering entrepreneur.

*Allnovascotia.com decided not to conventionally source this report,after considering what has happened to the Halifax Herald. The newspaper was apparently minutes away from publishing its story last week, when legal chill intervened.
 
Considering that Minister Aglukkaq stood up during Question Period at the height of the coalition imbroglio and repeatedly talked about the "Coalition with the Specialists," oblivious to her colleagues frantically shouting "Separatists! Separatists!" I can only imagine what Raitt said.

That's a laugh about the Conservatives threatening to prosecute someone for surreptitiously taping a call (if indeed that's what happened) after they broke into a confidential NDP caucus conference call, failed to identify themselves, taped the proceedings without informing the participants, and then released the tape to the media.
 
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This is so damn boring. Who the hell cares? I don't get why the Opposition spends its time nagging about such trivial things when the government is really, truly screwing up in any number of major ways. Its almost as if the country weren't about the rack up dozens, maybe hundreds, in billions of dollars of deficit for questionable gain. Its almost as if we weren't spending god knows how many billions for an ownership stake in a failing company worth no more than a few million. Its almost like we aren't in some questionable war for questionable aims. Its not like anyone is even talking about the AECL privatization, the original cause of this petty "Raittgate." Instead we just get hot air about crap. Anyone with half a brain could figure out that this kind of mild mannered incompetence is both inherent to having humans manage thing and far more a function of political pissing matches than some serious threat to governing. The worst part is that it actively encourage Opposition parties from, gasp, Opposing the government's policies in favor of the political crisis of the day.
 
Whoaccio said:
This is so damn boring. Who the hell cares? I don't get why the Opposition spends its time nagging about such trivial things when the government is really, truly screwing up in any number of major ways. Its almost as if the country weren't about the rack up dozens, maybe hundreds, in billions of dollars of deficit for questionable gain. Its almost as if we weren't spending god knows how many billions for an ownership stake in a failing company worth no more than a few million. Its almost like we aren't in some questionable war for questionable aims. Its not like anyone is even talking about the AECL privatization, the original cause of this petty "Raittgate." Instead we just get hot air about crap. Anyone with half a brain could figure out that this kind of mild mannered incompetence is both inherent to having humans manage thing and far more a function of political pissing matches than some serious threat to governing. The worst part is that it actively encourage Opposition parties from, gasp, Opposing the government's policies in favor of the political crisis of the day.
Click to expand...

I agree, actually. I think the focus should be on the disastrous financial management, and even minor scandals that are unfavourable to the Tories distract from that overarching issue. It's blindingly obvious that Flaherty is a completely ineffectual finance minister and that's a devastating weakness in a time of financial crisis. These scandals do show the poor quality of Harper's cabinet, though.
 
Looks like the tapes themselves didn't reveal anything we don't know. A government minister is cynically manipulating a crisis to get some points. So what else is new?

It does show the CPC Public Relations Department is in serious disarray, though. And that's more important than the tape itself.
 
urbanfan89 said:
Looks like the tapes themselves didn't reveal anything we don't know. A government minister is cynically manipulating a crisis to get some points. So what else is new?

It does show the CPC Public Relations Department is in serious disarray, though. And that's more important than the tape itself.
Click to expand...


I thought the most important piece of information on the tape was Raitt suggesting that money is the conservative panacea for dealing with political problems, it's confirmation that this current government is not only spending our tax dollars like drunken sailors but they actually think that it's the prudent thing to do. I had no idea how important GM was to these conservatives for example and now they want to sell their problems of a 51 year old nuclear experiment at a bargain price. Short term gain with long term pain.
 
^^^
That's probably true.
Pierre Trudeau flipped the finger to crowd of people in Kamloops, British Columbia back in the day.
It simply cemented anti-Liberal bias in the West, but went largely unnoticed in the Liberal heartland of Ontario.
 
Prometheus The Supremo said:
they could be trying to appeal to the base. for them, toronto is a lost cause anyway. toronto bashing has an appeal amongst conservatives who think toronto gets way too much attention.
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But the base *already* strongly supports the CPC. They know that if they want to win the next election, there will need to be gains in Liberal-dominated suburbs. Somehow I don't think telling Toronto to f off will go well with the average Mississauga resident.
 
From the tape
Because when we win on this, we get all the credit. I’m ready to roll the dice on this.
Click to expand...
Well roll the dice she did. So now that they have lost (remember, that this was recorded in January - and think how badly the Isotope file has gone since then) ... do they all get the blame?
 
Although, the comments were callous, it seems to me a bit of a tempest in a teapot. Seriously, is it that bad that a minister would be ambitious about solving a problem and that she would want to get credit for doing so? There are other issues so much more worthy of discussion than wasting Parliament's time for a minister being too ambitious and having the misfortune to have her ambitions caught on tape.

Seriously, does anybody really think that there are no other politicians from any of the other parties who would not think that way?
 
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