10.26.2010 06:23 PM

Chretien wins again!

…now let’s see if the Reformatories appeal again. Because they’ll get their asses kicked. Again.

27 Comments

  1. James Curran says:

    I’ll say it again….BEST PRIME MINISTER EVER!!!

    • Sir Wilfrid L says:

      I guess you never heard of me…. or MacDonald… or King…. Or Trudeau.

      Not sayin’ JC was bad or anything, just trying to keep perspective here.

  2. Paul R Martin says:

    Are you trying to tell us that the sponsorship scandal never happened and that certain ad companies with ties to Liberals never misused taxpayers money?

    • Namesake says:

      no, Mr. Reading Impaired: the conclusion to draw from this is that there’s no preponderance of evidence that the former PM or the PMO was responsible for it, despite Judge Gomery’s apparent biases or preceonceptions to the contrary.

      • Paul R Martin says:

        In other words, the sponsorship scandal really did happen during the Liberal watch and small victories such as the one trumpeted by Warren do not negate the existence of the scandal.

        • Namesake says:

          well, unlike the Cons. we don’t try to “negate the existence” of even unwelcome facts: we acknowledge reality and endeavour to deal with it constructively. Try it, some time.

    • James Curran says:

      Go buy some helicopters.

      • Paul R Martin says:

        The helicopter problem occurred because the Liberals cancelled a contract to buy them in the 1990’s. Consequently, we had been stuck with unsafe highly unreliable helicopters.

        • smelter rat says:

          Only partially correct. The Harpercons added a bunch of options that weren’t “off the shelf”, thereby driving the costs from $2 billion to north of $5 billion. Chretien cancelled the deal becasue Kim Campbell did the same thing.

          • Paul R Martin says:

            Can’t you guys ever admit that you goofed? You left the country with a fleet of outdated and unsafe helicopters. You have no credibility on this issue.

          • Namesake says:

            actually, it’s more vindication for the Chretien legacy. He probably recognized that it was a bad deal we were getting fleeced on, that’d lose us billions more than the cancellation fee.. and he was right, judging by the way the next. Cons. gov’t bungled a similar deal. Again.

        • Gabriel Germaine says:

          Actually, Namesake, i’m not so sure Chretien was right. By the look of it, in the end it probably cost us much much more.

          “On his first day in office in 1993, prime minister Jean Chrétien had ripped up a signed contract to purchase 28 navy helicopters and 15 search-and-rescue versions from E.H. Industries. Mr. Chrétien said the country could not afford “Cadillac” helicopters — the EH-101s — when the national deficit was so high.”

          “Left unsaid was an uncomfortable truth. Killing the project triggered more than $1 billion in cancellation penalties, write-offs, and extra maintenance costs for the existing fleet of Sea King helicopters. For more than a decade, no one had dared to revive the project. Then, on Dec. 17, 2003, just five days after Paul Martin replaced Mr. Chrétien as prime minister, the Liberal government issued a call for new bids.”

          “The procurement took so long getting under way that the navy’s existing Sea King choppers became ancient before they could be replaced. To keep the Sea Kings going, the department was forced to divert a fortune into maintenance.”

          “Because the time between major procurements now stretches to decades, military planners covet technology that is still very much under development, thereby substantially increasing the risk things will go wrong. “If I get one kick at the can in 30 years,” says the former project manager of a multibillion-dollar military purchase, “I’m sure as hell not going to buy something off the shelf.””

          http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=99de5056-1d13-4d31-8ff7-6135b652cd40

          • Namesake says:

            Hmm. Touche: good article. And if it’s largely accurate, and in light of the new AG report, I’ll have to agree, the blame on the cost overruns on these ‘copters has to be shared b/w the two parties & 3 leaders.

            And I think the lesson learned, which both parties should agree to here & now, should be:

            whenever possible, we should avoid these ‘development’ deals on merely conceptualized technology, and go with already tested and proven products…. buying fewer, more often…. intead of ordering up a huge batch of what seem to inavariably turn out to be new white elephants once every 30 years.

            The Libs seem to be saying something along those lines, now, in wanting to analyze & overhaul the whole procurement process.

  3. allegra fortissima says:

    “I feel strongly that we did not build our institutions, our traditions, our history, our national pride, in short this great country Canada, to become the fifty-first state of America. If it becomes a question of national survival, to hell with privacy, leisure and the easy life, I will be there because I owe to Canada all the privileges I have received. Whatever our problems, I always conclude my speeches with one plain truth: Canada is the best.”

    Bien dit, Monsieur. Tres bien.

  4. Sean says:

    BRAVO PETIT GARS!!! Namesake, did I spell that right?!

  5. The Dude says:

    Maybe we shoulda listened to him in early June. There’s more at stake here than the tradtion of 2 parties that have more in common than have differences

  6. michael hale says:

    The beauty of the Chretien storyline is that despite all the sponsorship crap he remains so iconic. His grace in the years after his departure have only added to the myth of the man. “Happy” about the result, indeed.

  7. scanner says:

    Delighted to read this. Miss the man – he had a stature that is completely missing in our current PM (the whiner). I am also delighted in the rending of garments and gnashing of teeth from the oppo. (grins)

  8. hitfan says:

    I see a lot of looking through rose-colored glasses here.

    Every single scandal and minor scandal that plagued the Chretien years, if they occurred today would result with all of the liblogs calling for Harper’s head.

    Remember the so-called check scandal? That was the thing that was supposed to bring down Harper.

  9. Hugger says:

    So he gets off due to some minor gaffes not even really significant enough to be seen as legal technicalities. Sorry Mr. K, can’t agree with you on this one. The Cap’n is always responsible for his crew. Old Jean let his first mate take the harpoon for him.

  10. Ted H. says:

    The Conservatives have already wasted more money than the Sponsorship Scandal. With the renovation issue, untendered contracts, private firms drawing up press releases for millions of dollars, millions spent on signs they can no longer point their fingers, they are far worse. It is unfortunate the Sponsorship Scandal happened, no one will deny that but the Cons should stop with the crocodile tears, it was the best thing that ever happened for them, without it they would never have won an election.

  11. Sir Wilfrid L says:

    Personally, I’m waiting for Macdonald to repay all the CPR scandal money….

  12. Namesake says:

    thanks. will you help us frame the inevitable inquiry on the burgeoning package of Public Works scandals under the current administration?

    • Namesake says:

      I had nothing to say on that at all; I’m just asking for more free advice on how to best go after the current asleep-at-the-switch bunch; because Lord knows, we can’t trust Harper to frame an inquiry properly after the way the Mulroney-Schreiber debacle was set out (don’t go there, don’t go there…).

  13. jc says:

    Jean always number 1…too bad that he had to endure the “Showboat” who would have trouble getting an articling position and the political “Loser” who owns all the ships….people really do reach their own levels for all to see….

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