11.23.2013 11:30 AM

Governments defeat themselves

…and another political truism, in 140 characters or less.

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17 Comments

  1. Joe Harrington says:

    Those who do not learn the lessons from history are doomed to repeat them.

  2. frmr disgruntled Con now happy Lib says:

    I feel sorry for Mr. Wright…..who by all accounts seems a rather decent fellow…….even though I had my doubts when he was first appointed to the PMO.
    This is not the first time “Dear Leader” has turned on a former ally or friend……he hung Preston Manning out to dry over a dry cleaning bill…..so we shouldn’t be surprised this modern day Machievelli turned on someone who had been an extremely competent and loyal servant.

    • Andrew Gregg says:

      I have trouble levelling “decent fellow” with “ultra-conservative.”

    • Michael says:

      Decent fellows do not try to cover up the truth. If Mr. Wright was so concerned about the plight of the taxpayer, why not write a $90K to the Receiver General. Why try to run it through Duffy’s bank account and come up with the fake loan story?

      Trying to make Wright out to be a decent fellow is just CPC spin.

  3. Student501 says:

    “This is a generation weaned on Watergate, and there is no presumption of innocence and no presumption of good intentions. Instead, there is a presumption that, without relentless scrutiny, the government will misbehave.”

    Dee Dee Myers

  4. Kev says:

    But wait – there’s more. If you look carefully, from just over the horizon you can see the smoke from the internal CPC civil war. From where I am, you can already smell it. Leadership campaigns already mustered, resignation letters signed and ready to go… maybe even a floor-crossing (stay tuned.) What a beautiful smell. What a beautiful, beautiful smell.

    • Windsurfer says:

      You get a $25 prize if you name the first floor-crossing CON MP.

      And will “their base” lynch them back in home-town CON’sville?

    • ottlib says:

      I doubt you will see many Conservative MPs crossing the floor but I would not be surprised to see a whole boatload announce that they will not run in the next election.

  5. J.W. says:

    It is time for Nigel to carefully consider the greater good: protecting Harper which asks what your country can do for you, at this stage nothing, versus the other question, what you can do for your country? The answer to that one is tell the whole, entire truth.
    And incidentally this course saves the immortal Christian soul of one Nigel Wright, and turns him from being a dishonest liar and gullible fool in the eyes of Canadians to a great national patriot.

  6. .. lose all 4 by-elections .. and only 5 MP’s need to cross the floor .. and does anyone actually believe that Nigel Wright would do time.. for a PM who called him a liar this past week, outside of Parliament? Somebody is lying.. which one needs to lie? And why? Did Nigel Wright need to lie..? Somehow I don’t think so.. which leaves Stephen Harper needing to lie .. why? Will Nigel Wright go after Harper for slander .. defamation?

  7. Chris says:

    Yeah but does Nigel have a “Princess of Darkness” with a little website defending him?

    • Student501 says:

      The “Prince of Darkeness” wont be in a position to do much should Nigel stand tall before the man,

      His choices now are rather limited, he can cut a deal before charges are laid OR he can feel the crush of the wheels of the bus as they pass over him.

      The PMO is now saying Nigel “mislead” them:

      “In a statement to The Globe and Mail on Friday, the PMO said a memo signed by Mr. Wright on March 22 misleadingly referred to Mr. Duffy as being set to repay his expenses, even though Mr. Wright had already decided to use his funds to do so.

      “The document clearly shows that the Prime Minister was not being given the facts about the arrangement between Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy. In fact, on page three, the memo suggests that Mr. Duffy would be repaying his expenses himself,” PMO director of communications Jason MacDonald said. “Had the Prime Minister been aware of the scheme that resulted in Mr. Wright cutting a cheque for Mr. Duffy’s expenses, he would have put a stop to it.”

      http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/pmo-says-nigel-wright-memo-misled-harper/article15574822/

      Nigel, you seeing those big bus wheels coming closer ?

      Jump out of the way while you can Nigel, Club Fed just isn’t a good vacation spot for someone like you.

      • tf says:

        I think we need to be prepared for disappointment.

        Did you see Barton’s CBC interview with former House of Commons law clerk Rob Walsh?
        From the interview, we can deduce it is highly unlikely that any of the charges mentioned by RCMP officer Horton will be laid.

        Thus the continuing mantra that Wright and Duffy were the only ones involved and they have been removed from jobs.
        Harper says he did the right thing and everyone in his party supports him, ad nauseum.

        I think that’s as far as any of this will go – once again we have to stomach the machinations of Canada’s Con Party no matter how much it makes us sick.

        • Student501 says:

          Well, Rob Walsh isn’t investigating & wouldn’t be suggesting they do to the public prosecutor.

          Dunno, but judging from the latest CBC coverage, RCMP Cpl Horton seems to be going to a lot of trouble just to have this thing die.

          It was a very elaborate deception thats for sure:

          The money route

          Once it was established that Duffy had to repay his expenses, he took out a $91,600 mortgage loan from the Royal Bank. In his affidavit, Horton says, “I believe this loan was an effort by Senator Duffy to create a paper trail so he could show that he obtained the loan to repay the money, if ever asked.”

          Duffy would later tell reporters he voluntarily paid back the inappropriate expenses on his own, although he didn’t believe he had done anything wrong. “It was the right thing to do,” he said, explaining he’d taken out a bank loan to make the repayment

          On the same day Duffy obtained the mortgage loan, he took $80,000 from his private account and put it into a line of credit he said was being used for renovating his cottage.

          According to Horton, “He now had $91,600 from a mortgage loan, so having no need for it for the repayment, he put $80,000 of that money on his line of credit.”

          The officer believes Duffy knew a bank draft from Wright was on its way.

          Three days later, on March 25, Wright arranged for a bank draft worth $90,172.24 to be delivered to the office of Janice Payne, Duffy’s lawyer. The figure was the exact amount Senate administration staff calculated Duffy owed in inappropriately claimed expenses.

          On March 26, a branch-to-branch transfer put $90,172.24 into Duffy’s private RBC account.

          On that same day, a personal cheque from Duffy for $90,172.24 made out to the Receiver General was delivered to the Senate.

          Horton says in the affidavit that he believes this was Nigel Wright’s money. One purpose of the 81-page affidavit is to persuade a judge to allow him access to bank records showing who transferred the money into Duffy’s account, and from where.

          That information would complete the picture of a complex routing of money designed to hide the source of the funds, and a plan to make it seem Duffy had used his own resources to repay his expenses.

          http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/how-the-rcmp-mapped-the-wright-duffy-money-trail-1.2437299

  8. Paul says:

    Mr Wright unfortunately is too good a man for the BS that goes on on parliament hill with all parties …all this garbage does is prevent good people from getting involved….regardless of political stripe

  9. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    Two words: Ralph Stewart.

    And I remember how well that went.

  10. Cynical says:

    The Usual Suspects have been very quiet in the last weeks. And one of the few statements made in public by the upper echelon of the party was not very useful to the PM. (Kenny on Wright). Baird, Flaherty etc. Where have they been? My hypothesis is “head down” and trying to avoid fallout.

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