Thursday, August 27, 2009

Doug Finley bribes Cadman, becomes unelected Senator. Some democracy?




Doug Finley a Senator? Is this the same Doug Finley that attempted to bribe Chuck Cadman? Isn’t it a criminal offense to bribe elected Members of Parliament? Do Senators have immunity?

This country is going down the drain. I guess nobody cares? That was the motto of General Motors when I worked there in the early 80's. Nobody cares. Myself excepted.


Harper Names New Senators, Including Campaign Manager

By Greg Quinn

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed nine members to the country’s Senate, including the director of his party’s last two election campaigns and his former spokeswoman, saying they will help pass crime bills being stalled by opposition parties.

The new members include Doug Finley, the Conservative Party’s national director for the 2006 and 2008 campaigns, former spokeswoman Carolyn Stewart Olsen, and former Montreal Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers. The appointments will bring the Conservative Party’s membership in the Senate to 46, compared with 53 for the Liberal Party, and six from other parties or independents. There are no more vacancies.

Harper repeated today he wants elected Senators, and until provinces agree to hold elections, he must rebalance the Senate through appointments to help pass bills approved by the House of Commons. Today’s list adds to the 18 members Harper named in December. The Conservatives on May 28 also introduced a bill seeking Senate term limits of eight years.

“Until senators are elected, this government will ensure that we have in the Senate people who work hard and will support the elected government of this country,” Harper told reporters earlier today in Quebec City, Quebec. “That includes passing our anti-crime legislation and passing our democratic reforms, which have been blocked in the Senate.”

Lack Majority

Harper’s Conservatives also lack a majority of seats in the elected House of Commons, meaning they need the support of at least one opposition party to pass laws. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has signaled he may try to force Harper from power after Parliament returns in September in a non-confidence vote.

“Putting Doug Finley, who runs the Conservative campaign machine, on the public payroll is just odious,” New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton said in a statement.

The list of new Senators also includes former Northwest Territories Premier Dennis Patterson and journalist Linda Frum Sokolowski.

Harper announced the appointments in an e-mailed statement from Ottawa today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Quinn in Ottawa at gquinn1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: August 27, 2009 16:43 EDT

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

He forgot Bozo the Clown, Tiny Tim and the Incredible Hulk, no forget that Duffy is in already

Les

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Cadman said there was no bribe. The RCMP said there was no bribe. But you have a hate on for everything Conservative. Never let the truth get in the way of accusing a Conservative.

Is this the "Liberal Entitlement Attitude" I've heard so much about?

Fillibluster said...

Prairie kid:

Mrs. Cadman......you mean the current Conservative MP?

The discredited RCMP?

No, I base my comments on Stephen Harper himself and his self incriminating admission to reporter Zytaruk.....caught on tape, as follows:

CBC News has obtained a copy of the audio recording of the interview.

"The insurance policy for a million dollars, do you know anything about that?" Zytaruk asks.

"I don't know the details. I know that there were discussions," Harper replies on the tape. "This is not for publication?"

"This will be for the book, not for the newspaper," answers Zytaruk, who works for a Surrey newspaper.

Harper goes on to explain on the tape that the offer to Cadman was "only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election." He adds that the offer was carried out by people who were "legitimately representing the party."

He also tells Zytaruk that he knew there was little chance Cadman would agree.

"They wanted to do it, but I told them they were wasting their time. I said Chuck had made up his mind," Harper said.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of MP Cadman, she whose story "evolved" and grew silent after a time:

From a Feb 29 2008 article:

"In an interview with CTV News yesterday, Dona Cadman stood by her story, outlined in the book, that the Tory officials had met with her husband to woo his vote.

"Two gentlemen had visited him, offered him a million-dollar life insurance policy and a few other things," said Cadman, who is the Conservative candidate in the Surrey North riding once held by her husband.

Asked whether she considered it a bribe, she responded, "Yes, in a way."

As I recall there were also early accounts that Cadmen himself referred to the incident as an attempted bribe upon first sharing the tale with his family. I recall a daughter who was quite adamant at the time that those were the words he used.

So don't trip over yourself getting all ruffled at the unfairness of it all, Prairie Kid. There remains enough fuzzy grey in this winding tale to resemble Vancouver when the winter fog blows in.

Anonymous said...

I guess we shouldn't trip over ourselves getting all ruffeled up over adscam, HRDC boondoggle,Gun registry, arms lengths foundations etc. etc. that the AG can not access. There is no hypocrite like a thieving leftie LIEberal one.

Rob C

Anonymous said...

Oh, the laundry list. Right. The Harper government is doing a great job of creating their own list of "sexy" items to toss around.

BTW, Adscam was investigated. You might want to read up on it sometime, unless you just want to peddle trash.

Harper couldn't run away from this fast enough, after screaming libel at everyone, then dropping it when he realized it might actually go to court.

I won't hold my breath waiting for the investigation on it.

Dr Mike said...

The Cadman affair is just a symptom of a greater malaise in Canadian politics where these folks say one thing , do another & blame those affected the most.

It has become voter beware , when if you vote for one thing & get another , it is you tough luck for being so stupid to vote for them in the first place.

What ever happened to honesty & integrity.

Doing something just because your opponent did it in the past is no reason or excuse.

The last bunch in power was worse so that makes it alright.

I am sick & tired of lame politicians that are happy to mollify a sitting PM but who do not have the cojones to stand up for their constituents & do what they know is right.

We pay these guys to work for us not the PM for goodness sake.

If they want to get people to vote in any substantive numbers then for God`s sake wake-up you people in control & do the right thing for a change & stop being so damned selfish.

As I say the Chuck Cadman affair , senate partisan appointments , the income trust mess , & the isotope crisis are but a symptom of what ails us.

I wish there was a pill I could prescribe to fix this---I would be all over it.

Dr Mike Popovich.