Mulcair: The Doubting Thomas

Here we have Thomas Mulciar, Deputy Leader of the NDP, doubting the existence of photos taken of the death of Osama bin Laden. This doubting attitude doesn't surprise me at all. The last time I spoke with Thomas Muclair back in 2010, we were discussing the income trust issue and I expressed an opinion derived from my 20 years working as an investment banker on Bay Street, to which Mulcair responded: "You were never an investment banker".

What? How do you respond to that? No Thomas, I am actually lying to you about my profession and impersonating an investment banker, just like Obama is hiding something about the Osama bin Laden event and lying about the existence of photos.

This Mulcair is nuts!


NDP MP Thomas Mulcair questions Bin Laden pictures

Daniel Kaszor May 4, 2011
By Sarah Boesveld and Sarah-Taissir Bencharif

The NDP got its first taste of the perils of prominence Wednesday after being forced to handle two public relations disasters as the newly elected Official Opposition.

While MP-elect Ruth Ellen Brosseau was scrutinized for allegedly filing falsified nomination papers in Quebec, deputy leader of the NDP, Thomas Mulcair, drew gasps when he said he does not believe the United States government has photographs of terrorist Osama bin Laden. He also hinted there may be “more going on,” behind the scenes of his assassination than the U.S. is making known.

“I don’t think, from what I’ve heard, that those pictures exist. And if they do, I’ll leave that up to the American military,” Mr. Mulcair said during an appearance on the CBC TV’s Power and Politics Wednesday.

Asked again whether he thinks the photos exist, Mr. Mulcair said: “No, I don’t think they do. If they’ve got pictures of a cadaver, there’s probably more going on than we suspect in what happened there.”

Twitter immediately flooded with comments about the statement, making the Outremont MP a trending topic on the micro-blogging website. “I almost fell out of my chair when Mulcair said he doubted the existence of Osama bin Laden photos,” tweeted Marc Garneau, the astronaut and Liberal MP for Westmount-Ville-Marie.

In a subsequent tweet, he admonished the deputy NDP leader’s comments. “Sanity check please: Osama bin Laden is dead and photos were taken. To suggest otherwise is a serious lack of judgment.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, said that the incoming Conservative government doesn’t share Mr. Mulcair’s skepticism. “The White House made it clear that pictures exist,” he wrote on Twitter. “Absolutely no reason to doubt that.”

The party scrambled to mount a response to questions over Mr. Mulcair’s statement. In a statement, Paul Dewar, the NDP foreign affairs critics, said the incoming opposition party didn’t question the existence of the photos.

“We have no reason to doubt the veracity of President Obama’s statement,” he said. “I understand that the U.S. government has photos, but decided not to release them as they do not want them used as trophies. This is a legitimate concern. We agree these types of photos shouldn’t be used as propaganda tools.”

Mr. Mulcair’s comments were quickly picked up by dozens of U.S. media outlets.

In the same Power and Politics interview, Mr. Mulcair also came to the defence of Ms. Brosseau, the successful Quebec NDP candidate in Berthier-Maskinongé, famous for vacationing in Vegas in the middle of the election campaign and for boasting less than stellar French skills though she now represents a largely francophone riding.

Trois-Rivieres resident Rene Young said he and his wife never signed Ms. Brosseau’s candidacy papers, although their names are clearly listed on the forms submitted to Elections Canada.

“The signature that is supposedly mine is not mine, and neither is my wife’s. There are two signatures on that form that are not us. We don’t understand how they are on that document that allows her to run for MP,” Mr. Young said in French from his home.

Defeated Liberal candidate Francine Gaudet suggested the NDP did not properly represent the nomination form to residents in the riding.

“We’ve found what could be irregularities,” she said in French. “Mr. Rene Young confirms that his wife’s signature on the nomination form is grafitti. So we’re expecting justice to be served in all this.”

While Ms. Gaudet said Elections Canada should investigate the issue, local Liberal riding president Louis-Victor Sylvestre said further action is necessary. “The only thing left for Ms. Brosseau to do is to step down,” he said. “You can’t get elected based on deceit.”

Conservative candidate Marie-Claude Godue told local media a byelection should be called. Ms. Brosseau swept the riding by 6,000 votes Monday night.

Anyone wishing to contest Ms. Brosseau’s candidacy must bring the complaint before the courts, in this case the Quebec Superior Court, said Elections Canada spokeswoman Diane Benson. As it stands, the race was legitimate and the result stands, she said, adding that all 100 signatures required of the candidate in order to be considered part of the race were approved by the returning officer in the local riding.

The NDP also defended the legitimacy of the papers, saying voters clearly knew who Ms. Brosseau was.

“These signatures were collected on a door-to-door basis; we have some of the neighbours from before, some of the neighbours from after, there could be no question that those were the signatures obtained by those people,” Mr. Mulcair said on Power and Politics. “I will make the following commitment to the people in Berthier-Maskinongé — they will have an MP who will be able to speak to them in fluent French before the end of this two-year term to make sure everything is done to provide full service to the riding.”

Ms. Brosseau, he said, is currently taking French classes.

Another spokesperson for the NDP said that signing the nomination form does not necessarily mean you support the candidate.

“A signature is not a vote,” said Karl Belanger, press secretary to NDP leader Jack Layton.

National Post, with files from Tamsin McMahon

NDP deputy leader Thomas Mulcair lit up the twitterverse with his comments casting doubt on the existince of U.S. photos of Osama bin Laden’s body. He quickly began trending on the social media site, which adopted the hashtag #thingsTomMulcairbelieves to unleash its outrage and sarcasm on the party’s most senior Quebec MP. Here is an exerpt of some of the reponses:

Dimitri Soudas, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s spokesman:
PMOSoudas Dimitri Soudas @CBCPolitics the White House made it clear that pictures exist. Absolutely no reason to doubt that. #cdnpoli

Liberal MP Marc Garneau:
Marc Garneau Sanity check please: Osama Bin Laden is dead and photos were taken. To suggest otherwise is a serious lack of judgement

Conservative MP and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney:
Wonder if Mr. Mulcair has discussed his OBL pic doubts w/ Richard Bergeron, the 9/11 conspiracy theorist he endorsed to be Mayor of Montreal.

Edmonton-St. Albert Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber:
Brent RathgeberThomas Mulcair on Bin Laden photos shows how the NDP in Official Opposition constitutes amateur hour!

@wxwatcher66 Darren Ibsen
And in other news Thomas Mulcair Says there is no picture of the easter bunny the tooth fairy or little green men.

cherylfougere Cheryl Fougere
RT @CdnPolitico: Elvis, Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe are alive and living in Detroit

@apaulgill Paul Gill
@@charliesheen Check out the #mulcair – this Canadian socialist is saying there was no pictures – comment on #bush not going to ground zero?!

@andrew_black Andrew Black
@maktiga Most would agree that, with so many rookies, we didn’t expect #mulcair to make the first big gaffe

Mira458 Stella Campbell
NDP Mulcair’s 1st interview. #fail

Posted in: Canada, Canadian Politics, Posted Ta