Even In Canada, Conservatives Appear Corrupt

Even In Canada, Conservatives Appear Corrupt

The one thing conservatives have mastered since George Bush took office, a time frame I like to use often, is the ability to lie with strong conviction. Despite their inability to tell the truth, they sound almost believable explaining what they really meant. As a parent, I hear the same list of weak excuses all the time from my kids and have never let them get away with it. Why then do we let these political ideologs get a pass? It's time they didn't.

In the cold north of Canada, conservatives mirror the Americans when it comes to winning at all costs. The Canadian Broadcast Centre reported this glowing story of corruption March 3, 2008, and I've edited to bring you the finer points.

• Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper filed a notice of libel against Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and the Liberal Party of Canada over statements on the party's website regarding the Chuck Cadman affair.
  
• Lawyers for Harper describe two articles on the Liberal website as "devastatingly defamatory." The letter demands the articles be removed from the website and that Dion read a prepared apology in English and French.
  
• The articles relate to allegations that Conservative operatives offered Cadman, an Independent MP, a bribe of a million-dollar life insurance policy to vote against the Liberals in May 2005 and bring the government down. Cadman was battling cancer at the time, and died in July 2005. Cadman sided with the Liberals, ensuring Canadians would not have to head to the polls for a summer election. The Liberals have asked for a criminal investigation into the allegations contained in the book.
  
• The allegations of a bribe, made by Cadman's widow Dona, are contained in a yet-to-be released book, Like A Rock: The Chuck Cadman Story. Last week, Cadman's daughter Jodi backed up her mother's story, saying her father discussed the alleged offer with her.
• In the book,… Chuck Cadman was visited by two Conservative party representatives in his office two days before the crucial vote and presented with a list of enticements to side with their party, including an offer of a million-dollar life insurance policy.
  
• But Harper is quoted in the book saying that the offer to Cadman was "only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election." He adds “they wanted to do it, but I told them they were wasting their time.” Harper‘s comments were recorded on tape.
  
• There are no plans to take legal action against the publisher of the book or Dona Cadman.

Strange isn't it that Chuck Cadman's widow Dona, who is making the allegation, is free to defame Prime Minister Harper and make money doing it. Or would it look bad suing the bereaved family to make a political point?

From all indications, PM Harper and his collegues appear to have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar of chocolate chips lies. This is one of those parent moments I mentioned earlier. Where something allegedly happened, yet intuition screams guilty as hell in your ear.

The next time your defending yourself from the charge of bribery, try not using the term "finacial consideration" as an inducement.