The Conservatives Deserve to Pay For This… a Little
October 19, 2009 · By Jonathan McLeod
Apparently, some MPs, when they’re handing out government cheques to fund projects in their riding, like to give all credit to the party and none to the country:
Caught red-handed, the Conservatives have hurriedly disavowed an MP who splashed the party’s logo on mock cheques dispensing government funds to a local riding.
But the MPs are free to doctor the cheques in other ways, the government insists.
The misadventure lends credence to opposition concerns that the Conservatives are using stimulus funds and other government spending for partisan purposes, having campaigned against exactly those shenanigans.
This isn’t a huge deal. It’s mostly just politics as usual… except people like Gerald Keddy didn’t have enough shame or good sense to try to hide it. I’m not trying to excuse the behaviour; it’s pretty awful and Canadians should be disgusted. No government should use the public’s money for such blatant partisan purposes. However, kept in perspective, this scandal, in and of itself, is not sufficient to rightfully doom the Harper government.
Still, if there is any justice, Gerald Keddy’s political career should be nearing an end.
(H/T: Richard.)
As far as I can glean from the article there were two instances in which one MP used the party logo on the oversized novelty cheques.
Also, there has been no defense by the Government that this was appropriate, but rather there have been clear statements that this is completely inappropriate and the members of the Government have been warned not to try this again.
So there was a minor problem, mistakes were admitted, and directions were gievn so that the mistakes would not be repeated.
This is a nothing story that should have come and gone in two days but the Liberals and NDP are trying to whip into Son of Adscam. This is another case where the Opposition is trying to make something out of nothing and the electorate will be able to see right through it.
All politicians try to make it sound like any funding for any project came right out of their own pocket and out of the goodness of their hearts. People are smart enough to realize that the money comes from their own pockets and the politician is just trying to bribe the people with their own money.
If this is the best that the Opposition can come up with, they are in trouble.
Agreed the mistakes should be corrected and the opposition are making another mistake by reminding Canadians about Adscam or real scandals uncovered by the Auditor General.
I am confident the AG wil find problems with some projects, 4700+ projects will lead to some mistakes and waste.
The Liberals have not been listening to the insight from the pollsters for a long time. The decision in Sudbury reflects the bubble the leader and his advisors live in.
As I’m currently in the process of trying to apply for funding for a project for my alma mater (in a liberal riding) I have to say that I have no issue with the MP’s name (or MPP’s) being splattered all over the cheque, and the ensuing photo ops.
The exercise of trying to bring three levels of government together to agree on and fund a project is well beyond most “civilians” political skills, and likely wouldn’t happen without the benefit of an MP or MPP steering the process.
As everyone is extremely quick to dump on an MP when they screw up, why shouldn’t they get the credit when they do something positive.
Now, before I get flamed by all the conservatives who think every dollar spent by government is bad, please just accept that many infrastructure projects are ultimately good for the country and deserving of taxpayer funding.
I agree skuleman….the ‘horror’ over this is silly….from both sides.
Politicians will always try to capitalize on money being handed out.
I’m sure it hurt the conservatives ever so slightly, and it was sufficiently embarrassing for the party.
It’s not the smoking gun the Liberals or the NDP need, that is for certain.
The problem, politically, with this is that it ignores who the funds originally came from. I’m trying to track down a speech that was given at a US university’s graduation ceremony near the beginning of this decade (sorry, I don’t recall the name of the gent who gave it or which specific school), but he ended it beautifully by saying “No one has a right to take money out of your pocket and then congratulate themselves for spending it!” Couldn’t agree more!
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I agree here on a number of things.
First, it’s inappropriate to be slapping the party logo on something that is supposed to be non-partisan federal spending.
Second, if Mr. Keddy doesn’t understand the difference, then maybe he should either pay more attention or consider a different career.
Third, this is clearly the action of a single MP and not the Conservative Party. If the Conservative Party were to be doing this in ALL riding presentations, then that would be a partisan directive. That the Liberals are trying to pin this on the party is absurd.
Fourth, I think that the Liberals are only making as much noise about this as they are is because they don’t like seeing money go out any door that they can’t somehow attach their name to in some way, shape or form.
Fifth, I recognize that I do have a Conservative MP who represents me in Ottawa, and that gains that come to my riding have in no small part to do with his participation and solicitation. That he is a Conservative who brought money into our riding is sort of a given. Likewise, I would also recognize this as a fact if it were a Liberal doing so.
When all is said and done, I agree. This is a non-story that shows Liberal desperation for something, anything to stick to Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.