Friday, March 12, 2010

Liberal Party of Canada: More Expensive Than Flight To Tim Hortons

The last few days I have watched a few complaints coming from the opposition benches regarding the waste of taxpayers money raised in Question Period in order to embarass the Government.

One example is a flight that included a trip to Tim Hortons, some in the media chose to exclude a scheduled meeting to the local Chamber of Commerce. CTV Rober Fife was reporting incorrectly it as a $ 9,000 Timmies run. Any retractions with new information it may have cost one-third?

The rush to produce television "gotcha" moments is making for very sloppy journalism. If you watch the actual cut and paste clip, it was a hatchet job. No link for CTV clip it was below any standards that I would send a friend to view.

As I generally won't link to many CBC television clips for a similar reason.

Opposition parties are taking aim at Flaherty because he booked a taxpayer-paid government aircraft at $1,199 an hour to go to London after last Thursday's budget for a photo op and speech the next day.
Flaherty flew back commercially to Ottawa but the overall cost for the flight to London and back of the Cessna Citation C550 flown by Transport Canada pilots is estimated at $3,100. A commercial round-trip flight from Ottawa to London costs about $800 - Toronto Star

 (A savings of $ 2,300?)

Update

In the Toronto Sun, L. Ian MacDonald explains how Jim Flaherty actually saved the taxpayers money by taking a private government jet to London, Ont., at a cost of $3,100, as opposed to flying commercial for $800. Are you ready? Here we go. Here's the explanation: “Because he was doing 11 radio and five TV interviews in the morning, three staffers were along. So their equivalent commercial costs of $2,400 meant Flaherty was actually saving $100.” Now, we quite agree with MacDonald that government jets are for government use and that $3,100 is nothing to worry about. But surely, if one was so inclined, one could mount a valid argument that ministers needn't travel quite as much as they do, just to give optically advantageous interviews, in the first place. -National Post









zzzzzzzzzzzz..kudos to our media for another example of tabloid journalism.

Who will the media suggest is to blame for the latest lawsuit?

Adil Charkaoui, the Moroccan-born Montrealer detained for almost two years under a security certificate without charge or trial, is suing the federal government for $24.5 million. -The Gazette

Background:


Charkaoui was arrested under a security certificate in May 2003, which was co-signed by Solicitor General Wayne Easter, and Immigration Minister Denis Coderre.[4] He was detained without charge or trial in Rivière des prairies Detention Centre. He was released from prison on $50,000 bail on 18 February 2005. His bail conditions include a curfew, electronic monitoring, designated chaperones for leaving his home, restriction to the island of Montreal, 24-hour police access to his home without warrant, and a prohibition on access to the internet, on the use of cell phones and on the use of any telephone except the one in his home.-Wikipedia


If we accept that the two Liberal MP's that signed the "security certificate" are responsible, that works out to be just over $12 million each. 

Accountable

Wayne Easter was not one of the 29 Liberals were not there to do their job and represent the people who elected them to office, which is a bit ironic considering their biggest complaint over prorogation was that they were not allowed to do their job, in Ottawa, in Parliament.-Alberta Ardvark


 How much is that doorknob you are holding again?


 Photo Credit:Mitchel Ralphael Macleans
 Coronation Photo Countdown: Michael Ignatieff, Denis Coderre

Denis Coderre was one of the 29 Liberals were not there to do their job and represent the people who elected them to office, which is a bit ironic considering their biggest complaint over prorogation was that they were not allowed to do their job, in Ottawa, in Parliament.-Alberta Ardvark  

Our system does not work that way, we can't require Wayne and Denis to pay for lawsuit but voters can hold them accountable when the next election is called. Let's hope they do. You may contact the party leader and ask similar questions.Who should be held responsible for the latest lawsuit filed against the federal government?

You can also join the Facebook Group and contact Denis Coderre directly.

3 comments:

Ardvark said...

What did it cost the taxpayer to fly all of those Liberal MP's to Ottawa so they could stand in front of "closed doors" for Ignatieff's publicity stunt?

Bec said...

The many, many Ontario MP's had better put the metal to the pedal in their VEHICLES to drive back to their ridings, right? No need to fly, correct? Less than a few hours for MOST of them so why not?

Based on their January/February staged drama, I'm convinced that these B actors never spend any time in their ridings anyway!

CanadianSense said...

LPOC love to complain, but their signatures cost taxpayers real dollars.