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.

Amateur Hour Extended: Liberal Party

When the CBC and Jane Taber calls out the Liberal Party
as being desperate trying to keep this story alive.
Rock bottom can't be far behind! 

Wayne Easter’s stunt to embarrass government MPs today misfired. Instead, he embarrassed himself. - Jane Taber

Top Liberal attack dog's pawprints are all over this one

Party is getting way too much mileage out of that dumb cheque gaffe

Liberal MP David McGuinty, not known for understatement, declared: "We believe this is probably the most massive propaganda effort of any kind seen at the federal government level in Canadian history."
His memory is either short or selective. There was something called the sponsorship scandal, that grew out of the Liberal government's effort to show the Canadian flag in Quebec after the near-death experience of the 1995 referendum.
Another Liberal MP, Wayne Easter, held up a door knob to  illustrate routine maintenance, as opposed to new infrastructure dollars, on a federal building in Prince Edward Island. He should be careful about having his picture taken with a doorknob--it invites comparisons.

On a day when the Liberals could have loaded the bases, they never even got to first.

Cheque scandal just partisan smoke

That such subjective analysis can pass for serious journalism is a testament to the 24/7/365 multi-media news model that favours headline grabbing content without context over the most basic research necessary to pass a high school civics course.

Yes, a few Tories took a justifiable hit for party logos on photo-op cheques last week. It was wrong, period. It serves as a reminder to elected officials at all levels: It is not your constituency, it is the constituency that you represent. And it’s never mythical government money, it’s taxpayers’ money (often from future generations via deficits) that is being spent.

But to assert that a cabal of government ministers and senior officials is doling out federal funds by riding name and postal code is ludicrous. What’s next: Elvis to the Senate?

Nik Nanos Oct 10-18, 2009

www.nanosresearch.com/library/polls/POLNAT-S09-T393E.pdf

The CPC increased the gap in Ontario.The Liberals are dropping in Quebec and British Columbia.The Liberals are continuing to lose support EVERYWHERE while the NDP have gained except the Prairies.

EKOS Seat Projection

In terms of regional strength, the Conservatives would be able to claim that they were a national
party, representing every region with a significant number of seats, including Quebec, where we
estimate they would hold 10 seats.

The Liberals, in contrast, would hold just 10 seats west of Ontario, almost all of them in British
Columbia. They would trail the Conservatives in every region in the country except Quebec,
where, despite having similar popular support to the Conservatives, they would win a few more
seats due to a more efficient distribution of votes.

Speaking at an Ottawa daycare centre, Ignatieff said he wouldn't support the Conservatives on confidence motions, but added that he won't actively pursue attempts to bring them down.

Liberals will not cooperate and will trigger an election on confidence votes. Liberal Senators stop blocking some legislation that was supported unamiously in the HOC.

www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/10/21/ekos-polls-conservative-liberal-ndp-green-bq.html

Hey Libs: Pick one and go with it!

Running communications for a political party is a trying task at the best of times. Even more so when you're competing with...yourself.

Angus Ried Poll

In mid-October, the Liberal leader has seen his standing drop dramatically. A majority of Canadians (51%) say their opinion of Ignatieff has worsened over the course of the past month, while only six per cent report an improvement. The Grit leader's momentum score is -45.