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Federal elections officer disputes Tory defence of donations

Canadian Press

Latest comment posted at 10:09 PM EDT 19/09/06

Kingsley leaves little doubt Tory failure to disclose up to $1.7-million in campaign cash broke the law ...Read the full article

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  1. G Bowen from New Westminster, Canada writes: So much for the Tories holier than thou rhetoric. Meet the new bosses, same as the old bosses.
  2. True North from Toronto, Canada writes: Yet another failure of Steve Harper's government. Deception of voters in Kingway, appointments of lobbyists & unelected officials to cabinet and now breaking election financing laws. We don't need to get tough on crime, we need to get tough on government corruption. Steve Harper is a terrible leader.
  3. Bob McDonald from Canada writes: Hiding millions in party money, hiding their books from electorial officials and passing laws to screw up the leadership conventions of other parties. Sounds exactly like the kind of sleazy, backroom dealings you would expect from Liberals. I hope a few holier-than-thou Neo-cons are finally twigging to the fact that ALL political parties have their sleazoid elements.
  4. Canadian Patriot from United States writes: Conservatives broke election laws? Come on righties, let's hear it now. Somehow it's the fault of the Liberal commie pinko elections commissioner that the Conservatives didn't obey the law. Wait a second, the only reason the Conservatives broke the law is because they were just following the Liberal example! SO, it was the Liberals fault! Conservative accountability is a sham. You Conservatives should be just as ashamed, angry, and disappointed with the Cons as you were with the Libs. But, reason doesn't always prevail I guess. Harpler hasn't been in office ONE year, and he already needs to clean house. Can you imagine what would happen with a Conservative Majority?
  5. HE Pennypacker from Canada writes: The more things change, the more they stay the same. All political parties have the ability to be greedy and corrupt. The sooner (some) Canadians take off their rose-coloured glasses and realize this the sooner we will have better accountability in government.
  6. Douglas MacDONALD from edmontonedmonton, Canada writes: very typical of conservatives to try and muddy the waters and hide the truth as they really dont have a good grasp on ethics.
  7. Mojo Gliberal from Regina, Canada writes: Come on, all you partisan neo cons. Defend it. Say it's the Liberals fault. They're liars, they're thieves, and you voted them in. Zero credibility. And trying to bring in an accountability act. They wouldn't know where to begin. And the vision of a majority rapidly vanishes like the mirage it always was...even a rudderless Liberal government would be better than this sanctimonious bunch of hypocrites.
  8. D G from Canada writes: Well well well! Sounds like our oh so honest and upstanding government may already have been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Can't wait to see Luft, Oshalski, Pundit et al justify (ie, blame on the liberals) this one.
  9. kaseem ebag from Mississauga, Canada writes: Let me guess, Liberal appointee? There is something called the rule of law, Harper your inlcuded. Doesn't matter how many ads you bring out.
  10. Scott Elliott from Toronto, Canada writes: Covering up millions of dollars in donations? Spare me. At worst, they failed to shunt the cost of their convention on to the backs of the Canadian taxpayer by not issuing tax receipts. To be fair though, if it is shown that they did not spend all of the money on the convention, then they deserve what they're about to get.
  11. JD Wood from Toronto, Canada writes: Now we have THREE illigitimate goverments in North America!!!
  12. Denis Love from Victoria, Canada writes: My Gosh Does this fellow actually believe the squeaky clean Steve Harper group would do anything wrong? Of course he is so what's next? Maybe they can find someone in the opposition to blame as they sure won't admit they screwed up and got caught. What a bunch of stumble bums who supposedly got a slim majority because the previous governemtn got caught using the taxpayers money in Quebec.
  13. Catherine Wilkie from Canada writes: John Baird must come forward with the information requested by Mr. Kingsley. If they broke the rules, the Party should be forth-right and 'fess up. We all heard enough self-righteousness from these guys in opposition. The proof is in the pudding. Pointing the finger at the other guy isn't good enough when you spouted as much indignation as they did at the governing party before them. The fact that Minister Baird spilled the beans is just plain fun.
  14. 20 20 from Canada writes: The Conservatives tried to cover up millions of dollars in contributions, and quite possibly over-contributions. And now they're giving Canadians the run-around on handing their convention books over. So much for transparency. It's been two and a half months of stalling already! Are they still cooking those books? Voters that thought this kind of thing wouldn't happen under the Conservatives were naive. Let's hope voters become a little less sheep-like, and a little more discerning.
  15. P M from Windsor, United States writes: ahh!.. the fresh smell of clean, accountable transparent government, where officials accidentally blurt out illegal secrets during inquiries and then the 'squeeky clean' conservatives backpedal, deny and coverup at top speed, with no shame.. lovely
  16. Michael H from Edmonton, Canada writes: More transparency and accountability. Yes, we can surely see that this party is unlike their predecessors, obsessed with ethical behavior, and more than willing to comply with and exceed ethical standards. You don't have to force them to reveal everything they know when there is a question of whether or not rules were broken.
  17. Banquo's ghost from Canada writes: Who cares? Just another Liberal appointee...get over it, we won...yadda yadda yadda...how long might it be before the Conservatives introduce electronic voting in Canada I wonder.
  18. A B from Muskoka from Canada writes: No, Kingsley is obviously wrong. The Conservative are certainly not able to be unethical or even able to brake the law or appear to. They are with Harper and he knows all and does all well beyound anything possibly wrong....
  19. Jan Johnstone from Kincardine, Canada writes: The Tory's aren't cutting and running here are they, after promising the Canadian public that they are bringing accountability, integrity, honesty, and openness to national politics?
  20. Andrew H. from Toronto, Canada writes: The important point here is the Tories and Harper supporters should stop playing the partisan 'blame the Libby' game when the Cons can be as much in the glass dog house as the next politician. Remember that throwing stones can shatter the facade.
  21. Pragmatic Pundit from Canada writes: Simple really. They volunteered the information and interpreted the law differently than the libbys. If they did something wrong, they will pay the consequences. It's not like they stole millions of dollars from taxpayers or accepted donations from children. Does anyone know of a party like that?? Anyone now? The best part is that they're changing the rules now to screw the libbys over. I love politics!
  22. Not the Alliance from The Harper Gov't is Incompetent, Canada writes: Just one in what will be a growing stream of revelations about how the Harper conservatives apply 'accountability' to themselves. When this story broke, the Harper conservatives said they would turn over the books - full disclosure - nothing to hide. Oh I know, it's in the mail, and any delay by Canada Post can be blamed on the liberals!!! What a sorry excuse for a party. Shame they hijacked the Canadian 'conservative' brand - just one more attempt to mislead the electorate.
  23. Peter Cox from Toronto, Canada writes: Wow! Just can't wait to see the vitriol that will end up on this thread!
  24. Kim Morton from Canada writes: Dos anyone still have confidence in Harpers government. Time for an election.
  25. Jim Goodwin from Canada writes: Just the beginning, as my late father told me when I was a young boy, "There are two things in this world you never trust, lawyers and conservatives". These guys are proving him to be a very wise man. 21 it does not matter how much, it matters that it happened. If you are going to flail the opposition about dishonesty in their past, you have to remain squeaky clean yourselves, or you lose credibility, being from the right does not mean you are right. If you are able to dish it out, you had better be prepared to take it. Next election will be a good one, no Gomery skeletons left, will have to fight it on policy and your own skeletons.
  26. B Coopz from Kingston, Canada writes: More evidence that we need to kick these bozos out of office the first chance we get.
  27. Denis Love from Victoria, Canada writes: One hopes the great unwashed masses remember that the oh so straight laced reform/alliance/new conservatives are as bad as the about to be renewed liberals were. Getting caught is a No-no in politics. They got caught and no amount of BS can make it go away
  28. Jeff Larsen from Toronto, Canada writes: The Liberal convention will issue tax receipts to cover the full $995 cost of their convention. The LPC convention will include hospitality suites, alcohol, food, various other perks etc. and we as taxpayers will have to pay for it as it's considered a political donatation. The Conservatives on the other hand may have misinterpreted the regulations but actually cost the taxpayers nothing by doing so. If the CPC is in the wrong they'll declare their convention fees and all attendees will receive a tax receipt meaning taxpayers get screwed. Maybe the rules should be changed.
  29. C Mac from Alberta, Canada writes: A most shameful display. Breaches of the Canada Elections act should receive harsh punishment to fit the crime, a ban from holding public office for example. For without such harsh penalties, people will continue to break the law in attempts to gain advantage. It's disgusting to see such an unethical act from a party that professed to be the height of morality. Perhaps we will be returning to the polls sooner than anticipated.

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