Well the Con's may have been successful in keeping up a filibuster and temporarily shutting down the Procedure and House Affairs committee, but it seems all that energy was expended for nothing.I can tell you that this blogger is not sorry to see this happen. Those who read here frequently will know that one of my biggest frustrations with this government is how they spin and keep stories under the radar. They turn things around, suggest that the opposition is inventing scandals and the press for the most part doesn't follow the story. Something tells me that might just change now.
I would imagine that as part of Elections Canada's investigation it would be necessary to obtain documentation from the Conservatives, but I wonder why a warrant was necessary? Could it be that the Con's refused to voluntarily submit documents? Who knows but if that is the case, it certainly doesn't bolster the Con's claim that they have done absolutely nothing wrong.
Obviously this is an ongoing story so I'll update when I know more, but to say that I'm happy to finally see this story being told to the public is an understatement.
Update - An interesting tidbit from Dominic LeBlanc (Lib, Beausejour NB) in QP today.
The government was downplaying the issue of the RCMP/Elections Canada raid, claiming it had only to do with the law suit that they the Con's brought against Elections Canada. LeBlanc however disclosed that the lawsuit is a civil one and that warrants are never issued in civil cases.
Update 2 - Hilarious. Courtesy of Kady, this is what the Cons's released today as it relates to the the raid.
"Today Elections Canada visited the Conservative Party of Canada Headquarters. This is related to an on-going court case initiated by the Conservative Party of Canada in the spring of 2007. The Conservative Party has provided Elections Canada with all the information that they have requested."
Visited? LOL.
15 comments:
'I would imagine that as part of Elections Canada's investigation it would be necessary to obtain documentation from the Conservatives'
Apparently, it's to do with the CPC civil case AGAINST EC, not the otherway around.
'.. but I wonder why a warrant was necessary? Could it be that the Con's refused to voluntarily submit documents?..'
No, all requested documents were submitted.
But it could be that EC wanted personal info on some of the Cons, which, due to the Privacy Act, they can not get without a warrant.
Because EC is not an investigative body.
Question for you knb.
How is it the media and Liberals, with cameras, were infront of the CPC headquarters, when the RCMP arrived?
That's what CBC is reporting.
How is it the media and Liberals, with cameras, were infront of the CPC headquarters, when the RCMP arrived?
cause it is all a big conspiracy against you and your ilk
your offices are next!
run while you still can!
wilson I'm well aware of who brought who to court.
I was simply referencing the fact that EC would have to investigate all that went on to defend their position.
As to why a warrant was required, I guess we'll wait and see.
As for your last question, I have no idea, but I'm trying to find out for you.
northern pov...that nasty left wing msm.
wilson:
A judge would not issue a warrant to law enforcement over a civil suit.
As you probably know law enforcement only gets involved when it is suspected that criminal laws have been broken. They do not involve themselves in civil cases.
So, I would imagine that the reason the Mounties executed a search warrant has little to do with the civil case before the courts.
It should be interesting to see how this proceeds. If the Conservatives are correct and they did not break election law this should go nowhere. On the other hand if the police and Elections Canada believe they can prove they committed a criminal act, then charges will be laid.
Now that would be interesting.
wilson, per my first update, it would appear that EC actually is
investigating the CPC.
Exactly ottlib. This is getting more interesting as it goes along.
It seems clear that the Con's are trying to keep the story to the civil suit concerning local campaign funding rebates. But it seems even clearer that EC is looking into the (alleged) over spending of the national campaign by 1.2 million.
Does anyone know if the contents of a warrant generally become public?
"We don't understand why this was necessary". Peter Van Loan.
"We're confused"... Pierre Poilievre...
A sad Canadian tragedy.
Did Poilievre actually comment or are you ad libbing?
He was one of the most voracious attackers on committee during the filibuster.
Gawd it's beyond me how people in his riding can stomach that man.
Hmm, something I hadn't realised about the Con regional advertising scheme is that candidates names were attached to advertising outside of their riding, so therefore a third party.
So, the party put national advertising money into local ridings where they felt they had a shot, but in order to do that, they had to select those candidates that still had room for a 'top up'. For instance, Lawrence Cannon's name went on local advertising in the Quebec City region. The Con candidate for Beausejour had his name on advertising in the Dartmouth, Halifax region.
Sound familiar?
Think tacky black and white flyers.
"Today Elections Canada visited the Conservative Party of Canada Headquarters.
LOL. Yeah, they just visited for a spot of tea! Scott Tribe over at Scott's DiaTribes has a funny post today in which he rewords the CPC press release into a more realistic version.
As an interesting aside, on Politics today, Don Newman suggested that Hillier's retirement announcement was supposed to have been made tomorrow, and there was some speculation as to whether or not the PMO bumped it up to today in order to create a distraction from the RCMP story. A bit conspiratorial, but who knows?
RC - it was not Don Newman who said that, it was Don Martin, who is apparently friendly with Hillier and learned of his plans to retire Monday night over drinks. Don Martin promised not to disclose that until Hillier made it public on Wednesday.
I am pretty sure it was bumped up for a reason.
RC and gayle. While I see the Hillier announcement as a distraction, it's not exactly good news for the con's is it?
Usually you distract with good news, but I suppose if you have none, you just aim to distract, lol.
Gayle - Thanks for the correction...you're quite right it was Martin, not Newman.
KNB - Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. The lead story on the National tonight was the Hillier retirement, including an interview with the general. It certainly displaced other stories, including the RCMP raid.
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