Conservatives Behaving Badly

Helena Guergis - airport tantrum:

According to the account, Guergis and aide Emily Goucher arrived a few minutes before the scheduled takeoff of an Air Canada flight from Charlottetown to Montreal.

In the pre-boarding area, Guergis refused to remove her boots despite being informed that they might set off the security alarm in the metal detector, according to the letter received by Easter. When the alarm sounded, she was asked to sit down and remove her footwear.

Guergis "slammed her boots into the bin" provided by security personnel and then, according to the account, said to one of the airport staff: "Happy f---ing birthday to me. I guess I'm stuck on this hellhole."

Guergis, the MP for Simcoe-Grey, turned 41 on Feb. 19.

After her boots cleared the X-ray conveyor, Guergis, according to the account, yelled at Goucher: "Get those for me. I'm not walking around here in sock feet."

Guergis then allegedly tried to force open the locked door that separates the pre-board screening room from the area where the aircraft was waiting.

When a few moments later the minister was reminded that most passengers are asked to arrive at the airport two hours before boarding time, Guergis shouted back, according to the account: "I don't need to be lectured about flight time by you. I've been down here working my ass off for you people."

"Entitled twit" comes to mind.

Meanwhile, there's been some sort of plea bargain reached in the case of Rahim Jaffer [Guergis' husband] which will be revealed in court on March 9.

Maxime Bernier - climate change denier.

In a letter to La Presse newspaper, Bernier argued there is no scientific consensus on the matter and he applauded the Harper government for taking a go-slow approach.

"The debate over climate change, stifled for years by political correctness, has finally broken out in the media," he wrote in a letter published Wednesday.

"The numerous recent revelations on errors by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have supplemented the alternative theories put forward for many years.

"We can now see that it's possible to be a 'skeptic,' or in any case to keep an open mind, on just about all the main aspects of warming theory."

"alternative theories" = pollute with reckless abandon!

Next...

Edmonton PC MP Goldring slams Louis Riel

Goldring posted the letter in response to a request from the federal New Democrats who wanted Louis Riel to be recognized as a father of confederation and wanted a conviction that saw him hanged for treason overturned.

In his letter Goldring wrote, "Riel didn't father confederation; He fought those who did."

Riel, a politician who fought for Metis rights in the late 1800s and also helped found the province of Manitoba, led two violent rebellions against the Canadian government and was hanged for treason.

The letter went on to say, "To un-hang Louis Riel and to mount a statue to him on Parliament Hill would elevate anarchy and civil disobedience to that of democratic statesmanship."

Somebody needs to take a remedial grade school history lesson.

And, in yet another example of Con hypocrisy, take a look at the fat cat government pensions Harper and his ex-Reform cronies are in line for.

It looks like Steve will have a lot of splainin' to do when he finally gets back to work next week after his months-long prorogation holiday.

Meanwhile, Half of Canadians unhappy with PM, Ignatieff: poll - so it looks like we're stuck in this political wasteland for some time to come.
 

BernierGate Redux

Flashback to May 2008 when Steve had this to say about the Maxime Bernier scandal:

"I don't take this seriously."

Today, Le Devoir reported on what it found in those classified documents that Bernier left in Couillard's apartment - and it's very serious stuff:

The documents include classified information about NATO's plans to expand operations in the Balkans, Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan, arms control in the Middle East, security in Ukraine, and al-Qaeda's presence in Pakistan.
[...]
At the time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Bernier did not breach national security by leaving the documents behind. Harper indicated the documents included a mix of public and confidential material, and briefing notes for meetings.

Asked about these revelations at his press conference today, Steve said that since Bernier had resigned from his portfolio, he didn't have anything more to say about it. Bernier, however, is still a Conservative MP. I doubt Steve will be able to simply slough this off again like he tried to do when the scandal first broke. If the Cons had any integrity [insert chuckle here], they'd kick Bernier's ass right out of the party and onto the curb.

Related:

Bernier responds to Le Devoir on his blog.

Le Devoir: Une mine d'informations cruciales pour l'ennemi
 

Our Incredibly Incompetent Conservative Government

While spokespuppet Peter Van Loan was complaining that he was "bored" by the opposition questions about Berniergate during question period today, it was revealed that Steve, in the midst of his overseas romp, misled the world and further tarnished Canada's reputation when he stated that Italy's Berlusconi had agreed to lift the conditions on his troops that restrict them from participating in combat in Afghanistan. In fact, Berlusconi had said his government is only considering the move.

Steve doesn't have a foreign affairs minister to blame for that mistake.

In the meantime, Van Loan kept insisting today that Steve had only found out about Bernier's document gaffe on Monday afternoon when Couillard, through her lawyer, had returned those papers to the government on Sunday. No matter which way you slice that information, the only word to describe the sequence of events during that 24 hour period is "incompetence". Either someone failed to notify Steve or he knew exactly what was going on and intentionally brushed it aside until Monday while continuing to insist that there was nothing to see here, folks.

Ironically, Van Loan (Freudian?) slipped during question period and said that Steve had found out about the situation on Sunday afternoon, a gaffe he quickly blamed on "fatigue". I'd be fatigued too if I had to keep popping up on behalf of Steve in the house like one of those plastic novelty figures in a Whack-a-Mole game. Bobbing, weaving, and lying takes a lot of energy.

Calls for a public inquiry that the Cons want to avoid like the plague definitely aren't without merit though. Erika Simpson, writing for the Middle East Times posits what may have been contained in those documents. They were classified for a reason and although we may never know what they contained, the government's willful ignorance in refusing to conduct a transparent public investigation speaks volumes about their lack of concern for Canada's national security.

One BQ MP also asked the government on Thursday to inform the house about the type of passport Ms Couillard had while she travelled in diplomatic circles with Bernier. That was dismissed by Van Loan with the now infamous "private lives" excuse. Interesting that they never used that excuse when Steve gave the green light (after a lot of pressure) to an examination of the Mulroney/Schreiber investigation - although they've done everything possible so far to stall that one too.

So many scandals and no place to hide...
 

Berniergate: Down the Rabbit Hole

Let's play what's wrong with this statement?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper rejected an expanded probe, telling reporters there is no evidence to suggest official secrets have been revealed, and he dismissed outright questions about electronic eavesdropping.

"There is no evidence to indicate that documents have circulated," the Prime Minister said at a media briefing in Paris, where he is meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

"The documents were returned to the government of Canada, but it is our intention to review the incident to ensure that that is the case ... We have no information that would suggest that any secrets have been revealed."

Now, I may just be a lowly blogger, but it seems obvious to me that when you make a conclusion about an investigation you haven't even launched yet, you're either:

a) psychic
or
b) in denial

As CBC's Don Newman rightly called today's question period "The Peter Van Loan Show" since he was the designated talking-point spokespuppet on the Bernier affair who could barely look anybody in the eye - not his usual bully posture, quite obviously - it was apparent that 2 words had come down from Steve's office to attempt to minimize the situation that has embarrassed Canada around the world because Van Loan repeated them over and over:

Asked if a larger investigation should be launched, Mr. Harper fell back on previous statements that he won't intrude on individuals' private lives.

"As we've said, private lives are private lives, and the government of Canada does not intend to get into the business of investigating private citizens."

Setting aside the fact that the last sentence flies in the face of everyday reality (the government never investigates private citizens - ever?), the Cons seem to think that they've found the perfect angle to deflect the growing calls for a proper investigation - the "private lives" excuse.

They don't seem to understand that when a person like Bernier's ex-girlfriend who's had ties to some rather notorious criminals in the past and is involved in this type of security breach, her personal life is very much the business of the government. These were classified documents left in her possession and the public has the right to know what may have happened with the information contained in them, regardless of the embarrassment it may cause this prime minister. We all know what would have happened if the situation had involved a member of any of the opposition parties. There'd be calls from the Cons' benches for blood. (And why wasn't Bernier fired, instead of being given the chance to resign?)

Yet, Steve thinks he can continue to insult our intelligence:

Ms. Couillard alleged in a taped television interview Monday that Mr. Bernier had been careless with government papers and that she had recently learned her bed had been bugged with a microphone.

Asked about the bugging, Mr. Harper said "I have absolutely no reason to believe it's true."

Shorter Steve: "I don't want to believe it's true."

Meanwhile:

In the interview with the French-language TVA network, Ms. Couillard said she had her house checked by experts after she came back from a supper with a friend and found that her alarm system had been disarmed. The experts, she said, found clear marks that a microphone had been tacked to her bed, and removed in a "classic clean-up operation."

So you see, Steve, you are not going to get away with shelving this situation in the file labeled "private lives". Ms Couillard has the right to know whether or not her home was bugged and, thankfully, that answer will not be decided by you, no matter how much you want to control absolutely everything that goes on in this country.

You might find it comfortable in that rabbit hole you've chosen to inhabit but, with the dirt piling up around you, you'd be wise to pop your head out and face reality every now and then - especially since you're currently running around the world meeting with leaders who rightfully ought to have serious concerns about confidentiality because of Bernier's actions and your refusal to properly investigate what really happened.

(Photo credit: Reuters)

Related:

And the award for Most Creative Blog Post About Berniergate goes to pale at A Creative Revolution for Weekend at Bernier's.
 

Bernier Resigns

It's about time.

It seems that while Conservative spokespuppet Peter Van Loan was again ducking questions about Maxime Bernier's former girlfriend on Monday during question period, insisting that the scandal had absolutely nothing to do with national security, she was busy telling a Montreal teevee station that Bernier had left a secret document in her apartment.

Whoops.

And Steve is still in denial:

Bernier submitted his resignation a few hours before TVA in Montreal aired an interview with Julie Couillard, in which she said that the former minister left a government document in her apartment in April.

"It is a very serious mistake–regardless of who the minister is, regardless of personal life–to leave classified documents in an unsecured location," Harper told reporters in a hastily called news conference on Parliament Hill.

"The minister has recognized this error himself and offered to resign," the Prime Minister said.

Harper, who has previously turned aside questions about Bernier and Couillard as an intrusion on the former minister's personal life, said, "This is not to do with the minister's private life or the life of a private citizen."

What? Pardon? Huh?

This was all to do with Bernier's private life. Who does Steve think he's kidding?

Oh yes, I forgot. He's leading The Government of Responsibility & Accountability™. How silly of me. I guess I'd make a really bad Conservative.

Stay tuned on Tuesday for what should be one huge schadenfreudesque session of question period.

Can we get Mr Public Safety, Stockwell Day, to resign now too? That would really make my week.

Related:

And the award for Most Understated Headline of the Day goes to: Canwest for this gem - Bernier's tenure was 'brief and undistinguished:' historian. Their story also includes this tidbit:

Bernier left briefing materials from the recent NATO summit in Romania in Couillard's residence. These included a set of briefing notes as well as his "prep materials" for the summit.

But nothing to see here, folks. Move along now...

But, wait...CBC teevee is reporting that Couillard was concerned her house may have been bugged. By whom? No one seems to know at this point.

And the new minister of foreign affairs? (No drumroll). David Emerson, whose Wiki page has already been updated.

***************

"Ex-petite amie" Couillard's interview (in French) has now been posted to TVA's site.

Update: Here's her full interview in English.

CTV is reporting that Bernier and/or Couillard could be charged for the security breach relating to the classified documents she had in her apartment. What Stephen Harper had written off when he said he "I don't take this subject seriously" earlier Monday could snowball into one of the biggest scandals of his term.

Bernier's letter of resignation:

"Prime Minister,

This is to inform you that I am resigning my post as Minister of Foreign Affairs, effective immediately.

I informed you late this afternoon that last night I became aware that I had left behind classified government documents at a private residence.

Prime Minister, the security breach that occurred was my fault and my fault alone and I take full responsibility for my actions.

I have asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to conduct a thorough review of the situation.

Thank you for the trust you have shown in me. I will do everything I can to serve the government well in my capacity as Member of Parliament."

Yours truly,

Maxime Bernier

An internal investigation by those two ministries definitely won't and shouldn't satisfy the opposition or the Canadian public - not when we already know how this Con government likes to cover its butt in every possible way.
 

The Continuing Imprisonment of Omar Khadr

This is an absolute disgrace:

OTTAWA – A Guantanamo judge has dismissed an argument that Omar Khadr was a child soldier when he was captured in Afghanistan and so in need of protection, not prosecution. The ruling clears the way for the Toronto detainee’s trial.

U.S. Army Col. Peter Brownback’s ruling today, which upholds the Pentagon’s position that there is no minimum age for prosecution for war crimes, comes on the heels of an appearance by Khadr’s U.S. military lawyer before Canadian legislators.

That flies in the face of international law and basic morality and despite domestic and international pressure, Canada's Conservative government absolutely refuses to act until all legal proceedings and appeals have been exhausted with their useless foreign affairs minister, Maxime Bernier, towing the party line by stating that they're not concerned because he's "being well-treated".

That's not the point and we have no way of knowing if that's actually true, especially since Khadr's lawyers claim that he has been tortured and mistreated to the point where his psychological and physical well-being is at serious risk:

Mr. Edney said that when he saw Mr. Khadr recently, his client was so mentally debilitated that he wanted nothing more than crayons and some paper to colour on. Contrary to federal government assurances that Mr. Khadr is doing just fine, Mr. Edney said, his client is actually "ill and going blind. He needs all sorts of help."

The secrecy involved in these so-called tribunals also ought to be enough cause for concern as the Bush administration keeps changing the rules:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration assured the Supreme Court last December that Guantanamo Bay prisoners who felt they were unfairly being detained could have their cases thoroughly reviewed by a federal appeals court. Now, it's not so clear.

When the first case arrived at the appeals court, the Justice Department told the judges they could look at the evidence but should act on the assumption that the military made the right decisions at Guantanamo Bay.

That assertion led to a testy exchange recently between Appellate Judge Merrick B. Garland and Justice Department attorney Gregory Katsas. Garland wanted an explanation for the contradiction. Katsas said there was no contradiction at all.

The exchange underscores the challenge facing the administration: It doesn't want judges overseeing terrorism cases, but it can't eliminate them from the process without first getting their approval.

Normally, a prisoner who believes he's being unfairly detained can ask the courts to free him. It's a right known as habeas corpus that dates back to the 1300s and was written into the Constitution.

But the administration says that right does not exist for Guantanamo detainees. For years, administration officials have tried to limit judges' role in hearing detainees' cases and twice the administration has been set back by the Supreme Court.
[...]
The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on the new detainee law. In doing so, it might spell out what role the appeals court is supposed to play.

It may sound like a mere argument about words — a semantics debate between "preponderance" and "deferential" — but the outcome will help determine how much oversight courts have over what happens at Guantanamo Bay.

The legal quagmire has gone on for years while the Gitmo prisoners are held in a hellish limbo while being presumed guilty.

Meanwhile:

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, April 28 -- The Defense Department's former chief prosecutor for terrorism cases appeared Monday at the controversial U.S. detention facility here to argue on behalf of a terrorism suspect [Salim Ahmed Hamdan], that the military justice system has been corrupted by politics and inappropriate influence from senior Pentagon officials.

Sitting just feet from the courtroom table where he had once planned to make cases against military detainees, Air Force Col. Morris Davis instead took the witness stand to declare under oath that he felt undue pressure to hurry cases along so that the Bush administration could claim before political elections that the system was working.

Davis told Navy Capt. Keith J. Allred, who presided over the hearing, that top Pentagon officials, including Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England, made it clear to him that charging some of the highest-profile detainees before elections this year could have "strategic political value."

Davis said he wants to wait until the cases -- and the military commissions system -- have a more solid legal footing. He also said that Defense Department general counsel William J. Haynes II, who announced his retirement in February, once bristled at the suggestion that some defendants could be acquitted, an outcome that Davis said would give the process added legitimacy.

"He said, 'We can't have acquittals,' " Davis said under questioning from Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, the military counsel who represents Hamdan. " 'We've been holding these guys for years. How can we explain acquittals? We have to have convictions.' "

Does anybody, including our foreign affairs minister, need any more evidence that the entire military tribunals process is just a political farce created by an imperialist administration bent on justifying to the public that its 'war on terror' is supposedly succeeding at the expense of defendants whose fates are predetermined?

Several other countries have long ago repatriated their citizens who were interred at the Gitmo gulag, yet Canada's government - holding on to its Bush poodle status even though he will soon be a distant memory (good riddance) - continues to try to boost the political image of the Republicans by using Omar Khadr as a political pawn. If only there was a way to hold this government criminally responsible for abandoning the one Canadian citizen left rotting in Gitmo.

The situation is simple: Canada's Conservatives are complicit in the prosecution and mistreatment of a child soldier and there is absolutely no defence for that.
 

Canadian News Roundup: Popcorn Edition!

- We, on the left, have been waiting for this headline for a long time: Tory headquarters raided.

OTTAWA- The RCMP is raiding Conservative party headquarters in Ottawa at the request of Elections Canada, confirmed an investigator.

Police officers in civilian clothes, but wearing flak jackets and one wearing a holster, entered and left the offices at 130 Albert Street, but refused further comment. They were searching suites on the 12th and 17th floors of the downtown building where senior Conservative party officials work.

Elections Canada officer Andre Thouin left the headquarters carrying a box of what he said were "documents that concern me," but he declined further comment, other than to say the RCMP was helping to carry out "an order."

The Cons, acting like true maroons during question period today, kept insisting that they had turned over all relevant documents to Elections Canada related to this investigation:

Elections Canada and the Conservative party have been engaged in a protracted legal battle over $1.2 million in alleged campaign spending irregularities from the 2006 election.

The party allowed Tory candidates to claim expenses for TV commercials that were produced for the national campaign.

The Conservatives insist the transactions were legal but Elections Canada disagrees and rival parties have labeled the scheme outright fraud.

Peter Van Loan called this an "imaginary scandal". It's not so "imaginary" when you have the RCMP raiding your offices, is it Van Loan? I guess your "imaginary" lawyers will have to defend this "imaginary scandal" in "imaginary" court.

- Bonus news of the day: General Rick Hillier has resigned, effective July 1, 2008. About damn time. Hillier has been serving as a political mouthpiece for the Afghanistan war for years. He's been nasty, explosive, arrogant, and cocky towards anyone who's challenged him. I guess he'll have ample time now to prepare his defence against war crimes charges filed against him. Good riddance.

- Speaking of Afghanistan, the tories have yet another scandal to deal with:

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- A quiet campaign by Canadian diplomats, who have been working to ease the governor of Kandahar out of his job, was thrown into chaos yesterday as Canada's Foreign Minister, Maxime Bernier, shattered months of secrecy and spoke out against the governor in public.

Canadian officials initially believed that Mr. Bernier had taken an important step in advancing their agenda over the weekend, when he met privately with President Hamid Karzai and asked him to replace Governor Asadullah Khalid, who has been dogged by accusations of torture and corruption. Calls for the governor's removal have grown louder this year, after The Globe and Mail's Paul Koring reported on Ottawa's attempts to conceal allegations that Mr. Khalid was personally involved in the torture of detainees.

Afghanistan's President told the Canadian delegation that a new governor would be appointed for Kandahar "within weeks," said a senior official who attended the meeting.

That promise is now more difficult for Mr. Karzai to keep, according to Canadian and Afghan sources, because Mr. Bernier's comments yesterday gave the impression of Canadian pressure on a President who is often satirized as a puppet of foreign masters.

"In light of this, it's much less clear what will happen next," a Canadian official said.

"There's a bit of scrambling now."

Whoops!

This is the same Harper government that was recently accused of providing cover for Kandahar's governor. I guess he's become disposable since then.

- Speaking of coverups: Ottawa tries to halt military probe of Afghan prisoners. What is the Harper government so afraid of? The truth, obviously. They've mishandled this detainee file from the start. If they actually had any integrity, they'd expose exactly what happened. That's a huge "if" though and they're proven time and time again that they'll run from any threat of being held accountable for their actions.

- And, in another blow to the government, "Terror charges stayed". Looks like a really bad week for the tories. What goes around, comes around.

Update:

- I forgot to add one item. Wondering what's driving the Immigration minister's power grab? How about this headline? "Alberta pursues 41,000 foreign workers"
 

Death Penalty Sentence Reprieve for Afghan Student

The Independent reports:

In a dramatic volte-face, the Afghan Senate has withdrawn its confirmation of a death sentence on Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student convicted of blasphemy for downloading a report on women's rights from the internet.

The move follows widespread international protests and appeals to the President, Hamid Karzai, after the case was highlighted by The Independent and more than 38,000 readers signed our petition to secure justice for Mr Kambaksh. In Britain, the Foreign Secretary David Miliband, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and the shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague, backed the campaign, and there have been demonstrations in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

But the fight isn't over:

Mr Kambaksh can now petition the court of appeal against both his conviction and sentence, and, afterwards, the supreme court. If he fails there, he can appeal directly to Mr Karzai – who has been inundated with emails about the case – for a pardon. Mr Kambaksh's brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, welcomed the new position adopted by the Senate. He added, however, that he might have difficulties finding lawyers to present the case at the appeal court after warnings from fundamentalist groups against people "allying themselves with the apostate". He said the only realistic chance of his brother being freed might be the personal intervention of Mr Karzai.

The Independent will keep its petition going in the meantime. Canadians should contact the department of foreign affairs to put pressure on Bernier to keep an eye on this case. (Yes, I know he's practically useless and won't even stand up for the rights of Canadians held in other countries who are facing the death penalty, but he is the minister.) Bother Steve while you're at it too.

Update:

NDP presses for stronger stand by Ottawa on Afghan death sentence

OTTAWA - NDP Leader Jack Layton wants Parliament to take a stand in support of an Afghan journalist sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Islam.

In an interview Sunday, Layton complained the Conservative government has been largely silent on the case of Sayad Parwez Kambaksh, convicted by a court in northern Afghanistan two weeks ago.

"We have every right as a country to speak out on this issue," said the NDP chief.