The Shotgun Blog
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Thursday, December 29, 2005
Which Liberal strategists?
CTV's story on the income trust leak is riveting -- made all the more tantalizing when one senior executive cancelled a scheduled CTV interview on his lawyer's advice.
TSX CEO Richard Nesbitt's pathetic excuse for why he thought to make an investment that netted him a six-figure overnight profit is laughable. I predict he will be replaced as the top man at Canada's most important stock exchange within a week; the reputation of the TSX depends on it.
But the most intriguing aspect of CTV's report was the common thread in all the statements it collected: that senior Liberal strategists were the source of the leaks.
Who were those Liberal strategists?
Finance Minister Ralph Goodale surely has some strategists in his office; he's been a cabinet minister and a politician long enough to have a coterie of staff who would fit that description, or at least use it to describe themselves. But could those Liberal strategists -- "well connected" as they were called -- be from the Prime Minister's team?
The decision, on the eve of an election, to reverse course on income trusts was not Goodale's alone. Martin (and his "well connected" strategists) would have been in on the decision. In fact, it stands to reason that if Goodale's office made the first income trust decision, the overturning of that decision would have been primarily the result of Martin's office -- and Martin's staff would have been the most eager to spread the news of same.
So who sent the e-mails? It shouldn't be hard to find out, and it shouldn't be hard to find out before January 23rd. Scott Reid? Tim Murphy? Hell, Mike Klander?
Is that why Paul Martin is stonewalling here -- not to protect Goodale, but to protect himself?
Posted by Ezra Levant on December 29, 2005 | Permalink
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Posted by: tee | 2005-12-30 1:07:28 AM
"Is that why Paul Martin is stonewalling here -- not to protect Goodale, but to protect himself?"
Of course Martin is trying to protect himself! He's always trying to protect himself. He has done a good job of it in the past. Passing the blame to others is his favorite game. A close second would be to claim ignorance. I won't argue with him there, but come on, did he really think he and his party could get away with this kind of behavior forever? The sad thing is I think he did, and I think all the elitist SOB's in the ranks of the Liberal party did too.
Poor ol' Martin can see that his party members, cabinet members and strategists are putting more kinks in his armor and that scares him. He realizes more and more people might be paying attention to what's going on an come to the conclusion that he isn't as innocent as he seems. After all he is the leader of the party and he can't play the 'I dunno' card forever, he has to take responsibility for something eventually don't you think? I won't get my hopes too high yet, but considering the RCMP is investigating the income trust matter, and the fact it has been widely televised, does give me hope that Liberal voters will be able to add 2+2=corruption and decide to oust the elitist, tin hat dictators from power!
Posted by: tigerpants | 2005-12-30 2:09:07 AM
Could be Nixon Martin? Haldiman Herle? Is there a Dean?
What's his name? ... the Martin aide who turned Crown witness out on West Coast Vancouver... Spiderman, thass it. Scaled the walls of Earnscliffe? Trial in 2006, sometime? Drugs/sex/voters lists/Librano$ membership lists/influence peddling/Sikh stuff/ & more.
Watch/listen to & for Kinsella. Must be chortling at his qwerty keyboard.
Posted by: maz2 | 2005-12-30 6:17:30 AM
I think the whole damn thing is a ploy. How come the Ontario Securities Commission are out and almost silent on this?...They are better positioned than the fed police to do this investigation...I smell a rat. I agree with you as my gut instinct tells me the leak came from Martin's and/or his office for past "favours" from well connected Liberals.
I would not be surprised that around Jan 18, the RCMP comes out screaming that Goodale and his finance dept. are clear of any wrong doing and the MSM will spin it as yet another vile attempt from those bad bad opposition parties attacking them poor Librano$...Remember that Martin is holding on to Goodale right now stating "He's a man of integrity, blah, blah, blah" and the MSM is spinning that right now.
And of course, after exonaration, they'll spin it so it will look like (If you don't care to read the fine print, like most Ontarians) that it came from no other than Dr. Evil Harper where in fact the NDP were the first to initiate the call for investigation...This would be enough excuse for many Liberal voting 'bleeding hearts' and/or cowards to carve their X's in the red zone yet again.
See, the medias are already "painting" the background:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051229/ELXN_income_trust_analysis_051229/20051229?s_name=election2006&no_ads=
Posted by: metalguru | 2005-12-30 7:21:12 AM
The importance now of the opposition bringing down this government when it did, is front and centre. Liberal shenanigans would have played out before any campaign and the liberals would have laughed it all off. If Ontarians still believe that these bunch of losers are still the way to go after what we have seen so far in this campaign, I think it will be high time Albertans decided the way to go. Alone.
Posted by: MikeP | 2005-12-30 7:24:01 AM
This Paul Martin would be the same Paul Martin who was on the Connaught laboratories Board during the time they were buying tainted blood from Bill Clinton's Arkansas prisons would it not?
For a man of massive wealth and position in high places he seems not to know what takes place under his watch. Particularly in Quebec where Gagliano was his Quebec lieutenant.
It will be interesting which mainstream media will continue to be corrupt Liberal government enablers.
Posted by: Joseph molnar | 2005-12-30 7:43:24 AM
Metal, my feelings exactly. I no longer trust the RCMP any more than I do most politicians. If the Conservatives are elected the first thing they should do, other than eliminating CBC TV, is rewrite the rules on media ownership and cross ownership. This incestuous relationship between the media the booksellers and the liberal party has to be radically neutered if freedom of speech is to be maintained in this Country.
Posted by: Western Canadian | 2005-12-30 8:04:56 AM
The TSX said Nesbitt's dealings on that day were coincidental, that this was the last day he could act on his holdings.
Quite a coincidence. I could buy it if I wasn't aware that the TSX (a corporation in its own right) contributed to only one political party. Guess which one?
http://tinyurl.com/dxyqr
Posted by: Patrick | 2005-12-30 9:41:02 AM
I'm NOT cheating on my income tax, I'm only,...How's it go?..."only filling up my core holdings before the calendar year end"
That's f#$%ing rich!!
That's his excuse!
That's it!
I love it, no shame, flat out boasting dare to do something about it.
This guy is the head of Canada'a largest (only) stock exchange.
The TSX has their own investigative body who is always at odds with the Ontario Securities Commission for more powers to selfregulate.
The guy makes a huge trade based on what is at the time undisputably privelidged insider information.
Un f#$%^ing believable.
I'll go stick up the 7/11 and use... "please put the money in the bag "I'm only filling up my core holdings before the calendar year end""
This takes it to a new level that needs to be expressed.
The liberals have been stealing our tax dollars (admitted by Chretien under oath at Gomery)
This regular stealing of our taxes is likely going on under other programs set up in the same way Adscam was, to hide the money in trust so the auditor general can NOT examine it.
This is not good enough for the slimey money grubbing overlord liberal thieves.
Based with the cold realization that liberals may very well be cut off from access to the never ending supply of our money to steal, they steal the retirement funds of those hardworking sucker Canadians that have been able to salt a few bucks away.
These pricks are now working on our AFTER TAX savings.
It's realy mind boggling stuff, that any Canadian could be so closed minded to wish to submit to such masochism.
Who the hell is still calling themselves a liberal?
You know except the head of Toronto Stock Exchange.
Further, here's what potential visitors to Toronto have heard in the last 48 hours.
1) Don't come to Toronto to shop because you could be shot by savages who have demonstrated their willingness to shoot into a crowd of screaming women and children!
2) Don't invest in Canadian Securities because the head of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Minister of Finance are running it like a mob numbers game!
Enjoy your tax return!
Posted by: richfisher | 2005-12-30 9:51:48 AM
I think the debate over whether Goodale should resign or not is something of a smokescreen.
Watching Goodale’s statement yesterday he said that no one in his office leaked the information. Immediately after that he said that he did inform Paul Martin of the upcoming announcement. He did not say categorically that there was no leak only that it did not come from his office.
Paul Martin’s statement yesterday also did not deny that there was a leak. He only defends Mr. Goodale’s honour and says that Mr. Goodale will not resign. (I sense that some lawyers were overseeing the content of both statements)
On the CTV National news last night several of the Bay Street traders etc. said the e-mails leaking the pending announcement came from senior Liberal “strategists”.
The RCMP investigation will help put a stopper on any new information/evidence coming to light before the 23rd. i.e. - who actually made and profited from the trading as well as the release of who made the calls and wrote the e-mails (and perhaps whether any of the profiteers subsequently donated to the Liberal Party). And the debate over Goodale’s fate as minister will provide cover for what seems to be the most likely source and reason for the leak(s) – Paul Martin’s closest advisors and Liberal Party “fundraising”. (I find it interesting that the CTV got a quote from a Mr. Inkster - former head of the RCMP - saying that the RCMP never acts for politcal reasons - I laughed out loud at that.)
It also allows the Liberals to try and frame it as an inadvertent mistake as happened to Marc Lalonde thus taking the tinge of corruption away from the Liberals and placing it on the robber-baron Bay Streeters who violated a trust relationship that they had with the finance department. (see paul well's website for evidence of this already happening)
The Liberals have had a very long time period regarding this latest scandal to plan a defense and dissembling strategy. It seems entirely plausible that creating a furor over the resignation of someone reputed to be of very high integrity such as Mr. Goodale is a part of this strategy. And the NDP and Jack Layton have taken the bait. Will (or has) the media do (or done) the same?
Posted by: Gord Tulk | 2005-12-30 10:13:19 AM
One thing for sure, I will seriously reconsider my position as a law abiding, hard working tax paying Canadian citizen if the apathetic cowards of this country reelect (even a minority) Librano government yet again...If the population says it's OK for the government to steal my money then it will be Ok for me to "steal" from the government by omitting to pay my income taxes, renewing a fishing license, paying for services under the table, etc... Also, I live (And ashamed to) in Ontaxio and I encourage the western provinces, specifically Alberta to make lots of noise about breaking up from this joke of a country. Even if it's only to shake the Ontario foundations, these cowards will have to pay attention.
Being passive and patient might be a Canadian threat but by God I'm not a fool!
Enough is enough...I encourage anyone with a brain to do the same and maybe if there is enough of us doing so, some much needed change might finally happen.
Posted by: metalguru | 2005-12-30 10:51:46 AM
The CPC should avoid talk about Goodale and focus on PM and the PMO. Let the NDP do their thing on Goodale. Keep releasing the platform daily, stay on point. Tag all corruption and scandal to the PM & PMO as it occurs.
Ralph is a bad target for the CPC, he comes across as teflon and/or bulletproof. I think it would be wise to step away from him and let this play out. If the opposition keeps this in the media Martin will have no choice but to offer up Goodale to keep the heat off of him. Then it will be obvious to most that the leak originated from the PMO.
I don't think Ralph is going to take a dive for this bunch of 'Liberals', he has worked too hard over the years to build a solid reputation in parliament and acroos the country. They (Paul Martin, John Duffy, Scott Reid et al) will have to push him off the cliff.
We all get to watch.
Posted by: Lemmytowner | 2005-12-30 11:23:53 AM
At the higher levels, don't trust the RCMP for a minute.
Posted by: Western Canadian | 2005-12-30 2:10:25 PM
Last night I had two friends, who are visiting from Toronto, over at my house. Inevitably, they brought up the election and their hopes for a Liberal/NDP coalition, as well as their annoyance that we're even having an election.
I stated my strong support for Harper and one of them immediately said "but he brought up abortion on the very first day". I was unable to convince that this wasn't the case, even when I showed them the CPC policy manual.
They knew nothing of the income trust investigation and did not seem to care when I informed them of it. They viewed it in the same light as the sponsorship scandal, i.e. "who cares? That's just politics"
What scares me is that this is a typical Toronto attitude. If the Liberals win and the Alberta independence movement gains momentum, I'll be moving out there.
Posted by: Charlotte | 2005-12-30 3:17:18 PM
Charlotte - that is indeed a typical Liberal reaction, which is to reject any problems and view the Liberals as The Only Party with the Right to Govern.
Canadians have been brainwashed for a generation to reject dissent, to reject questions, exploring options, to reject analysis. We are a one party state - similar to a communist ideology. There is only One Right Way - and one doesn't question The Way.
This refusal to question includes rejection of actual 'events on the ground'. They won't accept reality - the sponsorship, the corruption, the loss of power over the government, the reduction of the House of Commons to irrelevancy. We are a nation of fear - and the Liberals know exactly how to play on these fears.
Imagine a country that refuses to debate important programs - such as its health care. But, in Canada, there is only One Way, and if you debate it, then you are a heretic. So, we become a people who are meek, clinging to the One Party, hesitant to do anything different.
How does one deal with a brainwashed population? It's happened before, but the major problem in Canada is that we are protected from the results of our brainwashing, our refusal to take charge of our future - by the US economy. We are piggybacked on the US economy; therefore, what we do, has little affect on our daily lives.
In other countries - a brainwashed population rapidly found that it could not function within the global world (Russia, China) and began, with great difficulty, to change. China's government may be fighting back against its people who are freeing themselves but they will lose that fight. But in Canada - the population is too fearful to free itself. Can it? Will it?
Posted by: ET | 2005-12-30 3:28:14 PM
ET, the power of the pen lasts only as long as the power to use it.
Posted by: Western Canadian | 2005-12-30 6:46:14 PM
Charlotte, welcome, I have room in my house.
Posted by: Western Canadian | 2005-12-30 9:11:29 PM
ET....
One day, I hope one day....Canadians will chose to free themselves from their government. But the longer I live, and the more I see, all I can conclude is that Canadians are like fish, they have a three second memory and then they forget what is truly going on in this country. Scandals, corruption that's not right.... then a couple moments later they'll say, "What corruptrion? That's just how it is in politics." They do tend to remember the propangized bullshit that has been fed to them either though government commercials or federally influenced schlastic material, but they fail to recall the reality of the situation in which Canada, and being Canadain is a joke. They can choose to hold hands and sing 'This land is your land' if they want to, but really they aren't fooling anyone. It's just a lot of hot air, propped up by accomplishments of the past with no real siubstance to quantify it with today. Yeah, we used to be a proud nation but look at us now! What the hell are we proud of? Our welfare state! Victims breeding more victims. I agree with helping the down trodden and the infirm but to indoctrinate a whole populace with the idea that you are a victim that needs to be taken care of by the government is just sad. I can see how during he depression and during the World Wars something had to be done but to ingrain a sense of dependancy into a society of freedom loving people is just criminal! Hey guys: Lets be proud of a decaying health care system that is barely sustainable, and it at it's current status impossible to maintain. A military which used to be a respectable and effective force in the world, being reduced to the equivalent of having a sling shot and a canoe. And let us not forget our stance on global terrorism where our border is more porous than a siv. And hey, let us be proud of our immigration policy if allowing gang members of other countries join Canada, and allowing them to create new gangs. And when the going gets tough lets blame the United States for supplying the guns!! Well of course, that's the Canadain way of doing things....
Booo...urns
If thats what it means to be a true Canadian count me out. Actually I counted myself out long ago after I learned how the west got raped during the NEP, and how even before then (and since) we have been treated like the 'hinterland' supplying the hub (central Canada) with resources and commodities so it can sustain 'Canada'. Well if that's how Canada is and that's how Ottawa perceived us in the past and still treats us in the same manner today, I say, "Go truck yourselves!!!" I said 'truck' because I like to clean it up for the kids....
I hang my head in shame a lot of the time because my country is a joke. I do like most Canadians, but I am disgusted to think there are people inhabiting the same land mass as me that choose to support elistist, pompous assholes who have been leading this country like dictators under the guise of a democracy. That chaps my ass! Why can't we vote in a party that will clean house for bit and maybe regain some of our dignity, and maybe get some of our friends back. Especially the ones we do 80% of our trade with. Call me crazy but that sounds like a good plan. And while we're at it why not crack down on the psychos in society. Instead of giving then free cable and work out equipment, how about lets make them do actual manual labor. Give the 4-H kids a break and make those SOB's clean the ditches! God knows the way it is now, they are learning how to be better criminals and they are honing their forensics knowledge by watching 'CSI' and 'Cold Case Files' so they know exactly how to drug, rape and kill the next person without getting caught....Okay you got me I'm rambling but seriously guys! Can you see what I'm saying? We as Canadians have been resting on past laurels and been relishing in past glories and have failed as a nation to see that we are a joke, we are not credible anymore and we are falling apart at the seams. I guess it is fitting to have the government that we do, because they are a prime exmple of what is going on on a larger scale within the country. Corruption, ineffectiveness, ignorance, and apathy.
And that's all I have to say about that....
Posted by: tigerpants | 2005-12-31 6:50:46 AM
Tigerpants: I Agree...100%
Posted by: bks | 2005-12-31 11:53:04 PM
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