If you watch Question Period these days you know that there is a new star in the Con Circus.
The clown Paul Calandra, the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary, who answers more questions about the Senate scandal than Stephen Harper does.
And turns every serious question into a joke or a smear.
Makes a mockery out of our parliament.
And is even worse, believe it or not, than his disgraced predecessor Dean Del Mastro.
Which is about as low as you can go eh?
This video will give you an idea of what this Con clown is doing to the democratic process...
And so will this selection of some of his most absurd quotes:
In response to an NDP question about Nigel Wright:
"I do like flowers and, of course, with lemons I like to make lemonade. My two daughters, this summer, actually had a lemonade stand where they sold lemonade for 5¢ on the street. They did very well. I am very proud of them."
In response to a Liberal question about the Wright-Duffy deal:
"She is sitting in a caucus where, I do not know, three-quarters of them have been convicted of some type of fraud, whether it is the Elections Canada Act or robocalls. The real fraud squad is sitting in the Liberal Party."
Which as you can see, makes the job of the opposition almost impossible. For what good is asking questions when you are going to get those kind of answers?
Which of course is exactly what Stephen Harper and his PMO thugs want. To try to wear down the opposition by turning Question Period into a farce, and deny the media any useable clips.
So the Cons can try to bury the scandal in the rubble of our democracy.
So I'm happy to report that there is a new website out there where you can get the Con clown to answer YOUR questions.
And have a little fun at his expense for a change.
Although of course it's not really funny, it's the death of Parliament.
And unless the Con Speaker forces Calandra to answer the questions he's asked, one really has to wonder why the opposition even bothers to turn up.
And whether they should stay away in protest until he is removed.
For one thing is for sure eh? He must be removed.
Stephen Harper should be ashamed of himself for debasing our democracy further.
And the Con clown must be FIRED...
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I just asked on the new website if calandra had really been convicted of tax evasion. He was very clear in the fact that he wouldn't answer me very clearly. You don't even get rewards like this in u.s. politics if you've been convicted of a felony.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great and tolerant country we live in! As long as you're white, a CON, not gay and certainly not one of those dirty fucking injuns, you too can have a "barbie" political life here in the great, white north, strong and free . . . until we have to learn the Chinese national anthem and say the Lord's Prayer in Mandarin.
hi anon...I don't really care about his legal record, all I know is that he is one of the worst Con clowns I have ever seen, he is making a mockery out of our Parliament, and he needs to be exposed for that by whatever means possible...
DeleteI have no idea why the opposition is not continually mentioning Calandra's 1984 conviction for tax evasion in the House. This guy is a criminal, like so many of Harper's close associates.
ReplyDeleteMy question also. I am very disillusioned with Trudeau the younger!! He certainly doesn't seem to have much of his dad in him!!
Deletehi Kirby....if this allegation is true, and I can't find any proof of it myself, then it would be a natural response to all the smears he throws at the opposition. However that would be playing his game, and I like the way Mulcair has been ignoring the taunts, and just concentrating on asking more questions.
DeleteBut as I said something has to be done, because he is doing great damage to our democracy...
Too bad.
ReplyDeleteWe need an action plan.
The only comfort I derive is from the quote "the wheels of the gods grind exceedingly slow but they grind exceedingly fine" ---------- and then home to bed, awaiting the 2015 execution date.
Anonymous-A
A sign of dementia to answer your own post, but hey, it's Friday night.
DeleteJust saw the Rick Mercer rant about psycopathy vs. guilt or whatever he was ranting about.
Were I to be Herr Harper in his Bunker Den, having heard this rant, I'd be saying, to paraphrase - "Ja, we must shut down this CBC bullshit - they are dangerous to the state."
Anyways, we do live in interesting times
Anonymous-A
hi anon @10:47...Don't worry we do have an Action Plan. It's called the Evict the Con Swine by 2015 or Earlier, and judging by their tanking polls, so far so good... ;)
Deletehi anon@5:44...I saw the Mercer rant and I loved the story about the guy in the rain. When you reduce Harper's argument down to its core, and strip away all the distractions, it just doesn't make sense. And the more people like Mercer and others can get that message out, the more it will damage him...
DeleteCalandra should be kicked out of the House. Calandra's behavior is much like, Goebbels fanatic behavior. Not that it matters. Harper as a Fascist Dictator, sees no wrong in Calandra's behavior. Parliament is a disgusting spectacle, for the world to see.
ReplyDeleteI wish we could have Harper and Alberta, their own country. The rest of us could then be true Canadians. The good democratic Canada, we used to be. With Harper handing Canada over to Communist China ...wouldn't we be wise, to get out of Harper's dictatorship? Harper and all of his henchmen should be, kicked right out of this country.
Kirby - you say Calandra was convicted in 1984 for tax evasion. I hadn't heard this before so went searching for more info. The only thing I notice is that Calandra was born in 1970 so he would have been 14 years old in 1984.
ReplyDeleteHave you got the year mixed up or can you provide more info? Thanks.
Anonymous - You are right. When you said that bells went off and so I made a phone call to a couple of Ottawa people and found the source of the confusion. It turns out it was not Calandra that was convicted of tax evasion (though it turns out that he did lie to the media and others about having a university degree and as Anonymous says above he was involved in a legal battle with family) but his boss Steve Gilchrist. Calandra was the chief of staff to Gilchrist who was a minister in the Harris Government. Gilchrist was also placed by the PM to run for the Conservatives federally in Ajax but stepped down before the election. Rumour has it that his past was catching up with him and he was turning into a liability. This Cabal is really like an onion and the more layers that you peel the more it smells. Insiders are saying that the only reason that Calandra ended up as the point man for the Senate Scandal in Parliament is that none of Harper's cabinet heavyweights (if one can call any of these pathetic, simpering, yes-men, heavyweights), have refused the job because none of them want to be tainted with the stink of this scandal. Calandra was a 'nobody' and had nothing to lose, as well as being rather dull-witted and apparently unaware of his comical status.
DeleteNot totally convinced the cons will be out of office in 2015. They didn't do as well as they expected in the by-elections, but two of them were elected. Given what is going on in this country, the cons should not have been re-elected. It is obvious to me, that no matter what some cons do, there are still people who will vote for them. Sometimes you just have to make it digestable and give it to them in small pieces.
ReplyDeleteWe now know there is nothing too low for the cons to stoop to, to remain in office. What they do next can be anyone's quess. Perhaps they will pass a law saying M.P.s and Senators will be granted immunity from all criminal acts while in office. Don't laugh, they are hiring lawyers for their staff and we, the taxpayers are footing the bill. However, there isn't enough money for veterans to be given decent services they need and deserve.
hi e.a.f....I'm not suggesting it will be easy. Harper has his faithful followers, and the Cons have the best and richest political organization in the country. But a lot of people are tired of Harper after eight years, they will be even more tired of him after ten years, and when that happens a scandal can be twice as deadly. I'm betting he goes first with a bang, and then a whimper...
Deleteit will be entertaining to see what the Conservative back benchers bring to the House floor with their suggestion for new legislation limiting the powers of the P.M.O. This ought to be good. Perhaps at long last some of these backbenchers have seen they could be defeated in the next election. or who knows maybe some of them are just so tired of the current shit flying around, they have decided to try to change things. Like it was them that got elected and they just might want to represent their constituants. If nothing else some of those back benchers may be getting nervous about Armed Forces personnel and veterans killing themselves at a rather rapid clip. It doesn't look good when a government closes offices which service veterans. Three suicides in one week by current Armed Forces members is 3 too many. They ought to be offered all the help they need. The Armed Forces past and present gave up a lot to serve this country. Now it is time the country serve them.
ReplyDeletee.a.f. Nothing speaks louder than the actions of the harper government towards the veterans to show how they are two-faced bald liars. When young Canadians are giving their lives defending Israel and Israeli interests (which is what any war against an Arab/Muslim/Islamic state is) they are the harper governments 'heroes' when they come home they are persona non grata. Way to go harper-cons you should all go to Palestine wearing your yarmulke and waving your star of David flags and be sure to yell loudly to the locals any Jewish cuss words you know like "Ani yiv-at lecha ba beitsim Arab". (translated: "I will kick your balls dirty pig"
ReplyDeleteOne solution to the problem of our damaged democracy is to make sure, by every available means (letters to editors, emails to candidates) that the NUMBER ONE ISSUE in the next election is ELECTORAL REFORM so that Canadians of every political stripe can have their voices heard. Proportional Representation is our best hope to replace the dysfunctional first-past-the-post system.
ReplyDelete