There surely could not have been a more outrageous sight than the spectacle of Tom Mulcair today being grilled like a criminal.
And accused by the Cons of using parliamentary funds for partisan purposes.
Tom Mulcair stood his ground Thursday throughout an unprecedented two-hour grilling by a Commons committee over the NDP's allegedly improper use of parliamentary resources. The NDP leader was at times contemptuous of his Conservative and Liberal tormentors, but managed to keep his temper in check as he insisted — repeatedly — that New Democrats have done nothing wrong.
When the Cons have spent almost a billion dollars on partisan propaganda and porky ads, paid for by the taxpayers.
Nor could here be a more hypocritical sight than the wretched Con and anti-abortion fanatic Stephen Woodworth accusing Mulcair of dodging questions.
"In seven years sitting on this committee, I have never seen a witness as evasive as this witness," said Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth, a lawyer who handled the questioning from the government side.
When that's all the Cons have done for more than eight years, and Mulcair is right, it was a kangaroo court.
"In my 36 years in government, Mr. Woodworth, I've never seen the governing party get together with its handmaiden in the third party to convene (an interrogation of) the leader of the Opposition," shot back Mulcair, dismissing the spectacle as a partisan kangaroo court.
The two-hour stand-off marked the first time in Canadian history that an opposition leader has been ordered to testify at a committee, according to the Library of Parliament.
Nor it must be said, could there be a more depressing sight than the Liberals helping the Cons smear the NDP, even as the Cons smear their own leader...
Or for that matter a more pathetic sight, than the CBC trying to blow this non-event into a major scandal...
While hopping around on their bleeding stumps, thanks to the savage cuts the Cons have inflicted on them.
But at least we know why the Cons are doing it.
To try to make the opposition parties look as sleazy as they are.
As Jason Kenney does all the time with the foreign workers scandal.
For that is the way their depraved leader likes it..
Even though there has never been a Canadian Prime Minister as corrupt and disgusting as him.
And what he's really trying to do is debase our political system so much, until decent Canadians are so disgusted, they don't bother voting.
Which is just another form of voter suppression, and the only way the Cons can still win.
And the good news? It won't work.
Mulcair held his own, and it was quite a show.
Most Canadians know that there is nothing quite as filthy as a Harper Con...
And if they don't, we will remind them.
The Cons are hogs and monsters.
And they must smeared without mercy, and dipped in their own excrement.
Until the day they are DESTROYED...
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This reminds me of the robocall scandle when they tried to equate identifying yourself at the end of a legitimate call rather than the beginning as equal to the criminal fraud of sending voters to invalid polls. I truly believe love is the answer to the worlds problems but I am beginning to hate these foul cons, and I hate them for that.
ReplyDeletehi Peter...yes it is the same thing, and they have done it from the moment they came to power. When unable to dodge and clearly guilty, declare that the others are as bad as you are. It's the kind of line I would expect to hear from cons, the ones who live in prisons. Who can forget Dean Del Mastro bellowing that the Cons had ethics, and the Liberals were worse? Until he was charged. Love is still the answer, but it's going
Deleteto have to be a fierce one...
Aaron Wherry writes "He (Tom Mulcair) is not quite humble, nor particularly gentle, with a certain rhetorical aggressiveness.". Having these qualities, as the leader of her Majesty's loyal opposition, is good for democracy. Mr. Mulcair is doing his job.
ReplyDeleteI imagine all parties have 'satellite' offices in some form that engage in partisan work from time to time. Why are the NDP be singled out? Don't tell me, I think I know the answer to this one....
From all appearances it seems that Mr. Mulcair, from a legal standpoint, used Mr. Woordwoth to clean the committee room floor. And when he had finished cleaning the committee room floor, he used Mr. Woodworth to clean the corridor outside of the committee room.
hi anon...I thought Mulcair handled himself very well in what was a shameless kangaroo court. I think I can safely say it was one of the worst abuses of power I have seen from that bully regime. Mulcair had nothing to be humble about, and his treatment of Stephen Woodworth, masquerading as Joe McCarthy was a joy to behold...
DeleteI wish I could vote for Tom Mulcair but I can't because of our election system. The Liberals are very strong in my riding. I mostly wish though that I could vote for Elizabeth May because I admire her so much!
ReplyDeletehi anon...I am not partisan, I believe that the only thing that counts right now is removing the Con regime from power. So although I lean to the NDP, if the Liberals are the only ones who can beat the Cons, go for it.
DeleteThere really isn't a problemo, bud. The conservative Broadcasting Corporation is just doing its new job.
ReplyDeleteThe amerikans have faux News, cnn, etc. We have the conservative Broadcasting Corporation.
Simple, n'est pas?
hi anon...I don't know if I would go as far as to call it the Conservative Broadcasting Corporation, except when Rex Murphy is on. ;) But it definitely seems to be more right-wing than it was, and if you're going to blow up what was a travesty of Parliament, they should have provided more context. My guess is that the CBC's high command is both scared and clueless...
DeleteYou know, I really want to vote NDP only because trudeau is starting to sound more like harpie all the time but I also think that voting NDP is almost just a spoiler vote and the cons will steal another "election" because of the split vote. It almost seems the multi-party system here is designed to help the cons retain power indefinitely.
ReplyDeleteWhat to do?
hi anon...as I told the commenter above, now is not the time to throw away our votes for ANYONE. The threat of vote-splitting is a big one, and if only this once, we must put our country before our parties. I used to hesitate to say that because of the verbal abuse I received from my NDP and Liberal friends, but not any longer...
Deleteits just soo friggin audacious that the govt would grill Mulcair over some non issue that cost peanuts....yet avoid answering their own criminal wrongdoings over the years. Or calling their court cases in which they settle on a fine instead of trial....a victory. Hypocrisy at its finest. Too bad the libs joined in on this ridiculous gangup.
ReplyDeletemulcair and the ndp must have both parties, governing and third, scared witless.
hi deb...It wasn't just hypocrisy, it was outright bullying as far as I'm concerned. Hauling the Leader of the Opposition before a committee, and grilling him like a criminal, was absolutely outrageous. The Liberals should not attack the NDP, the NDP should not attack the Liberals. They must concentrate on the real enemy...
DeleteOne of the knocks against Mulcair as the new leader of the NDP was his supposed inability to control his temper..from what I saw, he did an admirable job, and you're right, Simon, the CBC did a really bad disservice to the Opposition by turning this whole tempest in a teapot into a ridiculous OJ-level bag of non-sleaze..but that is what their overlords wished...
ReplyDeleteMulcair shone in my estimation; I wasn't quite sure about an ex-Liberal as a leader for the NDP, but I'm beginning to (nope, I continue to) marvel at the intelligence and foresight of Jack Layton, who after all picked Mulcair as his successor.. Layton understood what was coming, and he certainly made a wise selection..I was really disappointed at the time, and now I stand corrected..
Mulcair rocks!
hi mizdarlin...I had the opportunity to see Mulcair in action in Quebec's National Assembly. So I never thought his temper was a problem. I enjoyed the way he skewered the PQ almost as much as I enjoy the way he goes after Harper. But then of course I would. ;)
DeleteOne should be angry about what the Cons are doing to this country. And I thought his performance in that kangaroo court was admirable. As for the CBC's coverage, I don't think they were trying to please their overlords, I think they were just clueless, and they really need to look up the word context in the dictionary. By playing into the hands of the Cons, and legitimizing that outrageous spectacle, they did us all a great disservice...
My respect for Mulcair actually went up, not down, after I saw the way he had handled the questions. He did not refuse to answer the difficult questions, the way Harper runs away from the most straightforward and legitimate questions. As for his going after Laurie Graham from CTV, I thought he had an excellent point because her report was entitled something along the lines about Mulcair insisting that he or the NDP still had not done anything wrong. What was wrong about Mulcair expressing his frustration with her report leaving out the fact that Elections Canada had not found anything wrong? An objective reporter would likely have included that fact as part of a balanced reporting, or at least, admitted her honest error in leaving that out.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Liberals, what can one say except that if they think this makes those of us whose votes can go either to them or the NDP more convinced that we should be voting for them, they could not be more wrong. It actually reminded me of how the Libs walked away from a coalition, thinking that they could win power all by themselves without the NDP, and instead left us with a majority Harper government. It also made me feel justified for refusing to join the Libs party even though it gave me the chance to nominate the candidate for my riding.
hi anon...yes you're right, Mulcair handled himself well, and the MSM should have been more critical of the process, and pointed out that Stephen Harper would never dare expose himself to that kind of grilling. I also think the Liberals are making a big mistake by joining in this farce. As I said above, I want us all to focus all our efforts on bringing down the Harper Cons. I haven't the slightest doubt that the next election will determine the fate of this country, and failure is not an option...
DeleteI think folks mistake Mulcair using forceful language and intonation as temper. In a court room that dramatic flair would serve him well, hes not badtempered but a great and dramatic orator.
ReplyDeleteHarper is a mealymouthed weasel in comparison and is the one with a truly bad temper, as tom flanagan pts out, he abuses his staff and has rages. I personally dont think the behind the scenes raging is a good leader being decisive, but instead an out of control meglomaniac throwing a temper tantrum.
people should realize that the media are fed narratives by stevie and his cohorts that are meant to diminish Mulcair and Trudeau.
hi deb...I have a Scottish temper, that builds slowly but then explodes, so I am in no position to criticize Mulcair for having an Irish one. ;) As Tom Flanagan and other have told us Harper has a bully's temper, likes to see fear in the eyes of others, so compared to him Mulcair looks like the Pope. But the MSM that needs some kind of handle to define Mulcair, has hung that label around his neck from the moment he became leader. They call it temper, I call it passion...
Deleteexactly, passion. thats a great way of looking at it. I was talking about his presence but his abilities are enhanced by that passion for sure.
DeleteI have the scottish temper, we might get mad and we sure as hell get even:)
I am afraid I laughed. There is no-one more, foul and slimy than Harper and his gang of thugs. Mulcair is a Sunday school teacher compared to Harper.
ReplyDeleteHarper steals from Canadians non-stop. He steals from us to, give the bottomless pits of greed corporations, $60 billion in tax reductions. How may millions of, economic and job action plan ads, that don't exist? A stupid $1 billion fake lake. $50 million for gazebo's. Millions wasted on the F-35 jet fiasco. That is only a drop in the Ocean, for Harper's thefts.
hi anon...yes, if it wasn't so tragic it would be funny. Harper trying to portray himself as a good guy by smearing others. Something tells me it's not going to work...
DeleteLibs and cons would not be doing this if they did not see Mulcair as a threat. Definitely the cons have to go. But Trudeau is consistent in only two things, one ' putting his foot in his mouth' and two 'contradicting himself'
ReplyDeleteAlso in order to be a member of his party you must be pro-abortion as if he has the right to tell people what to think and what to believe. That attitude does not bode well for a leader and one has to wonder how far he would take it given the chance. He thinks to much of himself and it is unfortunate that he does not appear to have anywhere near the intelligence of his father. He would not have handled the inquisition that they put Mulcair through. Both Harper and Trudeau use prompts and have difficulty answering questions without. If you watch them in question period it is obvious. Got to get rid of Harper for sure but do not believe the glam boy is capable of being much else. Can not run a country on glamour. Have you seen his ad where he is walking across the room taking off his shirt!!!! I vote for Mulcair intelligence and knowledge is what we need and he has it.
hi Julia...yes you're right, they wouldn't be ganging up on Mulcair if they didn't see him as a threat.He has definitely out performed Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons. Still I'm not about to be too hard on Justin because he does mean hope for a lot of people, and I'm willing to give him a little more time to improve his performance. Partisanship has its place, but I would rather work to bring progressives together.
DeleteIt drives my friends in all three parties wild, but somebody has to do it, and it is who I am. All I'm interested at this point is the total defeat of the Harper regime...