The Duffy trial has adjourned and won't get going again until after the election.
So you might think that Stephen Harper would be letting out a giant sigh of relief.
But sadly for him, the trial may be over.
But as a new poll shows the damage has been done.
On the same day the trial of Sen. Mike Duffy adjourned until after the Oct. 19 federal election, a new poll suggests Nigel Wright’s recent testimony has negatively impacted how the majority of Canadians view the Conservatives.
The Nanos Research survey -- conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail -- found more than half of the respondents (56%) viewed the Conservatives more negatively after the prime minister’s former chief of staff took the stand.
And while Harper may try to claim that it was a mere distraction, this has got to hurt.
The proportion of those who viewed the Conservatives more negatively after Wright’s testimony differed by region, ranging from 46 per cent in the Prairies to 61 per cent in Atlantic Canada, but was about equal between women and men.
And as Andrew Coyne points out, if the Duffy affair was no big deal, why did the Cons go to such trouble to try to hide it?
If there’s no scandal here, then why is everyone connected with the government acting as if there is? That would include, among others, Stephen Harper.
If the matter of Duffy’s expenses were no big deal — at worst, a case of an errant senator, and besides, the rules were unclear — it would seem hard to explain why a dozen or more senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Senate spent three months fussing and fretting over it.
And of course the answer is that it is a big deal because if it wasn't the Cons wouldn't have tried to keep it a secret.
News, in Lord Northcliffe’s famous formulation, is “what someone wants suppressed.” When people are going to great lengths to conceal something, chances are they have a good reason. The Duffy conspirators plainly thought so, and they were right.
So it mattered then because it was secret. And it matters now because it is no longer secret: because of all that it has revealed about the culture inside the Prime Minister’s Office.
It matters, in the end, because the things that should have mattered to them, like honesty and integrity, didn’t.
It is a big deal because it has revealed Stephen Harper's PMO to be a cesspool of intrigue and corruption. It has made some of those who work there look like liars, including Harper's beloved chief of staff Ray Novak...
It has tainted the Cons beyond recognition. It has made even more Canadians distrust anything they say.
And if they can't trust them to tell the truth about that scandal, how can they trust them with a bigger issue like the economy?
So the trial may be over, but the issues it has raised will haunt the Cons all the way to the election.
And it will help destroy them...
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24 comments:
Time will only tell if this is going to have an impact. The time, election day.
Voters can swing from one direction to another.
The trial has most likely done some damage, but has it done enough? Only if it is kept in the public's eye and the "theme" of the election isn't changed by the Cons.
And as one trial adjourns, get ready for another trial:
With Bruce Carson’s trial to start on Sept. 8, Conservatives get no relief on ethical issues
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2015/08/24/with-bruce-carsons-trial-to-start-on-sept-8-conservatives-get-no-relief-on-ethical/43180
Are Simon's blog entries and our comments being monitored by Steve and the boys in short pants? Well, I figure it's a 99.99% certainty. (Hi Steve!!!)
From 2013:
http://thecanadianpoliticalscene.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-harper-government-is-obsessed-with.html
The firm is being asked to monitor both languages of communications through "blogs, micro-blogs, social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter, forums and message boards, traditional news websites and comment sections, media sharing websites (videos, photos and user-generated content websites including YouTube)," according to the procurement documents inside Public Works.
http://politicalscene.ca/
I will not enter my prejudices here, however, it is clearly obvious that none of this crew have a friggin clue about the average citizen in this country. NOT rocket science. Just an unbiased observation.
Remember, if by very obviously, remote chance , your local CPC candidate comes knocking to qualify them. Offer up some herring or sardines or tuna or whatever you may have on hand in order that you may distinguish between an actual local candidate going to Ottawa to enthusiastically represent your riding or merely accepting that treat for a trick from the PMO.
By Halloween Kim Campbell will look like a Conservative Diva....Stevie, not so much.
CON-spiracies unlimited. First there was Duffygate and with a little imagination there could be a RCMPgate. But the unanswered question is why the Duffygate in the first place. Its understandable that they wanted to avoid the brewing controversy over senate expenses and it makes sense that they would start down the road of protecting Harper's appointments. Denial is the standard Con approach to test the waters but if it doesn't work denial quickly morphs into another bus accident and within a few days everyone has moved on. Nothing more to see here folks! There doesn't appear to be any logical reason why Wright and the other PMO staff would chase the Duffy powder keg down hill for three months before it blew up. Even the Acme Road Runner was not that tenacious. Were promises made early on that they could not back out of or is there a larger CON-spiracy at play?
RT
the "boys in short pants" don't or can't read...
Stephen Harper and probably Kenney are followers of Leo Strauss of the Chicago School (like Tom Flanagan.) Strauss believed that: 'perpetual deception of the citizens by those in power is critical because they need to be led and they need strong rulers to tell the what's good for them.' A very handy philosophy for narcissists and sociopaths. Shadia Drury of the U Sask did a study of him.
How to pick out a Cons supporter. Ask them whether Duffy is a big deal. If the answer is "No", you have your Cons supporter right there. Dollar to donuts, any takers? :)
Steve here
I may give him to much credit or the voters too little but Harper may have chosen this insane campagin duration to get all the energy drained early, then bomb the country with propaganda in the last two weeks, change the channel and spueak in with at least a minority. A minority is just as bad as a majority.
great use of tax dollar, fiscal prucdence be dammed
that is a nice new line!
but his minority will have to get by a confidence vote. this election may simply be part one of a two part election.
re: "then bomb the country with propaganda in the last two weeks"
Like maybe with a false flag or black ops operation?
Harper is so cozy with the RCMP and CSIS anything is possible these days.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_operation
hi e.a.f...the Duffy trial will help destroy the Cons, if only by reinforcing all the things Canadians hold against them. If they had a clean rap sheet it might have bounced off them. But the damage is cumulative, and it can only taint them further...
hi David...well I wouldn't miss that trial for anything. I followed Carson's career with great interest especially since he hooked up with that escort. And I must say the timing couldn't be more perfect...
hi David...yes they do monitor us all, and it couldn't be more pathetic. To think of some Con nerd slobbering over my posts fills me with disgust. Although I have to admit it also does motivate me to annoy them as much as possible... ;)
hi anon...offer a Con sardines? Well that's an interesting thought. First the sardines and then the hungry bobcat...;)
hi anon...yes Steve has managed to make every other Conservative leader look like an absolute saint. Even the bloater Mulroney looks good compared to Harper. But I am hoping that by Halloween Harper will look like a scarecrow... ;)
hi RT...my theory is that they were really afraid what a disaffected Duffy might do to them. He was one of the best gossip collectors in Ottawa, and they were afraid of what he might. I have a really good Duffy story myself, and the day will come when I can reveal it...
hi anon...yes I am familiar with the elitist views of the Straussians, and I do believe that they have had the greatest influence on our man Harpo. The secrecy, the lies, it all comes from old Leo. And needless to say it couldn't be more outrageous, or more of an attack on our democracy. Those ghastly un-Canadian ideologues are good to go....
hi anon...yes I believe you're right and the polls seem to back you up. Although it must be said that many Con supporters have had enough, and have abandoned Steve. Not as many as I would like, but he only has to lose a few and his goose is cooked....
hi anon...yes no doubt he will bon,bard us with his ghastly ads, But from what I've been hearing they are starting to bother people, so more could be bad for him. They've just run too many, and people have stopped believing them. But the good news is that a minority won't save him, it will only delay the Day of Judgement...
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