Ever since he became leader Andrew Scheer has been able to avoid the ghastly legacy of Stephen Harper and his Con regime.
The leader and the regime he served so faithfully.
But now Harper is suddenly back, and so is a scandal that could blow the Cons apart.
For when Rick Dykstra resigned as President of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, after a sexual assault allegation.
And it was revealed that the Harper Cons knew of the allegation back in 2015, but did nothing.
Senior Conservative campaign operatives discussed dropping MP Rick Dykstra as a candidate in the 2015 federal election when they became aware of allegations that he sexually assaulted a young staffer the previous year. The campaign decided to allow him to continue to run.
Andrew Scheer was forced to order an investigation.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer says he has instructed his party to launch an independent investigation into questions surrounding Rick Dykstra's federal candidacy in 2015.
While making it sound like he knew nothing.
"It is difficult to ascertain the facts when sources are speaking anonymously to the media. So to gather these facts, I have instructed the Conservative Party of Canada to retain the services of an outside, independent third party, who can investigate this situation fully," Scheer said on Wednesday.
But what a difference a day makes.
Yesterday he was making plans to smear or schmear Justin Trudeau...
Now he's in danger of getting schmeared.
For now the scandal has exploded, and it turns out a lot of Cons in the Harper PMO knew of those allegations.
During the 2015 election campaign, Stephen Harper’s top aides exchanged tense emails about sexual assault allegations against MP Rick Dykstra, documents obtained by Maclean’s reveal. Dykstra was allowed to remain as a candidate over the objections of campaign manager Jenni Byrne, who angrily referred in an email to the sexual assault allegation against him.
Including Ray Novak, Harper's boy wonder...
“I will just note, on the assumption this exchange is likely to come to light in a discovery process should the matter go to court, that I have no such knowledge. I am aware of allegations, I have never met the complainant, and I am assured that those who did interact with her at the time urged her to take the matter to authorities.”
And Great Leader himself.
On Friday night Stephen Harper released a statement saying that during the 2015 campaign he was made aware of allegations against Dykstra.
“When allegations were brought to my attention during the 2015 election campaign, I understood that the matter had been investigated by the police and closed a year prior. Given this understanding of the situation, I did not believe that I could justify removing him as a candidate.
Recently, much more information has come to light, including information to the effect that the original investigation may not have been complete. In my view, it is essential that criminal allegations, including this one, be fully investigated and prosecuted if warranted.”
And if charges are ever laid, and the case does go to trial, and it should be shown that Andrew Scheer also knew about those allegations, he could be in a lot of trouble.
And so could his Cons.
Which could blow them out of the water even before the start of the next election campaign.
And in the meantime, we not only get to call them Con clowns...
We get to call them the Pervert Party for doing nothing.
And use that to destroy them...
I am not so sure about that Simon. There is about 30% of the population who will support the cons no matter what. It is all about cruelty and hating liberals to these people. They'll never go lower than 30%.
ReplyDeleteA turd of the country seems to be pretty standard across the board when it comes to support for the party of perverts, billionaires, and bigots. Hitler was elected with 33% of the vote and Trump's approval rating tends to hover around 33-35%. Occasionally, when the complicit, spineless media pretends that he "pivoted to being presidential," enough gullible and self-interested fence-sitters (including the fauxgressives who claim to hate Trump but still think the "establishment Democrats" are somehow worse) will bump it up to around 40%. He'll never be as popular as Obama continues to be, so he has to invent fake-news polling numbers just like they do in Mother Russia. After all, Joseph Stalin himself reportedly said "it's not who votes that counts; it's who counts the votes."
DeleteAt last Canada is well on track to drowning the knuckledraggers out, as the population gets more diverse and the millennial voters (tiki bros notwithstanding) cast the cons into the trash bin of history. The only concern is getting them out to vote, period, and persuading them of the importance of strategic voting, which the Sanders cult in the U.S. failed to appreciate in 2016, but are doubling down on their stubborness and seeking to hijack the party leadership with a far-left (at least by American standards) "our revolution" platform that has zero chance of winning U.S. federal elections.
The more Bernie goes on and on invoking Tommy Douglas as his role model for implementing national healthcare, and making pointless hippie-bus excursions from Vermont to Ontario where nobody can vote for him, the more the rubes in the flyover states are going to turn out in droves to stop Canada and "international globalists" (with the attendant anti-Semitic parentheses around Sanders' name) from taking over God's Country. In a way it's a shame, because we really should have a civilized healthcare system. But America is Just Not Ready™. Ronald Reagan ensured that we may never be.
Slow and steady wins the race. But the purists want everything and a unicorn as of last Thursday, and will sharpen the knives for anyone who isn't sufficiently on board with their angry fantasies about the revolutionary proletariat rising up and sending the "establishment" to the guillotines. That goes for Canada too, where the Dippers are more concerned with attacking Trudeau as a "sellout" and branding him as a "bougie" celebrity playboy going on National Lampoon's Bahamas Vacation than attacking Scheer for courting Ezra Levant and his band of unethical oiligarchs and hate-mongering Nazi orcs. The horseshoe model is unfortunately a reality. Given a perfect storm of conditions, that turd of the country really can spoil the pool for everybody else.
Phil Ochs had a song for you...
DeleteThe horseshoe theory is nonsense. For one thing, it sees history as static, and could never have envisaged the gains made by women in recent decades, or the far more general acceptance of LGBTQ people than even my politicised gay and lesbian friends could have envisaged four decades ago.
DeleteIt also fails to see the other dimension between authoritarianismm and liberty. Both Stalinists and Anarchists might be seen as "far left", but they are absolute opposites in terms of control vs freedom. The political compass model is already far more accurate.
Actually, all my elected officials have very much criticised conservative parties and politicians. It is absolutely untrue that they let them off the hook. You'd be frightened of where I live - my federal MP is Alexandre Boulerice, a very left NDP member, my Québec MNA (député) is Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, of Québec solidaire and a leader of the Red Square student movement and my mayor and council are all Projet Montréal. Mayor Valérie Plante also lives in my neighbourhood.
http://theconversation.com/horseshoe-theory-is-nonsense-the-far-right-and-far-left-have-little-in-common-77588
What a Stalinist and a Fascist might have in common is extreme AUTHORITARIANISM. Not anything to do with left and right being the same.
I'd have to agree. This incident will not destroy the Conservative party of Canada. It might make a few more vote for other parties, but it won't effect their base. They will take the position, no criminality, thus no foul and move on to something new.
Deleteh anon @9:03 AM...When I say we will destroy the Cons I don't mean that literally (unfortunately) ;) The Cons will always have a base that will follow them to hell and back. But it is an aging base, they are already dropping like flies, so unless they can expand their appeal, they will slowly but surely be destroying themselves...
Deletehi Jackie...My big hope has always been to see the creation of a massive progressive coalition or movement, that will be able to crush the right once and for all. And needless to say I have been constantly disappointed. The left it seems likes nothing better than fighting itself, and as a result, we are always in danger of being ruled by the Cons even though we are more than they are. It happened in Germany where the left fought itself, and Hitler came to power and jailed or murdered all of its leaders.
DeleteAnd it could happen here again, unless the Liberals and the NDP and the Greens can come together and realize that perfection is sometimes the enemy of the good. I still dream of that day but I'm not holding my breath...
“When allegations were brought to my attention during the 2015 election campaign, I understood that the matter had been investigated by the police and closed a year prior. Given this understanding of the situation, I did not believe that I could justify removing him as a candidate."
ReplyDeleteHow convenient for Herr Harper. I'm guessing that once the facts are better known about this case we will find that Harper knew so much more than he's leading us to believe.
He was so hell bent on extending his dictatorship for another 4 years that a scandal such as this would be too detrimental to the campaign so best to bury it than deal with it. As well, he had so many MP's or staffers in jail, in trial, awaiting trial or busy with other nefarious activities that he couldn't afford to lose another corrupt Con.
Simon, time will tell if this will directly affect Schmeer, however, I think the fowl are coming home to roost for Harper and unlike 2015, I doubt any of his former crime cabal members will be willing to take the fall for him this time.
JD
hi JD...They all knew what was going on, and Dykstra was apparently so confident they would do nothing, that on the very day the Harperites gathered to determine his fate, he was out in a bar buying drinks for underage girls. Also remember that at the time the Cons were also dealing with Dykstra they were also dealing with the case of their candidate who had been caught peeing in a coffee cup. And to make matters worse, Jenni Byrne, their campaign manager had just been thrown off the campaign bus. As for whether the Dykstra case will damage Scheer depends on whether charges are ever filed and evidence comes up showing that he knew and suggested it be covered. I doubt that will happen, but we can certainly use the affair to embarrass Pastor Scheer...;)
DeleteI'm glad you raised this issue, Simon. I was wondering why you hadn't earlier; I guess you just needed more hard info on the cover-up and complicity.
ReplyDeletehi lagatta...yes, I was waiting to see where things were going, and also waiting to see how it impacted the Ontario Con scandal. With Doug Ford threatening to become Premier of the province I'm living in, I've got to make sure I've got enough ammunition... ;)
DeleteThe Harper regime got away with murder during its years in office. The Wright Duffy scandal being only the best known example of that. So I'm glad their complete lack of morality has come back to haunt them. They may only be embarrassed but that would be better than nothing...
ReplyDeletehi anon@3:21 PM...You are absolutely right, they did get away with murder. On Twitter I used the example of that party at 24 Sussex drive when a young girl suffering from alcohol poisoning was found lying half naked in the garden. But although Harper as the adult in the house could have been charged, the RCMP hushed the whole thing up. So yes, I'm hoping that the Dykstra case will at least embarrass him...
DeleteIts power for the course. Lets not forget Vic Toews. Now as I recall his first wife divorced him because he was "booping" his sister-in-law's nanny and then there was the case, it is alleged of the time he called over the other babysitter and there weren't any children at home, so she went home and told her family, the one which had a number of cops in it. enough said about people in glass houses throwing stones.
ReplyDeleteits always better to stick to the policies and politics and not get into too much mud slinging. You never know when its going to boomerang back at you.
hi e.a.f...how could I ever forget old Vicky. I've saved the graphic I made of him as a zombie stumbling out of his crypt. And yes, after the way he posed as Mr Righteous, his hypocrisy couldn't have been more outrageous. And the fact that he ended up as a judge is the absolute limit...
DeleteHe wasn't going to leave empty handed, so a judgeship was the easiest way to get rid of him. Of course that foisted him on the public until retirement. ?There ought to be a law against former politicians being judges for at least 5 years.
Delete