In one of my last posts I looked at how Andrew Scheer and Big Oil were secretly working together to try to defeat Justin Trudeau.
In what can only be described as a sinister oily conspiracy.
And I predicted that Scheer and his Cons would pay a heavy political price for that perfidious behaviour.
And sure enough that's already happening.
The Liberals now have a shadowy target to shoot at.
The Minister for Democratic Institutions finds that secret meeting "concerning."
A secret meeting between Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer and oil-industry executives is concerning because Canadians need full transparency from political parties leading up to next fall’s federal election, Minister for Democratic Institutions Karina Gould said on Thursday.
“I think it’s concerning that type of co-ordination would be going on, and I think it is concerning that it is happening behind closed doors in secret, and I think Canadians deserve more transparency to know what the intentions and objectives of their political leaders are," she said.
It's only a matter of time before Elections Canada is asked to investigate.
And as Campbell Clark points out, Scheer has left himself open to claims that he is in cahoots with Big Oil.
When Andrew Scheer agreed to be the keynote speaker at a closed-door event on April 11 where Conservative Party strategists spoke to oil industry executives about political campaigns, he goofed.
One reason it was a mistake is that the rest of Canada isn’t Alberta. Another is that oil-industry executives might be the least popular advocates for the oil patch. Above all, it makes it look like the Conservatives aren’t just sympathetic to the oil patch, they’re in a joint venture with oil execs.
The Cons know that, and they're scared shitless....
The people around Mr. Scheer apparently realize the whole thing doesn’t look great. That’s presumably why they didn’t tell anyone about it. They’re not eager to talk about it now.
And with good reason.
Some of the other items on the agenda included the Conservative Party lawyer, Arthur Hamilton, talking about using litigation as a tool to “get tough” on environmental NGOs and former Donald Trump aide Mike Roman talking about countering such groups through opposition research, which is the political euphemism for digging up dirt on adversaries.
For it sounds like the Cons are preparing for the dirtiest election in Canadian history.
And that all that oily copulation could prove fatal.
The problem isn’t the voters in Ontario or B.C. or Quebec who see the oil patch as big polluters to be shut rather than economic drivers. The Tories won’t get those votes, anyway. But there are a lot of other voters in those places who might be more sympathetic to Mr. Scheer’s arguments about the oil sector’s contribution to the economy – but not if they think he’s a spokesman for oil executives. And he has helped his opponents paint that picture.
Forget the fake scandal, now we've got a real one to use against the Cons all the way to the next election.
Justin Trudeau is going to ride it to another crushing majority.
And Andrew Scheer is going to drown in his own oily excrement...
From oil patch ground zero here in AB this is extremely disturbing. I did hear something about this conference but had no idea Sheer and Hamish were the guests. Wtf?!
ReplyDeleteThis feels like an all out attempted coup by the oil companies over Canada. These wealthy people that are behind this — many the trust fund babies of their oil daddies need to be outed and shamed for aiding and abetting the destruction of the environment. Their legacy is pawing off abandoned wells to numbered companies that go on to declare bankruptcy and leave the toxic mess to the taxpayers. More needs to be done to shame these people — they donate money to charity to wash their environmental sins and are seen as ‘pillars of the community’. This is really evil.
Sheer is one sick bstd. Twitsted and dumb to the point of being a full on village idiot. He only won his riding in Sask as one could have run a cow and won —like Kenney all these creeps leave Ontario to Sask. and AB where a fence post wins if it’s branded Con.
The Conservative party is now an aberration of all the extreme fringe far right elements of our society. Thanks for all your great posts Simon! FL
The biggest takeaway I think is "former Donald Trump aide Mike Roman."
ReplyDeleteIt's bad enough for Andy and friends to look like they're in cahoots with Big Oil. It's a million times worse for them to be, um, tarred as the party of Donald Trump. Make Alberta Greasy Again.
So much for "foreign-funded environmentalists" and dog-whistles about "globalists." They went full 'Murica? You never go full 'Murica! Yankee Doody Andy must be turning orange in the face with embarrassment. Maybe he saw Ivanka lustin' for Justin and thought he could get some of that. Well, as the man himself says, "wrong." Crooked, dopey loser. He's just not ready. Nice combover, though.
ATTN reformatory operatives. I heard that Suzuki was locked up for years in the 1940's. Also, he's old.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Andy and keep up the good work.
The CBC article says McKenna herself is not going to contact Elections Canada but that "Canadians have all the tools at their disposal" to do it themselves. Whether that's a good strategy or not I can't be too sure. In any event, it might be time to implore your followers to do just that, Simon. Probably better that they contact the agency directly: Call, write, send an email, float a balloon, dispatch a carrier pigeon. I know they have a Twitter account but social media is a pointless waste of time.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=cont&lang=e
Oh, and while you're at it: Maybe contact Éric Grenier by whatever means and pressure him to remove the obviously corrupt Ipsos from his polling aggregate. They can't be trusted as a valid metric because they clearly have a vested interest in rigging the numbers to benefit the Cons.
Jackie, speaking of, this news just in: Gap between Liberals and Conservatives Tightens: Ipsos Poll
DeleteLiberals up 2 points since the end of March
Conservatives down 4 points
'Course he's got his own spin on it.
There's also this bit of news: Trudeau government ran $3.1 billion surplus in first 11 months of 2018-19
That's great to hear! I hope the trend continues and the Tru Grits are back in the lead again! FACTS MATTER! I had seen this comment on a WaPo article about Kenney but was afraid to check and see if this person was correct:
DeleteMost polls are now showing the liberals going up and the conservatives going down. Just one shows the conservatives going up and it was wrong in the last election. It is a long way to October and Scheer will show his true self and it is not for the average Canadian just for big business and the rich.
Followed by a response:
6 months of Kenney will also probably help Trudeau... He already threatened ecologist groups and believes in weird conspiracy theories, he's a complete lunatic, he has no love for francophones and he's close to Scheer. That's enough to remind lots of people in the GTA, in Quebec and in BC that the conservatives were taken over by the Reform Party.
I saved a screenshot of this comment as "Your keyboard to St. Pierre's ears.jpg". :)
A little off topic, but related, and I have to vent. A couple of days ago I managed to catch the most appalling CBC panel segment I have ever seen. Also, the scariest for me.
ReplyDeleteFor 40 years, ever since conservatives in the US began working the refs, claiming that the media was liberal and against them, the US media has played the both sides game, balancing increasing conservative lunacy and racism against liberals calling them on it and hurting their fragile feefees.
Our media, as evidenced a couple of days back on the CBC, are following blindly down the same road. Everyone on this panel agreed (supposed lefties and righties), that there is extremism and incivility on all sides! Both sides have to rein it in.
That is simply not the truth.
And where does it lead? Take a look down south. It leads to the legitimization of white nationalism, sexism, and the destruction of democracy itself. And before you say it hasn’t been legitimized, I would point out that Donald Trump has 42% approval. I don’t care if nobody in the New York Times espouses such beliefs – 42% is legitimate.
The left was correct over these past decades. The proof is in the unappetizing Orange Pudding. Racism, hatred and resentment has fueled the right all along, despite the protestations of the dwindling right-wing Intelligentsia (looking at you Davids Brooks and Frum), but big media did not sound the alarm or treat it for what it was - an existentialist threat to freedom.
The exact same thing is happening here. Thanks CBC! And thanks supposed progressives who go on TV and acquiesce to such nonsense!!
See above comments about the polling. The media craves a horse race for ratings and ad revenue. Got to create drama and keep the audience on the edge of their seat.
DeleteHarper also lobotomized the CBC by installing Con sycophants at the board of directors. From what I understand, most of the board has been replaced by the Liberals, but what really matters is who the Cons were able to hire in the time they were there. Nothing but Postmedia hacks, and in particular, a bunch of tired old WHITE GUYS and a small assortment of Stepford mean girls like Gerson, Urback etc. CBC basically stands for Conrad Black Corporation, Caucasian Blandness Corporation, Corporate Bullshit Channel, CNN Bothsiders of Canada... make up your own acronym, chances are it fits.
I understand Trudeau's whole Obama-esque "common ground" philosophy and his hesitance to appear reflexively partisan, but if he pulls off a miracle come October in spite of everything that's been thrown at him, he has got to purge the national broadcaster of its Fox-lite elements. Speaking of which, Fox itself is in a civil war here in the States between its "legitimate journalism arm" (ha!) and the nutcase pundits like Hannity and Dobbs who fellate Trump and have chased most of the advertisers away. Lachlan and dad aren't getting along (guess which side ol' Rupe is on). Most of us sensible folks are hoping it destroys itself in the process. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
As a concerned observer of what's going on up north, I hope Postmedia dies forever and its rejects at CBC are no longer allowed to siphon a taxpayer-funded salary to be the real enemy of the people. Once Fox is gone, the same needs to happen to CNN, which in your country I guess is the equivalent of CTV. Some people in particular need to be blacklisted altogether (I can think of one catch-and-kill hack off the top of my head whose name rhymes with "Bobbert Strife"). Stop giving airtime and ink to fascists and their enablers. Deplatforming works.
I hear you, Brian.
DeleteAlas, Canada does not have an MSNBC :(
(a role which ought to be filled, at least in part, in programming, by our own taxpayer-funded CBC. Citizens DO need to hear from others than the CONS in a substantive way in all fairness. And not in the silly "both sides" CNN way--There is no both sides to the Earth is Flat! and stuff like that. Their set up with talking heads, talking over each other, spinning, is preposterous.
MSNBC, in the US, its TV news & esp evening shows is where you go to get the voice and pov of Democrats/progressives/anti-Trumps. ie: The Rachel Maddow Show; Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell ...
Here in Canada, we simply have nothing like that, and that's the problem.
Why it's nothing but CON. ("The Liberal Media" has been a myth since the 1980s Reagan Muldoon Era.
First, thank you Jackie Blue for caring about us up here. Second, yes brawnfire, while I don't believe the US media is much better, MSNB notwithstanding, we are sadly stacked against here. It's a miracle we've held onto a semblance of post-enlightenment democracy far longer than most western nations. But, sadly, with this kind of both sides coverage, ethno-washing, I can see us going the way of the rest, belatedly, and trailing, for good or bad, as we always managed to do. You know, we, our for fathers and mothers, despite many affronts (first nations treatment first and foremost) really did well, relative to most of the rest of the world vis-à-vis representative democracy. It was more than imperfect, as I said, but, we were on the cusp of righting wrongs. Now, with corporate media controlled influence, we're heading in an awful direction.
Deleteall media in the US especially the New York Times is a mouthpiece for the deep state.
DeleteNot all, Steve. You can only claim that if you never watch MSNBC.
DeleteSo much of its daily diet is perfectly palatable for progressives like me. I'd be starving without it.
Here's a perfect sample of what I mean, from just the last week. Prime Rib.
(There's not a night goes by O'Donnell doesn't speak truth to power and call out the lies.) And, in sharing this, I'm doing my part to ensure this lie is not lost.
Lawrence's Last Word: President Donald Trump's Lost Lie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHbeDq84pdQ
brawnfire, MSNBC is owned by GE
DeleteActually, Steve it's Comcast now, but your point stands.
DeleteMSNBC is better than the others, but still prone to its own version of bothsiderism. Joe and Mika (daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski) were two of the worst offenders who gave Trump free airtime.
That being said, Brawnfire is correct about Rachel, Lawrence and Joy: they're much better than the unwatchable, spineless bobbleheads at CNN.
Steve,
DeleteIt matters not the owner but the quality and nature of the broadcasts. At least 60% of them on a daily basis represent the American electorate's pov, that of the majority; the 60% who did not vote for the Drumpfster-fire disaster-in-chief.
I suspect the owner knows well enough that's a large audience to tap into; that there's a large appetite for it among those of us hungry to hear our views and issues fully expressed. (not in the absurd CNN format of soundbites and bother-siderisms)
I also suspect the owner might like to be on the right side of history.)
Jackie, I might mention Ali Veshi, also, who fills in for Rachel and Lawrence and others when they're off. Too bad Canadian television journalism lost him--we could use him right about now.
Evidence of a government cavorting with an industry that they are supposed to regulate should set off alarm bells but in today's media it is not even mentioned. A parents letter to Trudeau requesting that he not call his mass murdering son a terrorist takes center stage. Wonder if the victims of Lac Megantic question if the Cons were really looking out for them when transportation was allowed for gas infused heavy oil that might explode like a fiery pop can when accidentally impacted.
ReplyDeleteIf its ok to cavort with an industry they are responsible for regulating with respect to environmental and public safety I wonder the same thing is ok with nuclear and chemical safety. Perhaps its not really a good idea to bury nuclear waste in the drainage basin a few km from the Great Lakes or continuing to approve agricultural herbicides banned in Europe. Regulatory control and approvals cannot predict all events and I am not suggesting Lac Megantic could have been predicted but an impartial government could at least give it a try!
Of course the downside is that the Con voter base does not really care about these issues so all that ringing alarm bells does is push the really anxious away from the liberals towards the Green party. What a strategy, the more they act like aholes the more their supporters love them with the anti Cons panicking towards the Greens. Trump 101, act like an ahole to impress the base and cause division in what should be a united response from other voters.
RT
The oily painting depiction of Scheer is a nice touch, Simon. The true essence of a slimy, greasy operator slithering around in secret to assure his links to dark money remain intact. Only problem now is it's not a secret and the Cons are clueless on how to spin this scandal. Scheer screwed up big time and now the blushing bride of Frankenstein and his pet hamster Igor have to wiggle their way out of it. Looks good on him and if anyone thought big oil wanted to do their part to slow climate change think again. They want nothing more than a return to the wild west days of anything goes energy extraction as Trump has allowed them to do in the states and the only thing standing in their way is Justin Trudeau. This is definately a case for Elections Canada to look into. Follow the money, connect the dots and I guarantee that this consortium of planet destroyers are breaking laws in their quest to install Scheer as their de facto petro state puppet leader.
ReplyDeleteIt must be spring in Conland where the melted snow reveals the scent of decaying dog shit and mouldy grass accentuated by the stench of corruption and scandal. To most it is a retched potpourri of rot. To a Con it is a tiptoe through the tulips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcSlcNfThUA
JD
Again, as McKenna said she won't make the call personally, it's up to you folks up there to get in touch with them.
DeleteI can't do it, I'm a born-and-bred Statesider looking over the border with concern. But I'm imploring the readers and commenters of this blog to do so. I don't have social media, but I hope Simon is reading the comments and shares the link with his followers on Twitter. They do have a Twitter of their own, but probably a better idea to use the official form, email, Morse code, semaphore flags, whatever or give them a call.
https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=cont&lang=e
I'm not sure if there's a way to get in touch with the parliamentary ethics commissioner, but that might be a good idea too. And, like I said, put pressure on Grenier to drop Ipsos from his polling aggregate after their corrupt partisan stunt.
Power and Politics last night featured a bimbo and an oil barrrel. CBC no longer even tries to broadcast the truth.
ReplyDeleteThe oil barrel said ' move along, nothing to see here ' and the bimbo said ' thanks for the important insight '. What jocularity.