Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Andrew Scheer and the Fake Scandal That Wasn't



As we all know, Andrew Scheer likes to sniff for fake scandals like a hog sniffs for truffles.

And for a very simple reason, he has nothing else, no policies, no nothing.

But while he was able to keep the SNC-Lavalin fake scandal going for twelve weeks, with the help of his shabby media stooges.

The case of Admiral Mark Norman that Scheer and his grubby Cons were trying to turn into the latest fake scandal has apparently blown up in his face.



For while the Cons were trying to make it look as if the poor admiral had been cruelly treated by Justin Trudeau and his scurvy crew.

There was no evidence that the Liberals interfered in his prosecution. 

As much as this might disappoint their critics, there is no evidence the Liberals interfered in the Norman prosecution.

The government did ask police to investigate the leak of a cabinet decision concerning a supply vessel from the Davie shipyard in Quebec. 


But there is no evidence the government pushed the office of the director of public prosecutions to lay the charge. Quite the opposite.


Then when it was revealed that three Harper Con ministers had helped Norman's defence, the fake scandal started to fall apart. 



Three former federal cabinet ministers have confirmed they spoke to Vice-Admiral Mark Norman's defence team about information that may have been key to the Crown's decision to halt the criminal prosecution of the military's former second-command. 

Peter MacKay, who held the justice and defence portfolios, Erin O'Toole, the former veterans affairs minister, and Jason Kenney, the last defence minister in former prime minister Stephen Harper's government, all say they spoke to lawyers representing the career naval officer.

Only to become a Con scandal when the RCMP asked to see the evidence that led to the charges being stayed.

RCMP investigators say they're not sure why the Mark Norman case collapsed because they haven't seen the new evidence that led to the stay of a breach-of-trust charge against the naval officer. 

The Mounties also suggested that former Conservative ministers — a possible source of the fresh evidence given to defence counsel — could have come to the RCMP with the information at any time.

Which blew the Norman case right out of the water...



With the only remaining question being why didn't Stephen Harper himself come forward with this information?

Vice-Admiral Mark Norman not only had the blessing of the former Conservative cabinet to deal with a Quebec shipyard, he was authorized to speak with it directly in the run-up to the signing of a $668-million leasing contract, CBC News has learned.

For it was his cabinet, and a word from him would have changed everything.

"The whole heart of this case was that he was doing something that he wasn't supposed to be, and that that was contravening the public interest," said Dave Perry, an analyst who specializes in procurement with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. 

"If the [former] government had given him direction to engage with that company, then I think this changes fundamentally everything."

But then I guess that neither Harper nor any of his ministers wanted to reveal another real scandal.

The one where the Cons authorized Norman to make an end run around those opposed to leasing a ship, without any competing bids.



The leasing plan was opposed by federal shipbuilding and defence bureaucrats, who wanted to either compete the lease proposal with other shipyards, or wait and force the navy to make do until the eventual delivery of permanent supply ships, expected some time in the 2020s. The Harper cabinet decided to do an end-run around those opposed to the short-term lease — including the former chief of the defence staff, the now-retired Gen. Tom Lawson.

And thus prove once again that the word Con is just another word for corruption, or hypocrisy of the lowest order. 


And of course show that if Andrew Scheer spends all his time sniffing for fake scandals, like a hog sniffs for truffles.

It's because he is one...



Enough of those fake scandals.

Enough of those hoggy Cons.

Resist them as hard and as long as you can, and in the name of human decency don't let them win...

16 comments:

Jackie Blue said...

https://www.hilltimes.com/2019/05/15/like-clinton-trudeaus-mess-not-entirely-of-his-own-making-writes-u-s-observer/199651

Here's my letter to the Hill Times regarding fake Trudeau "scandals." Didn't know it would be paywalled, so I'm reposting the original comment here.

I am writing as a concerned American observer of the Canadian political situation. It appears to me that Canada is caught up in a troubling déjà vu of the Clinton-Trump matchup in 2016 that produced our own nightmare south of the 49th. In particular, a relentless media blitz focused almost entirely on the star liberal candidate’s allegedly disqualifying series of “scandals,” while the conservative opponent with alt-right affiliations is treated with kid gloves.

Like Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trudeau is cursed with his own “derangement syndrome” among an unforgiving public (and attention-starved media), his last name being just one major factor that drives much of the animosity he receives. One wonders if the myriad controversies that torpedoed her candidacy, and appear likely to prematurely end his career, would have received as much coverage had they occurred under any other Democratic candidate or Liberal leader — let alone anyone on the political right.

If Canadians do not wake up to this in time to head to the ballot box, then I hope Mr. Trudeau avails himself of any opportunities to produce his own version of “What Happened,” and to rebuild his unfairly damaged reputation and clear his (family) name. Like Mrs. Clinton, he is an imperfect but compassionate public servant with integrity who truly cares about his country, and a tragic figure caught up in a mess not of his own making but of circumstances beyond his control. Perhaps they could compare notes — or pant suits and fancy socks — while seated side-by-side in the penalty box, as their Can-Am all-stars’ team embarks on the quest to recapture the Cup. If they can’t save the world, at least they can Avenge it.


Godspeed, Canada. I'm hoping and praying you don't repeat our mistake.

rumleyfips said...

Some say that because the reformatories were not asked if Normmy was a bad boy, their motives are as pure as the driven snow. This folks is just a con troll snow job. You hear it and read it all the time : anyone with information is asked to contact the appropriate authorities.

You would thing cabinet ministers Maybe even lawyers ) like chast and chubby Kenny, O What a Tool and Potato Pete MacKay would know this and act accordingly. You would be wrong . They kept the info secret for years while Norman complained about his embarassment, the damage to his career and the cost of his defense. Some public service boys.

brawnfire said...

Bravo! And THANK YOU for saying so.
And saying it so well, where even more Canadians will see it.

Mary Wright said...

Hi, Simon, thank you for your insightful posts, that give me hope in Canada. Thinking about 3rd party stuff,( like Ontario Proud, and apparently, we have Nova Scotia Proud), could we start a similar reactive site, using your wonderful cartoons? I have no idea myself, but thought someone else may know how to set something up.As Gerry Butts said once "Discuss".

Anonymous said...

Ha ha ha I love it! The Cons try to cook up another fake scandal and it backfires leaving the freak Scheer to sniff his own farts. I never thought that we would ever see anything worse than the Harper Cons, but I was wrong. Scheer's losers lie even more than their Harper Fuhrer, and are even more sleazy.

brawnfire said...

I love it, too! It's hilarious to see what was seemingly nefariously opaque become all too too too transparent. The men behind the curtain. Canadians are fair and aren't fools. Can put two and two together when the curtain is pulled back to reveal them there Three Cons behind it. An Ah-Ha moment.
Another 'scandal' goes over like a lead balloon...........

Furthermore, Canadians are known for their niceness; but also their fairness.
(This was published 2 years ago, but I'm still going to fall back on it; including when it comes to Trudeau. Canadians' sense of fairness)

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/robert-fulford-fairness-is-the-closest-thing-canadians-have-to-a-defining-value

Jackie Blue said...

Here's the real scandal! WHAT THE FUCK BROUGHT THIS ON??? What did Harper talk about with Kudlow and company?

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1128819666879766528

1. News: President Trump has granted a full pardon to former media mogul Conrad Black who served 36 months in federal prison on a fraud conviction. Black also wrote this book last year.

The book is called Trump: A President Like No Other

Son of a bitch, what Postmedia and its tentacles at the Ceeb have done to Justin has all the makings of a goddamn coup! I knew it!

Oh, my God, Canada, I am so, so sorry on behalf of my country. I just want to throw myself at Caesar's feet and beg for forgiveness for what this illegitimate usurper and his suck-ups have done.

Anonymous said...

In a Cons world the RCMP must be corrupt because they did not determine that the Cons had authorized Norman to act as a back channel agent in order to by pass normal procurement procedures and secure a single source supply contract that politically benefited them. Wonder if back channels and political gain entered into the F 35 and Phoenix procurement debacles. Nah, the crooked Liberals and RCMP were to blame there as well. Then there is the Trudeau cover up with the passage of The Federal Accountability Act and Code of Conduct for Procurement in an attempt to hide his crooked ways behind an extra layer of bureaucracy when a real manly leader just takes what he wants and blames the Liberals when things fall apart and taxpayers are left with a foggy recollection of the past festivities and a big bill.
https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/app-acq/cndt-cndct/conduite-conduct-eng.html

RT

Steve said...

oh the humanity

Simon said...

Hi Jackie...very well said. There are a lot of similarities between the way Hillary Clinton was treated and the way Justin Trudeau has been attacked by right-wingers and their bought media. And crude misogyny is the elephant in the room. Clinton because she is a woman, and Trudeau because of his championing of women's rights. I honestly believe that for many older men he represents the MeToo movement, and that along with homophobia is largely to blame for the virulent hate directed at him.

Simon said...

Hi rumleyfips....yes, the real scandal is that the Cons created the trap for Norman to fall into, and then blamed others for his legal troubles. It seems to me that any number of Con ministers could have resolved the situation, but as I said in my post wanted to protect Harper from what was a crass attempt to buy votes in Quebec. And yet Lisa Raitt is still bleating that Trudeau should apologize. Kafka would have had fun with this one....

Simon said...

Hi Mary...thank you for your kind words. I would love to work on a progressive version of Ontario Proud, because I think that our side should have used third parties like the Cons have. But sadly I don't have the time or the energy to do that. My growing responsibilities have made it hard to even keep up this blog, as I'm sure you and others have noticed. I will however try to come up with some idea to get progressives to band together in some way so we can direct more fire at the Cons, and this long weekend I am hoping to start work on some videos which are also sorely lacking from our side. We are being outplayed, but we still have enough time to recover....

Simon said...

Hi brawnfire....I hope that our sense of fairness is still alive. I think it is, but I fear that the populist currents swirling around may have damaged them, along with the increasing polarization of Canadian society. We are living in truly dangerous times, and although I remain optimistic, I must admit I am troubled by what is happening in a country I sometimes have trouble recognizing. But as long as we win the next election we should be able to recover....

Simon said...

Hi Jackie....you know some of the books that Connie has written have made a reasonable contribution to the history of this country, despite his hideous ideological bias. But his book about Trump is clearly just an attempt to get Trump to pardon him, and it's absolutely disgraceful. My only hope is that one felon can offer the other useful tips on prison life,..

Simon said...

Hi RT....I know, this who episode is a combination of Kafka and Monty Python. If Norman felt victimized why didn't he blow the whistle of the Cons who authorized his to go behind the back of his boss, which in the military is particularly egregious. And if all those Con ministers knew what had happened why did they wait so long to tell someone? At a time when there are so many things to be worried about, the Norman affair can't disappear fast enough as far as I am concerned...



Simon said...

Hi anon...it's taken me a long time to accept that Scheer is even more disgusting than Harper, but I'm finally there. Scheer is the most appalling serial liar this country has ever known, and if he should ever become prime minister I shudder to imagine to what dark place he might take this country...