For days Andrew Scheer was able to dodge reporters, who wanted to ask him about this potentially explosive, Con on Con probe.
The Conservative governing body is asking why the expenses filed to it by the office of former leader Andrew Scheer are roughly $700,000 over their usual amount.
As well as dodging Stephen Harper who is said to be absolutely furious, especially since Scheer is going to be Con leader for longer than he or anyone expected.
So I was glad to see that someone finally tracked down the Ugly American, in an airport, and forced him to explain himself.
Andrew Scheer makes his first public comments on why his office expense went from $200K to almost ONE MILLION DOLLARS - a SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND increase from the previous year!#cdnpoli #cpc #cpcldr2020 #cpcldr pic.twitter.com/HJYKkouV7Y— G.T. Lem (@gtlem) December 21, 2019
Although I have to say after listening to that, and taking a closer look at what he said:
I can just tell you that all the travel I did in the summer, that was partisan in nature. We did not charge the taxpayer, we charged to the party funds, which is what Justin Trudeau should’ve done for his summer too,” Scheer told CTV’s Kevin Gallagher at the Ottawa International Airport.
I'm not buying his story for all sorts of reasons:
(1) Nowhere does Scheer say that all the money was used for travel. Didn't they already have a generous travel budget? How many flights did they need?
And I'm curious, was any of it used to fund third party groups, like those supported by the Manning Centre?
(2) Why does Scheer insist on trying to drag Trudeau into this affair? When he should know the Prime Minister can't travel on a commercial airliner for security reasons. Is he so obsessed with Trudeau he just can't restrain himself?
(3) Does he not know that tax payer's ARE on the hook since donors receive a 75% rebate for political donations. We know Scheer like most Cons is not a Great Economist Leader, but could he be THAT ignorant?
(4) Anything Scheer says about expenses must be treated with extreme caution since he has been in trouble before, for stretching the truth.
Conservative leadership candidate Andrew Scheer exaggerated a cute story of sleeping at his parents’ home while working in Ottawa, his office said Monday after The Huffington Post Canada raised questions about potential discrepancies in his expense claims.
For he was, is, and always will be a serial liar...
Which leads to another obvious question:
Why knowing that Scheer is such a grubby lying Con did the caucus agree to let him stay on as leader?
And the answer, as some Cons who were at that fateful caucus meeting told the Hill Times, couldn't be more disturbing.
Some Conservative MPs are disappointed that Mr. Scheer’s supporters didn’t leave any time for questions about why the leader accepted a tuition-fee subsidy from the party.
“There just seemed to be this mob mentality amongst Members who were going into essentially a frenzy, expressing their support and confidence in him,” said a second Conservative MP in a not-for-attribution interview.
For it suggests that the religious fanatics in the Con caucus are a growing threat.
Campaign Life Coalition — Canada’s biggest anti-abortion group — says that 46 out of the 121-member Conservative caucus are pro-life, which amounts to almost 40 per cent of the party’s sitting MPs.
RightNow, another anti-abortion group, goes further. It contends that 68 members of the Conservative caucus are pro-life — more than half the MPs.
And that the Cons should probably now be known as the Party of God.
But the good news is that those grim statistics practically guarantee that the Cons will NEVER change. And it sets up a confrontation between the religious fanatics and the Red Tories that will hopefully blow the Cons apart.
I know, I know, it's not going to be pleasant having to put up with Andrew Scheer for almost another whole year.
But watching the other Cons go after that poor loser...
Should make it a whole lot easier....
Apparently he's not staying on for a year. Half-year maybe. The party brass wants a swift race with a new leader installed/anointed by the summer. The first tweet was incorrect/unclear (another sign of their "communications problems"). The policy convention is scheduled for November, when whatever puppet they choose will have a shiny new manifesto in hand, with better Newspeak to appear more "centrist." Although I would be surprised if he isn't hounded out once and for all before the end of the January break. Some irrelevant NPC like Alleslev will stand as interim leader and then the clown show will get under way.
ReplyDeleteI do want to say also that Gerald Butts showed a lot of class calling out the media for hounding his kids. That shows what kind of a person Gerry is, considering the god-awful treatment he and his best friend the prime minister got from Scheer, JWR and their craven hacks for the entirety of this year alone. Villago delenda est.
Hi Jackie...I'd also be very surprised if Scheer lasts longer than the January break. He's now got loser written all over him, and every time he opens his mouth the Cons will become even less popular.The other problem is that he made the idiot Leona Alleslev deputy leader and every time she opens her mouth the Cons look like clowns. They can't win and we can't lose....
DeleteThe $700000 likely involved partisan politics but not for travel. It more likely went as seed money to promote anti Trudeau propaganda. Coordination of propaganda with third parties and news outlets is illegal but seed money to promote non verified propaganda that is eventually picked but by the mainstream outlets is much more difficult to trace. This is a common US strategy, there is no meeting but reciprocal wishes are granted. For example the mafia perfected the art of "I wish that reporter would stop hounding me" and presto the reporter was gone now its "I wish Trudeau had an underage groping scandal" and presto! Trump perfected the art of political gangsterism with messaging such as "I wish" or "you could do us a favor" or " Russia if you are listening" which is technically not quid pro quo. It will be interesting to see if the anti Trudeau propaganda temporarily diminishes now that some of the seed money is under scrutiny but then again there is likely more than one revenue stream. Con inspired mainstream Gangsterism politics a new era is upon us!
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Hi RT....I suspect the money was used to pay third party groups putting out anti-Trudeau ads. Or pay for dirty tricks. But the truth will eventually leak out, and hopefully in the middle of the Con leadership contest. I've heard that the Cons are having financial problems, and I think that those problems, when combined with their utter desperation, caused them to make a serious mistake that will will hopefully tarnish them at exactly the wrong moment...
DeleteThis is concerning. They've put a female bagman (bag person?) in charge of the party, and in charge of organizing the leadership contest. Smells like a fake-feminist kudatah. They already know who they want, but they're forgetting (or don't care) she doesn't speak French.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2019/12/23/conservative-partys-fundraising-boss-takes-over-temporary-helm-of-party-3
Kenney is the de facto leader of the (petro-)conservative movement in Canada, and this stage play is all about installing whoever he wants, which is to say, whoever the O&G industry wants, and whoever the media underwritten by the O&G industry wants. And judging by any number of pundit "hot takes" we already know who he wants. Better dial up the war room because now I'm worried they made Ambrose an offer she can't refuse.
Hi Jackie...l'm sure that the Kenney mob is trying to get Ambrose to run. But she's the kind of "moderate" the new far-right Cons don't want. I believe Frank Graves had a poll recently that ruled her and Charest out. But when they now have an obscure Dragon's Den host going after the job I suppose anything is possible....🙄
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