Can Mulcair work a miracle and gain unlikely victory?

From the very start, the main issue in the federal election race has been as obvious as the beard on Tom Mulcair’s face, but it’s been largely ignored by mainstream media.

The big time journalists are rushing from the leaders’ pre-planned news conferences day after day, but the majority of voters have said in opinion polls that by far the biggest issue for them is to have either the NDP or Liberals emerge as the party that can soundly defeat Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.

During the fourth week of the campaign, it looked like the NDP might be the chosen party. They were at 33.9 per cent in the polls. The Conservatives were at 28.4 per cent, and the Liberals 27.9.

It looked like the NDP might jump to, say, 36 or 38 per cent in the polls and become the party to stop Harper. But it didn’t happen. Instead, the NDP fell back a little.

The NDP might be suffering because of Mulcair’s misguided promise to balance the budget. This is not playing well with Canadians who question how the NDP is going to both balance the budget and pay for all the promises they’ve made. Meanwhile, many progressives who believe the government should borrow to stimulate the economy – as Trudeau promised to do – are upset with the NDP for adopting an overly-cautious position.

If you believe Monday’s opinion polls, the NDP was at 31 per cent, and the Liberals and Conservatives tied at 30 per cent.

This week the NDP faces two big hurdles. On Wednesday, Mulcair will release figures showing how the party would pay for its election promises. And on Thursday he will join the other two leaders in a televised debate on the economy. If Mulcair survives the attacks he will face during Thursday’s debate, the NDP should still be in the race.

Harper hopes ‘dirty tricks’ let him win

Some analysts have written off Harper – largely because they thought the Conservatives took a big hit during the frantic Syrian refugee acrimony. But in Monday’s Nanos Research poll, the Conservatives were back to 30 per cent.

Strong voter registration campaign could mean the end for Harper

The primary objective of Stephen Harper’s absurdly-named Fair Elections Act  is to prevent hundreds-of-thousands of Canadians from voting for the NDP, Liberals, Greens, etc.

The Conservatives are, in effect, “cheating” the electoral process again, just as blatantly as in the past. They know that a large number of people – students, marginalized people and First Nations – will have a hard time voting because of the changes. And they know those people would not likely vote Conservative.

Even though the Conservatives are trailing in the polls, it’s much too soon to say they will lose the election. Harper’s gang of strategists and pollsters have masterminded their way to victory three times, overcoming tough odds each time.

But efforts to help people to register to vote are not as strong as they could be. There needs to be close co-operation among groups to make sure that as many people as possible – particularly people in some 70 ridings where the Conservatives are vulnerable – have the identification they need to vote.

Alexie Stephens is one of  Leadnow's staff members
 working to defeat the Conservatives. 

The Council of Canadians contends that some 770,000 people may have a difficult time voting because of the changes to the Act. Included are 400,000 people who used the voter ID card in 2011 and believe that’s all they need this time; 250,000 people who will move during the election period; and 120,000 who used vouching in 2011.

How should we remember Ralph Klein?

Condolences and praise poured in for former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, who passed away on Friday, March 29, at the age of 70.

"We remember what a force of personality he was, how driven he was, how motivated he was, how straightforward he was, and that we trusted him implicitly.” – Alberta Premier Alison Redford

“While Ralph's beliefs about the role of government and fiscal responsibility were once considered radical, it is perhaps his greatest legacy that these ideas are now widely embraced across the political spectrum." -- Stephen Harper.

Yes, as the compliments poured in, it must be remembered that Klein was one of Canada’s most aggressive neo-liberals. “King Ralph”, as he was widely known, served as premier of Alberta from 1992 to 2006.

Bad news for the NDP and the rest of us, as Harper's Conservatives pull even

It’s hard to believe, but -- despite all the crimes, insults to Canadians and general incompetence -- the Harper government has pulled even with the NDP in major opinion polls.

The highly regarded Internet site, Threehundredeight.com, calculated all polls as of August 30 and showed the Conservatives at 33.9, the NDP at 33.6, and the Liberals at 21.7.

Based on these percentages, if an election were held today, Harper would finish in first by a comfortable margin.

A blend of polls conducted by Forum Research and Abacus Data between July 25 and Aug 12 on an aggregate sample of about 3700 respondents projects Conservative Party strength at around 133 seats, 120 seats for the New Democratic Party, 46 for the Liberal Party, 8 for the Bloc Québécois and 1 for the Green Party.

Multi-talented Nova Scotia writer wins 'neo-liberal' contest!

And the winner of my media challenge contest is… Joan Baxter, a journalist, an award-winning author and anthropologist who lived and worked in Africa for 21 years.

I had felt for some time that journalists in the mainstream corporate media were being intimidated by corporate owners and the Harper government from writing about the government’s destructive ideology – neo-liberalism.

In my January 11, 2012 blog, I offered a dinner for two valued at $150 to any journalist who would write in a mainstream Canadian newspaper about Harper’s neo-liberalism policies.

“Canada under Conservatives not what it used to be,” was the title of Baxter’s February 22 2012 article in The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, a paper not normally know for aggressive or in-depth journalism.   Marke Slipp of Wolfville, N.S. won $50 for spotting the Baxter article.

'Taking back the media', effective campaigning required to empower Progressive Movement

Progressive groups in Canada need to become even more determined, better organized and prepared to develop new effective strategies if they are to stop the Harper Conservatives and their corporate allies from tearing apart what we have built up over the past 50 years. 
 
Not a day goes by during which Stephen Harper hasn’t destroyed yet another program or activity that is vital to the Canadian public.  Near the end of the election campaign, Catch-22, the anti-Harper site, published a list of 100 reasons why people should not vote for the Conservatives, highlighting some of their most atrocious actions.
  
Frankly, the situation is desperate. If we are to recognize our country 10 years from now, we must get off our butts and work harder than ever before.

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FYI: At this stage, this is a “one-man” campaign aimed at sparking discussion among people in the progressive community. In two other recent blogs I have written about the need for progressive groups to follow the example set by the Occupy Movement in its early days, and why the Progressive Community needs to be stronger in Canada. 
 
I am not a member of any public interest group, not do I seek to benefit personally from the discussion I hope to see take place. I would appreciate your feedback. Discussions will continue in January.

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'Upstanding Citizens' Escape Justice in Tory 'In-and-Out' Scandal

This is a story about illegal activities, deceit and lying involving an overzealous group of Canadians who seemed prepared to do just about anything to accomplish their mission – win a federal election. 

In their private lives, all have considerable achievements and are well respected citizens in their communities.

Doug Finley is a former businessman who held senior positions in several companies, including Rolls Royce Canada and Standard Aero.

Irving Gerstein has been a highly successful businessman, best known for being president of Peoples Jewellers. He is also the former Chairman of the Board of Mount Sinai Hospital, and a member of the Order of Canada.

Michael Donison played a prominent role in his church and has been a Senior Policy Advisor on Democratic Reform and Legislative Review. The fourth, Susan Kehoe, is a skilled and well regarded financial officer.

These highly-regarded citizens were named as the key players in a Conservative scheme to deceive Elections Canada and pump an extra, illegal $1.4-million in radio and television advertising into Stephen Harper’s 2005-06 election campaign.

The party and its advertising arm last week admitted as part of a plea bargain they had exceeded the $18.3-million spending limit imposed by the law and that they did not report all the expenses incurred. Maximum fines totaling $52,000 were imposed. As part of a plea bargain, charges were dropped against the four individuals.

Referred to as the “in-and-out scandal”, Conservative Party staff used a series of wire transfers to move money from head office into and immediately out of the accounts of 67 of their candidates and back to head office to try to evade the spending limitations on the national campaign. An advertising agency, later issued invoices to the local campaigns.  This tactic allowed the party to far exceed legal limits on campaign spending.

This is how the key individuals were involved:

Finley was the Party’s campaign manager and director of political operations but, in real terms, he was Harper’s “political pit bull” and a “bully.” He personally carried out a lot of Harper’s dirty deeds, such as removing Tory candidates Harper didn’t like even though they had been had democratically nominated. Finley, who is married to Cabinet Minister Diane Finley, admited he had proposed the 'in-and-out' scheme on the first day of the election campaign.

Gerstein was the party’s official agent and responsible under the Elections Act for ensuring the accuracy of the party’s election financial returns. He has primarily been a party fundraiser.

Donison was the party’s executive director, and one of the two “hands on” people most involved. He was involved in the advertising purchases at the centre of the affair. He wrote emails planning the financial transactions.

The other “hands on” person, Kehoe, was chief financial officer. Her name was printed on the invoices submitted by the party’s media buyer.

A number of things about this case are very troubling.

First of all, it is very possible that the well planned $1.4-million burst of advertising that was purchased in swing ridings helped change the course of Canadian political history.

The 2006 election ended the 12-year Liberal reign, allowing Harper and the Conservatives to win the slimmest minority ever in the House of Commons.  The Conservatives won 36.2 per cent of the popular vote and 124 seats, while the Liberals were held to 30.2 and 103 seats.

Later, a public interest group, Catch 22, calculated that the Conservatives won the election by just 4,502 votes in 11 ridings. How many of those votes were won because of the extra $1.4-million in ads?

Finley clearly knew the value of the extra advertising. He said well before the ads were placed that the party would “run a major slam dunk” over competitors in the final weeks of the campaign.

Liberal Leader Paul Martin resigned and the Conservatives have been in power in Ottawa ever since. Had Harper lost, perhaps he would not have remained as leader of the Conservative Party.

In terms of the morality of – or lack there of – this scandal, it would be interesting to know what discussions took place when the Conservatives realized that had more money at the national office than they could legally spend. The fact that the Crown withdrew the charge that the Tories knew they were violating the Elections Act is an indictment of the Elections Canada management. Was Prime Minister Harper, who normally controls just about everything that happens in the party, involved in making the decision to proceed with the deceitful plan?

Secondly, in view of the seriousness of the violations, it is surprising that the Crown decided not to proceed with charges against the four individuals involved. Crown Prosecutor Richard Roy told reporters that “the public interest does not require that we continue on these charges.”

Wait a minute! Not in whose public interest? Certainly it was in the interest of the four staffers and the Harper regime that the charges were NOT proceeded with.

But surely it was in the interest of maintaining integrity in our electoral process and to show the Conservatives that such behaviour will not be tolerated.

The Crown almost certainly found a smoking gun – even several smoking guns – in the hundreds of documents it seized from at the Conservative Party Offices. Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch said “the Crown should have pursued the case against the individuals, as there was a likelihood of conviction . . . .”    
 
If convicted of Elections Act violations, any one or all of the four could have faced fines and jail time. 

There could be other reasons why the Crown did not proceed with the charges against the four party staffers. The case reaches right inside the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), and a thorough airing of all the events might have revealed whether Harper was involved in the 'in-and-out' scheme. Perhaps some people feared, that if Harper was involved, the findings might have a negative impact on the ability of the minority Tories to govern.

With the case closed and the files buried away in some Ottawa office building, we likely will never know the answers to these and other questions.

Well before a decision came down, Harper went into damage control mode. He reduced the PMO’s exposure to the scandal by moving out the four staffers who were charged. Remarkably, with charges still pending against them, Finley and Gerstein were appointed to the stately sanctuary of the Senate, where they continue to perform their fine work on behalf of the Conservative Party.

Donison now works for the Ottawa public relations and lobbying firm Crestview Public Affairs, and Kehoe is with the office of the Auditor General of Canada, serving as secretary of the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors.

As usual, PR types and Cabinet Ministers began spreading the BIG lie about the case just as soon as the decision was released, saying that it was a “total victory” for the party.

Pierre Poilievre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, interviewed by Carol Off on CBC’s As It Happens, stonewalled and lied during the interview, saying over and over again that there had been only “minor administrative problems”.  Somehow, Off stopped herself from laughing out loud.

More than anything else, this is a story about individual morality in the public domain. Yes, the charges against the four were abandoned – but many important facts were earlier admitted to. While the Conservative Party took the rap, we know that the transactions were carried out by real people – people who live in our neighbourhoods, attend our community churches and send their kids to our schools. If our institutions are to be respected, the individuals who run them should be held accountable for their actions.

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JABS AND LEFT HOOKS: Further concerning this story: The mainstream media provided good traditional coverage of the case during the four years it unfolded. However, no columnist, no editorial, and no media organization expressed outrage – or even concern – over the final outcome of this case. . .

... Perhaps you have seen people carrying a black shopping bag with big white letters saying: Who is JOHN GALT? Well, this is a catchphrase from the 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged written by Ayn Rand. The book rails against government and advocates self-interest and greed as key ingredients of a better world.  The bag is being given out by Lululemon Athletica. Company founder Chip Wilson says he was inspired by the book when he read it when he was 18 years old.  Thumbs Down to Lululemon! 

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