Paying For Canadian Bacon ~ Senator Mike Duffy Takes Us For a Ride

Disdain For Duffy is Nothing New

This is outrageous. 

The Taxpayers of Canada are being taken for a ride on the Harper Land Express and are being forced to pay the Conservative Party of Canada for the cost of 'Hiring' Senator Mike Duffy to go about the country and promote their candidates in the 2011 Federal Election campaign. And this just a couple of months after the Harper Conservatives copped a plea to avoid having four of their own charged with tampering with the funding in the 2006 election. They Plead guilty to Election fraud to get their minions off  paid an insultingly small fine and now we are being forced to pay one of their most vocal and distasteful minions to dupe us into giving them a majority government? That does ^NOT sound right.

I must have misread it.

An excerpt:

" Party spokesman Fred DeLorey said Duffy was not paid any fees to attend events and said no Senate resources were used. "During the campaign, Senator Duffy was very helpful and went where he was asked to go, by both national and local campaigns," DeLorey said in an email.

Among Duffy's whistle-stops was a trip to Yellowknife to support Conservative candidate Sandy Lee in the riding of Western Arctic. That event proved controversial as a local radio station claimed it had been refused an interview unless it submitted a written list of questions in advance.

The Lee campaign paid Duffy $209 under the category of "miscellaneous expenses or non-candidate travel."

She lost out in the May 2 vote to incumbent New Democrat Dennis Bevington."

Read More:


No, it appears that I read it correctly. So who exactly is this Mike Duffy Character? Check out this video of  a drunken Mike Duffy, "off to the RCMP BALL and in a foul mood. 

Isn't he charming when he is drunk?

Perhaps the most telling video that I have seen is this little bit of footage of Mike back when he was still looking for that Senate seat that he now fills to overflow. Watch as Elizabeth May makes ground pork out of the then Mr. Duffy.

So, as you can see, we are once again having to pay our own government to misinform us. 

I give you Mr. Duffy telling us all to gather around as he is about to destroy Stephane Dion with the dubious help of Steve Murphy of CTV Halifax. Watch as he gloats and puffs himself up knowing that his long sought Senate seat was finally a sure thing. We are all still paying for this obnoxious Stunt. I refuse to show the Dion Assassination, but here is Duffy actually salivating over his part in it. Note that it is clearly labelled as being only 5 Days TO ELECTION



Finally: This is the kind of sycophant that Duffy has always been. He was never a journalist, just a shill. Watch now to see what it is that we will actually be asked to pay for. Here he shills as a deranged Conservative avatar and in the process, making big bucks to spread a message that he knows is not true. He does not seem to remember Paul Martin, but credits the Harper Government with saving us from the Banks. What a maroon!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Senator Jim Munson and he told me that when he and Mike Duffy were both employed at CTV he once heard Mike say that he would be willing to back PM Chretien as long as he would eventually become a Senator. He was willing to do anything then and he is willing to do anything now, so I now know that it was not an exaggeration. 

Meeting The Liberal Express was a Refreshing Experience

As any of you who have ever read "The Twain Shall Meet" or know me from Twitter or on Facebook, or have read any of my comments on CBC.ca already realize, I am completely disillusioned by the Harper Government.

I absolutely hate their closed minded, confusing, oddly ideological, "catch me if you can", and strictly scripted approach to governance and information. I have come to not trust them either, to; tell the truth, to share information, to stand and take uncomfortable questions, nor to show any signs of compassion, reason, or any sign of a caring attitude towards Canadians. I have come to expect only contempt, deflection, deceit and denial from the entire caucus, cabinet and their leader.

I realise also, that many Canadians are being told subliminally by the minions of the Conservative Party of Canada, who would have the population in general fail to vote, and work their own asses off to get their base to the polls, that nothing ever changes in Ottawa. I feel that as a result of this 'Meming', as I like to call it, (based on the French term 'meme chose' meaning, of course 'same thing') that far too many Canadians have already come to believe that all political parties and all politicians are exactly like these insufferable ideologues. I do not want to believe that, as it would mean that there is no way out of these tough (meaning Tory) times.

So, when Paul Zed, former liberal MP, invited me and a lot of others to attend a Barbecue in his backyard, and to meet the Liberal Express in Rothesay, New Brunswick, I decided that it sounded like a great way to get some perspective on the subject.

I must admit at this point (again, no surprise to many) that I had already developed a growing deep respect for and a positive impression of what I felt and still feel are Michael Ignatieff's; impressive intellect, reasoned perspective, honourable motives and his compassionate vision of Canada, which I had already taken the time to get to know. I was quite sure that it was a vision not unlike my own.

Besides, I thought, it is an absolutely beautiful drive from Moncton down to Rothesay N.B., which is a very pretty little town just this side of Saint John, some 150 kilometers away down a rather modern highway. The views along the way are spectacular and the Kennebecasis River Valley is incredible in Summer. In the afternoon sun, on August 1st, New Brunswick is as green as Ireland. Not only that, but it was promising to be perfect weather for a drive down the Road. So, careful to recharge a few batteries so that I could take some pictures, I did what I always do, and forgetting my camera at home, sped happily towards Saint John with it's batteries securely in my pocket.

I had no trouble at all to find the place, (ain't google grand?) but had to park on a side street a short ways from the house, as I was, still plenty early but far from the first to arrive. I walked there while chatting about the event with a nice, slightly older gentleman and was soon in the Zed's back yard, behind a large, beautiful two story house, where a couple of hundred people were already gathered.

I soon spotted Paul, who greeted me enthusiastically and warmly, introduced himself, and asked me to make myself at home. We chatted for a few minutes and he soon put me totally at ease. He showed me where I could find something to eat and also told me that the House was "wide open" if I cared to go inside. In the Maritimes, kitchens, if not the rest of the house, are almost always part of the package.


Paul Zed


I said that I was a progressive political blogger and a proud member of "Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper" and that I had a few Questions to ask; him, anyone who was aboard the bus, and also his quests. He said that that was the purpose of the evening, that he expected me to have questions and that I was more than welcome to ask anything of anyone at all.

He described his professional and personal relationships with Michael Ignatieff as one and the same, and a warm and close one and that. They had, he added, been good friends for a while. I told him that I was aware of that and that I was hoping to get Michael's attention for a while to ask some questions. Paul laughed and said he knew before he invited me that I would feel that way. We had a good laugh, and I said I'd wander around and that his back yard seemed an "odd setting". He looked momentarily troubled, as I had hoped he would, and I said that it was "the nicest place that I had ever lingered while waiting for a bus".

So, wander around I did, and grabbing a bite to eat from the barbecue and a simple salad I ate while sizing up the still growing crowd. Oddly, they did not strike me as elitists, and they seemed to me like any average New Brunswick crowd. It occurred to me then that the Conservatives did not own the "Tim Horton's crowd" as they so often claim, and that I was clearly standing among them as we waited for the bus.

After eating, I wandered out to the road to smoke a quick cigarette, and just as I reached the roadside, a taxi pulled up. A tall, rather large man, popped gingerly out of it carrying a travel bag. I recognized him as Gerry Byrne, a young and promising Liberal MP from Newfoundland. We soon fell into a pleasant conversation and I asked him his impressions of "Strategic voting" as a better alternative to Danny Williams' A.B.C. campaign, which had worked so well for the Federal Liberals on "the Rock" in the last election. He thought that that strategy was a worthwhile endeavour in the rest of Canada, but that A.B.C. was all that was needed in Newfoundland, citing that the Liberals were so strong there due to Harper having reneged as soon as he became Prime Minister on a written promise to "keep non-renewable energy resources out of the equalization formula" An interesting conversation, to say the least.

It was not long after that that the bus arrived. It was not the run-down rickety old bus that is described in Conservative circles, but a large, clean, quiet, rather pretty bus. In the strong sunshine, it was brightly white, made more so by the richly red lettering and darkly tinted windows, which hinted of air conditioned comfort. In fact it was looking rather smart! Why was the main stream media missing this? That is another blog entirely.

As it pulled in and came to a stop, a loud applause, and excited voices gathered around it. I was excited to see who exactly would be on board. I have been following it on Twitter, and can tell you that the cast keeps changing as different members of the Liberal team join it at different stops as Mr. Byrne was about to do.

The first person, that I recognized was Senator Jim Munson followed by Marlene Jennings, one of my absolute favorite Baird baiters from Question Period, whom I suddenly found myself face to face with.

 

Under the Flag as I Chat with Marlene Jennings

 Next came Judy Sgro, formerly Veteran's Affairs Critic, and still a member of the committee responsible for overseeing it. Next came the talented Dominic Leblanc, followed closely by My current MP, Brian Murphy, whom I had become re-acquainted with as he spoke at the CAPP Rally in Moncton, in January and with whom I had the pleasure of talking over Coffee at Tim Horton's right after the Rally.

I was, as I said, standing face to face with Marlene Jennings, who was accompanied by her teenage daughter whom she introduced. I noticed that she had cigarettes and after spending almost an hour on the Bus, we soon found our selves alone and out of the way, smoking and talking about the G20. I had asked her opinion on the prospects of an inquiry, and she was quite candid about her dissatisfaction of the authorities handling of the crowd. She was refreshingly open, and was aware of the man from Thorold who had been relieved of his prosthetic leg, and literally dragged off to the detention center for a 27 hour ordeal. She knew about many of the stories that I had heard and was not impressed with the situation saying that she felt that even though it would be hard to ever get Harper to agree to an Inquiry, she did seem to think that some of the questions being asked would result in proceedings against at least some of the police officers involved. This she said could be done with or without any official inquiry. I was impressed that she was so comfortable giving me her take on it. We made our way back toward the crowd and parted as she approached another guest who wanted to speak to her.

The next person I spoke with was Senator Jim Munson, who worked with now controversial Senator Mike Duffy years earlier while they were both with CTV. He was less than shy as he described how Mike had declared during the Chretien years that he was "quite willing to become a Liberal", if it would only get him a Senatorship. I saw right away that this was scoop enough to satisfy even a real reporter, so I asked if he understood that I would be sharing that story, and he added that it was not a secret and added that it is a shame that Duffy was now only a shallow shill for Harper and had become a mere caricature of himself. I thanked him for his candor and accepted his business card.

I was not surprised to hear that Duffy story. Not really. I can count on one hand those who still feel good about Duffy. The one who comes quickest to mind is the often irascible Ezra Levant who seems to tolerate him quite nicely as seen in an interview he recounts from 2008 with Mr. Duffy, then still with CTV.

At this point I realised that I was within a few feet of Michael Ignatieff, and I slipped in closer and soon got a chance to meet him.

I had been watching him move easily about the crowd and was amused that whenever he met anyone, he introduced himself. Was there anyone there who did not know his name? Probably not, but at any rate I found it to be charming and not the habit of an arrogant man.


I got to talk to Michael Ignatieff, and was quite surprised by
how comfortable and welcome he made me feel and how pleasant he
was, even when I asked him some serious questions. I realised
that this was not Stephen Harper. This guy was listening!


I shook his hand and introduced myself, as did he. Again, I found it disarming. I sensed that he was comfortable and I was not made nervous by him. I told him a few things about myself and that I had a few short questions for him from some of my friends on Facebook. I asked him a couple of questions about life on the road and such and then asked, if he was going to be asking for an Inquiry into the Police actions at the G20 in Toronto. He said much the same thing as Marlene Jennings, although, like her it never sounded scripted in the least. He was simply responding to it by giving me his thoughts on it.

He said that he saw no need to press for a Federal Inquiry, as it was unlikely to happen under any circumstances, and like Jennings had said, that there were Provincial Government, and Internal Police Inquiries, as well as many different involved interests launching individual proceedings on behalf of many individuals. He was convinced that these would shed a lot of light on the subject and that it was his opinion that the Liberal Party was more interested in laying the blame squarely at the feet of Stephen Harper.

He went on that Harper, could so easily have chosen a more suitable location almost anywhere outside of Toronto, and that the city had tried to make it clear that they preferred that it not be held in the GTA and that it could best (as in more cheaply and more safely) be done at the Exhibition Grounds. He said that Harper absolutely insisted that it be held, in what became the RED ZONE, and that the city was not given any other option. Ignatieff seemed to think that by the time all of the interested parties were through with the process, justice would be served.

As I have had a few days to digest it and to look into what exactly is already being done and all that is looming, he may very well be right on the money. He will, I think, be satisfied that Harper will be ultimately made to pay, by the ombudsman of Ontario, by the police commission in Toronto, by the People of Canada, who are forced to pay the Billion plus for it and that the police involved will be held responsible by individual prosecutions launched in the name of individuals and not by governments.

He made it very clear that he wanted to stay out of the fray and let these forces do the damage, and that he would do his best to keep Harper at the very center of it all. I suspect that he plans to be busy getting ready for an election call that may not happen right away, but that he feels he owes it to Canadians that he be ready for when it does. If he has this figured correctly it seems obvious that Harper will be busy as well! And i hope distracted.

I will stop here for now, but I will publish this and edit it as necessary later and add the rest of the story after I sleep for a few hours. It is now 6:44 AM in the Good Ol' Maritimes.

There is a whole lot more more to tell! see Part two below.

Meeting The Liberal Express was a Refreshing Experience <> Part Two <> <> A Shared Vision of Canada <>

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Michael Ignatieff's Vision of Canada (or at least <> my impression of it)

Back to [Part One]
As enthused as I was with the ease with which Michael Ignatieff had fielded and answered all my questions, I still had one more item on my agenda. I had gone there not just to meet him but also to hear him speak. I wanted to be there in the crowd, as he spoke, in order to get a sense of his style, his outlook and his vision,  and i wanted to try to get a sense of the spirit of the man.

I did not have to wait long. I could see Paul Zed moving towards the P.A. system on the steps of the old barn and I moved to the back of the crowd so I could take it all in, and see also how the audience was going to react to it.

Paul picked up the mic, and thanked us all for coming, and casually mentioned that there was still food on the grill, and that he was very happy to have all of us there and that he was very happy to have Michael there as well. He said that it was Michael's sixth trip to Saint John in the last few years and that he had often stayed right there at Paul's house. He introduced him as Our next Prime Minister and the crowd applauded loudly and enthusiastically as Michael Ignatieff stepped up casually, smiled as he thanked Paul, and took the mic.


<>Note<>: I will not be "quoting" the Speech, as I did not tape it, But here are my impressions of it and since I've already let the cat out of the bag,  it the main reason I found this trip so refreshing!


This is New Brunswick of course, and it is also Nouveau Brunswick, so he opened with a bit of history on it's roots, and remarked on it's various peoples which he said included; La Brayonne, Les Acadiens, United Empire Loyalists, First Nations ( Mi'kmaq and Maliseet ), Early European settlers and more recent immigrants from all over the World. He said that New Brunswick was as proudly multi-cultural a place as there is in Canada, and that he was proud to have roots here.



Michael and Zsuzsanna
Fisher House Kings Landing

 I did not realise that he had roots here, so I listened intently as he told us that they had just come from Kings Landing, an Historical Settlement along the Saint John River which is a recreation of a New Brunswick town from the period of 1780-1910 and that he was surprised to realise that, one of the oldest buildings there was called "Fisher House" and was built by an ancestor of his named, not surprisingly, Fisher.

That was cool enough in itself, I thought, but he then said that his Grandmother,  Maude Parkin Grant, who was, I assume, on his mother's side, was also a New Brunswicker and that she was buried in Salisbury NB. ! ! !

Well, I instantly let out a 'slightly too loud' ~  "Hey! that's My Hometown! ~

I am certain that he did not know it was me who shouted, but I think he heard it, because he decided to elaborate. I guess he was in no hurry.  And as it turns out, he was not.

He said that he, along his wife Zuzanna, and  his friend (our host) Paul Zed had made a very special trip to Salisbury, NB, just last summer, to find her resting place and hopefully her headstone. They managed to find it, with a little help, cleaned  it up a bit and spent  some time there reflecting on what it means to have roots here. He said that he had always been very much at home here, but was even more-so since, the trip to Salisbury. It was not hard to believe as he seemed to be having fun and was in fine form. 

He used no script, no teleprompter, no cue cards and he showed no signs of needing them. That alone was Refreshing. He was in fact, as it turned out, just warming up.

<>Note<>:  I found out later that evening from another guest that they had managed to find it in a farmer's back field that in the corner of which was hidden the few grave markers there and that it was now somewhat grown up and is lightly wooded. The guest also said that Paul would be able to give me more information on it, including the farmer's name. I am only 15 minutes from Salisbury, and I know my way around, as I grew up there, so I thought I might love to go and try to find it myself and brush it off, and spend a little time contemplating my own roots. That sounded like a worthwhile thing to do! And this time, I promised myself, I will not forget my camera!

He then smiled broadly and said that he was here to do better, that we deserved and needed better, and that we need a Government that is based on Compassion and Respect. That we need a government that values education, values science and reason, values the environment, and that values and respects people.

He said that he was not really a partisan, and that he valued co-operation and that a good government worked with the opposition parties and sought out information from many sources to insure that things progress. Progress, he noted was a word that was used no longer by the Conservatives. And that we can all see that cooperation was not Harper's style. He said it would be his style.

He briefly touched on; Harper's treatment of the Press, his lack of cooperation on any level, the one source contract for $16,000,000,000.oo for the stealth F35s, the Cost and the overall handling of the G8/20, right down to the fact that it was stupid to ever have had it in Toronto, and the Fake Lake. He mentioned the incredible amount being spent to show how well Canada Inaction Plan is being managed, the Omar Khadr issue, his total lack of action on the environment, the Prorogations, one being the result of his dragging his feet (he left out his dragging knuckles though) on the detainee issue, his gutting of Human Rights Commissions, his ideological redistribution of funding from humanitarian to the more right wing NGOs, the recent announcement about changes to the census, in spite of Canada's almost unanimous disapproval and his stubborn insistence that it will go ahead. There were a host of other issues. All of which are of interest to to me as a Canadian and as a member of CRUSH.

He said that it should be obvious to any Canadian paying attention that the Harper Government had no respect for Canadian institutions and that they were continually attacking them, using Ideology instead of Intelligence, Fiction instead of Facts, dismissing science, dismissing all expert opinion, and disregarding the opinions of civil servants and was constantly making glaring mistakes because of it.

He said that the word 'Accountability' had at it center the smaller word 'count' and that the Harper Government could not count, and that we could not therefore count on them.

He said that the Liberal Party of Canada was the party at the very center of Canadian life, but that it was also widely based  and very inclusive, and that it was the only party that had any real chance to defeat Harper and form a government, and that a vote for the NDP, or the Greens, was in fact a vote for Stephen Harper.

He said that he hoped disillusioned "Progressive" Conservatives who where tired of the lack of progress and the gutting of Canadian institutions and democratic traditions understood that there was a place for them in the Liberal tent.

He hoped that New Democrats, who were tired of the current Government's contempt for Parliament and democracy in Canada and their insatiable thirst to gut Canada's much needed  social programs  will also feel welcome within in the Liberal tent.

He said similarly, that those who intended to vote Green, would take heart in the fact that the Liberals are a party that has a deep commitment to the Environment and that again there is room for them under the Liberal banner. He urged all Liberals and would-be liberals to urge all Canadians that it was time to unite the huge majority of us who will not give Harper our support and to unite to defeat him under the Big Red Tent that is the Liberal Party of Canada. The party, he said  "at the very Center of Canadian Life!

At this point, Paul Zed joined him briefly and gave him, among other things, a case of 12 Moosehead Beer and said he could enjoy it later to which Michael responded with a quick flick of the tab, a hearty drink, a quick wave and a Cheerful good night to all!

I was quite impressed by the speech, finding it satisfying, encouraging, entertaining and inspiring.
I found his style deliberate and well focused with a good cadence in spite of the fact that it was not scripted and that it was almost 20 minutes long ("In a gadda deveda" was only a little over seventeen minutes and I suspect, it was scripted, lol) and it sounded very sincere. It was delivered in a strong but friendly tone and was loud enough when required and subtle enough where necessary.

That was not the end of the evening, nor in fact, the BBQ. There was still lots to talk about, and plenty of enthusiastic guests to talk to. I was about to take a quick break and grab a smoke, but saw Michael had been asked to give a quick scrum to a handful of local reporters, and with out so much as a second mouthful of MooseHead Beer, walked a few feet onto the lawn and took those questions. I got up quite close but could not hear all of it, but one Question was dealing with Canadian Nuclear Energy and I was able to find a short piece on it in the Telegraph Journal. I of course commented there, and I await the moderator. Feel free to comment on it yourself.

Well I am going to call this episode Part Two and push the button soon but before I do, let me just tell ya that in Part Three, I meet Wayne Easter, and get a chance to talk to Judy Sgro about her time as Critic for  Veteran's Affairs. And I still want to give you my impression of Zuzanna, with whom I talked, after the speech and before watching the Bus leave for Moncton. I was about 5 minutes behind it, and never saw it at all on my way home.  So I guess it must have worked pretty well, eh? It was a great night for driving, and I wasted no time getting home.

<><><><><><><>

My Vision of Canada

The Sun is well past risen here in the east as I try to find a way to direct attention to a small meadow in my mind where the river is deep at the shore and to a magical canoe exactly large enough to hold all who dare come aboard.
To each a paddle,
to each a bow,
to each a song
and seeds to sow.
As we set out
none say goodbye
for none are left ashore.

For all aboard
and each aboard
a feast of words awaits.
A feast of hope,
a feast of light,
a feast for all to taste.

We are not kin,
and yet we breathe
the air the same as all.
Together in this craft so light,
this craft with room for all.

D. Kim Leaman 07/2008

Ignatieff samples a MooseHead and waves it to the crowd.
A vision we share!