Same Old Liberal Party - Will Justin Trudeau be 1st PM to suffer scandal B4 he's elected?

It would seem that Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada is still the same party as it was under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin.

Remember the Sponsorship Scandal (or Ad Scam as became commonly referred)?

“The program ran from 1996 until 2004, when broad corruption was discovered in its operations and the program was discontinued. Illicit and even illegal activities within the administration of the program were revealed, involving misuse and misdirection of public funds intended for government advertising in Quebec. Such misdirection included sponsorship money awarded to Liberal Party-linked ad firms in return for little or no work, in which firms maintained Liberal organizers or fundraisers on their payrolls or donated back part of the money to the Liberal Party. The resulting investigations and scandal affected the Liberal Party of Canada and the then-government of Prime Minister Paul Martin. It was an ongoing affair for years, but rose to national prominence in early 2004 after the program was examined by Sheila Fraser, the federal auditor general.

Her revelations led to the Martin government establishing the Gomery Commission to conduct a public inquiry and file a report on the matter. The official title of this inquiry was the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities; it is commonly referred to as the “Gomery Report”. In the end, the Commission concluded that $2 million was awarded in contracts [..]”

The Canadian electorate sent a strong message during the subsequent 2006 election. “In the national spotlight, the scandal became a significant factor in the lead-up to the 2006 federal election when, after more than twelve years in power, the Liberals were defeated by the Conservatives, who formed a minority government that was sworn in February 2006.”

But Canadians weren’t finished punishing the Liberal Party and they certainly weren’t warming up to Stéphane Dion or Michael Ignatieff. “After winning back-to-back minorities in 2006 and 2008, Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada finally capture enough seats in 2011 to form a majority government.”

Orange crush dominated much of Quebec. “More remarkably, the NDP had swept to Opposition status, winning 102 seats to the beleaguered Liberals’ 34.”

Then in April of 2013, the Liberals elected Justin Trudeau to be their new leader.

Hope was in the air; a rejuvenated party, different from the “old” Liberal Party. This party was reborn and they would sell that idea to Canadians in 2015.

And kudos must go to how well Trudeau’s advisers are running the Liberal Campaign. Based on the polls, it appears likely that at the very least Trudeau will be the next leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. Some polls also place the Liberals in minority territory and even the odd poll suggests the Liberals could win a slim majority. Granted, “Trudeau has pulled off one of the great campaigns of recent history: a flagrantly dishonest run for office, based on a pledge of honesty.”

So all must seem pretty rosy in the Liberal Camp these days. But then something happened. Something bad. So close to October the 19th and the Liberal Party couldn’t wait to show how secretive and corrupt they are.

The backroom deals and flagrant disregard for Canadian Laws that decimated the Liberal Party has reared its ugly head. Again. Dan Gagnier; a Liberal insider and national LPC campaign co-chair proved that the Liberal Party is not new and regenerated. Indeed, Gagnier served to illustrate that the Liberal Party is still firmly entrenched in repeating the mistakes it has made in the past.

The Canadian Press has reported that, “OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau’s national campaign co-chair is stepping down after he sent a detailed email to people behind the Energy East pipeline with advice on how and when to lobby a new government — including a Liberal minority.

Earlier in the day the Liberals stood by Dan Gagnier, saying he did not break any ethical standards. But in a statement later Wednesday, Gagnier said he didn’t want to be a distraction to the campaign.”

Gagnier must have borrowed a page from Dalton McGuinty. Or perhaps Gerald Butts; the former top aide to McGuinty and now one of Trudeau’s top advisers and the father of Ontario’s disastrous “Green Energy Act” which saw Ontario Hydro Rates skyrocket.

It would seem that the LPC is geared for corruption.

Especially when one considers the close ties Trudeau has with Kathleen Wynne.

Predecessor to McGuinty, Wynne and her Liberal government are the current subjects of four ongoing criminal investigations. The Ontario Provincial Police are investigating the Ornge Air-Ambulance scandal, the e-health scandal and the scandal involving the closure of two gas plants that cost taxpayers more than $1.1 BILLION. The fourth investigation was triggered by Elections Ontario and is being evaluated by the OPP; the Sudbury By-election.

Yet Wynne and her provincial liberals are actively campaigning on behalf of Justin Trudeau and his Federal Liberals.

It seems remarkably hypocritical of Kathleen Wynne; she ran and won on a platform of implementing an Ontario Pension Plan, which now she says if Trudeau wins, she’ll scrap the idea. How convenient.

And then there is the issue of convicted pedophile Benjamin Leven; the father of Ontario’s new radical sexual indoctrination program standing shoulder to shoulder with Justin Trudeau.

Marilyne Knibbs posted this to Facebook:

Hello All
As we all are aware, in the next week each of us will be voting for a federal political party and candidate that we believe will best represent our views and values in Parliament. To be truthful, I am not sure that I have seen a political campaign where the mainstream media have been so decidedly one-sided against a particular party and its leader, in this case Prime Minister Harper (for proof of this it is simple enough to Google the names of the various party leaders and see the results that come up). In any case, given that the media has chosen not to address values that represent me as a Canadian, I thought I would take this opportunity to post some thoughts on issues of importance to me and my family.
I must confess to considerable trepidation on the policies being promised by Mr. Trudeau in the Liberal Party platform. My specific concern is simply this: while perhaps at first glance the programs being promised by the Liberal Party appear to resonate quite well with Ontarians, especially when presented by a somewhat charismatic leader like Mr. Trudeau, I am not at all confident that the Liberals’ policy decisions have been well thought out or their future consequences fully considered.
I recently had a conversation with a work colleague of mine who told me that he was forced to renovate the basement of his semi-detached home to prevent the odour of “medical” marijuana constantly being smoked by his neighbour from coming through the walls. He told me that for this same reason, he is unable to open a number of windows in his house. My friend’s situation illustrates my concerns. We as Canadians have not even agreed on an effective regulatory approach to protect individuals on the most basic issue of second-hand medical marijuana smoke. I therefore see no evidence that the Liberal Party has adequately considered the infinitely more critical issues related to marijuana use before committing themselves to its legalization.
A similar concern applies to other social policies being brought forward by the Liberal Party. These include, for example, the legalization of doctor-assisted suicide, the opening of safe heroin injection sites, the revival of Bill C279 – the Gender/Bathroom Bill (which would allow men to use women’s bathrooms, change rooms, showers, and other gender-specific facilities), the clear establishment of the Party’s pro-choice policy, and here in Ontario, Mr. Trudeau’s unconditional support for Premier Wynne’s 2015 Sex Ed Curriculum.
And of course, on the economic front, it is somewhat worrisome to me that Ontarians would consider a promise to run deficits as sound economic policy. We have seen first-hand under the Liberal Party how deficit spending has led to levels of government debt that are now essentially spiralling out of control. It seems to me that we need to look no further than our personal finances (and our attempts to pay off our Visa bills in the shortest time possible) to recognize the flaws in the Liberal Party’s proposed approach to managing our budget.
It is of course fair to ask why I have singled out the Liberal Party. In May of this year, Mr. Trudeau took the unprecedented step of declaring that as an explicit condition for running as a Liberal in the 2015 election, each candidate must agree to vote in accordance with Party policy on all social issues in Parliament should they arise. Liberal MPs would no longer be allowed to “vote their personal conscience”. No other party has instituted this requirement as a formal policy. I believe we have a fair expectation that our elected MPs are to represent our views in Parliament. Liberal candidates have however pledged their support unequivocally for Mr. Trudeau’s policies on all social issues, despite these being deeply personal matters. This means that should he be elected, we the electorate would have essentially no input in implementation of social and economic policy initiatives under Mr. Trudeau’s government. We have already seen exactly the same with the introduction of the Sex Ed Curriculum in Ontario this year.
I believe that inevitably it is the social policies implemented by any government that ultimately have the most pronounced long-term impacts on our everyday lives. Perhaps for this reason, I suggest that the old adage “buyer beware” has never been more relevant.
Thank you for listening.
John Himanen, P.Eng., MBA
Markham, Ontario Canada Campaign

There is also another element to the hypocrisy of the Liberal Party, both federally and provincially.

Stephen Harper is campaigning this weekend with Toronto’s Ford Brothers. How dare he? The great leader, Justin Trudeau says that is unacceptable.

Justin, Justin, Justin… it has been the Liberal policy for many years that drug addiction is a disease. Liberals have often advocated removing the stigma attached with addiction.

By all accounts, Rob Ford has cleaned up his act. By all accounts, Margaret Trudeau (Justin’s mother) has cleaned up her act. Yet Margaret is forgiven while the Trudeau Liberals slam and berate Rob Ford like he’s toxic.

But none of this should come as a surprise. Spray painting dog poop doesn’t change the fact that it is still dog poop.

The Liberal Party has not changed. They’re still the same self-serving, backroom dealing, high taxing Party they have always been.

If one wishes to stay the course, then vote Conservative. If one truly wants change, then vote NDP. Don’t be an idiot and vote in a Party that pretends it has changed but really hasn’t. Don’t vote Liberal.

Don’t vote for the Liberals; Canada’s future depends upon it.

And that is Kevin’s Common Sense

(This article was originally posted to http://ktvharris.com/2015/10/16/335/ )