Why oh why are these criminals not in jail yet. They run Ontario in the same way Mexico gets things done.

From the makers of "gas plant scandal millions spent" and "what email Mrs" comes the new 2015 title, "have a great paying job and don't run against me in the by election"

http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news/...n-scandal.html

Because no one cares.

Lol yeh u may have a point, but it so annoying.

They're politicians, it's in their every breath to ooze, slime, and lie. Probably the only honest politician is a dead one.

Of course, the Tories, provincially or federally, would never do anything so crass. They wouldn't ever, for example, orchestrate a campaign of robocalls telling people that their polling place had moved, in an attempt to prevent political opponents from voting. Nor would they ever dream of telling a sitting MP that she has no prospect of being selected as a candidate in a forthcoming election, thus destroying her career prospects, and then act all surprised when she crosses the floor. Oh, wait...

Sure, the libs probably persuaded Andrew Olivier not to run in a by-election. It seems quite likely that some sinecure was waved at him to dissuade him from standing. That may have been in breach of election law, in which case I would expect resignations and/or prosecutions to follow shortly. But it obviously wasn't a sweet enough bribe, if bribe it was, because he stood in the election as an independent anyway (and lost badly, though he polled three times as many votes as the Conservative candidate). It's yet another storm in a teacup. And very few people care either way.

The leaderless Provincial tories are so incapable of mounting serious opposition in Ontario at the moment that they're reduced to ineffectual bleating. The NDP seem to be pursuing this in a rather more sensible way, with Horwath and Gilles Bisson making measured statements and poking at the Liberals on policy as well as behaviour. Despite having dropped to third party status in last year's election, they are behaving much more like an official opposition right now than the conservatives.

Everywhere.

One person did that, not the party. And that person is in jail.


Do you even understand why they told her she couldn't run? It was due to her own behaviour, so she brought it on herself.

Sure, the libs probably persuaded Andrew Olivier not to run in a by-election. It seems quite likely that some sinecure was waved at him to dissuade him from standing. That may have been in breach of election law, in which case I would expect resignations and/or prosecutions to follow shortly. But it obviously wasn't a sweet enough bribe, if bribe it was, because he stood in the election as an independent anyway (and lost badly, though he polled three times as many votes as the Conservative candidate). It's yet another storm in a teacup. [/quote]


That you cannot see why this is an issue, and that it is a bigger issue than a storm in a teacup, is astounding. You are either ideologically blinded (quite possible based on some of your other comments), or just plain blind.

Oh my God. Do you actually for one second believe that? Unreal. Michael Sona is a perfect patsy - too loyal or too stupid to dish the dirt on his paymasters.
The riding where she misbehaved is very local to me. The goings-on were extensively reported in local media. For sure, I wouldn't want Eve Adams as my MP, I think she's a complete nightmare, but for whatever reason the Tories thought she was an appropriate person to stand for them, and then sit for them, in her current riding. There was a great deal of willy-waving on all sides of the selection process in Oakville North-Burlington, to the extent that the entire process was stopped so that the riding association could throw everyone out and start all over again. Natalia Lishchyna, the other candidate, was pretty much instructed to withdraw her candidacy. (Now, curiously enough, it seems very likely that a party-imposed candidate will be parachuted in with only a vestigial local involvement in the selection process at all. Is that how you'd prefer things be managed?)

And yet, despite all that nonsense, Stephen Harper thought her a worthy enough politician that until the day she crossed the floor she was still serving in a government role, as a parliamentary secretary. That is not usually a job given to people out of favour with the senior party management. The Conservatives royally screwed her, so she screwed them back. Frankly they deserve each other.

What happened may have been illegal. If it was then, as I suggested, charges and convictions will follow resignations in the next little while. But in the mind of nobody except the most ridiculously naive, on any side of the political spectrum, could it possibly be thought that what went on in Sudbury is unusual. A party machine has a preferred candidate. Another potential candidate makes as if to make a fuss. A quiet word is had, the party finds itself short of personnel in an important but junior position, a process is followed, the awkward candidate's nomination is withdrawn. That, like it or not, is politics. It is not a big deal (perhaps it ought to be, but in the real world it is not).

I hold no strong party political leanings. I think the Conservatives in opposition in Ontario have been ineffective, disorganized, petty minded, and have spent all their efforts on sniping at small targets rather than actually mounting a proper political opposition. I wish they were a lot more effective, because strong opposition makes for responsible government. The Liberal party has done really very poorly in a number of areas, but has been allowed to get away with it by a series of increasingly dysfunctional Tory leaders and an NDP opposition in the last parliament who were more worried (justifiably, as it turned out) about their own political fortunes than about what the government was doing. Frankly, a plague on all their houses.

Harper is another matter entirely. His rabidly socially-conservative policies, his wanton destruction of Canada's reputation in international organizations, his thralldom to Big Oil, have been utterly disastrous for Canada and Canadians. This is a vastly diminished country in comparison to the nation of which he first became Prime Minister. And that's a shame. Will Trudeau do any better after this year's election (I don't think anybody seriously expects Mulcair to do anything other than trail in third place)? Possibly not, but it would be hard for him to do worse.

Then of course Dean Del Mastro has been convicted of election fraud, overspending and then trying to cover it up. He still hasn't been sentenced, his lawyers asked for a mistrial and were overuled. He was allowed to resign so he keeps his MP pension even though he wasn't legally elected. Oh and Peterborough County is without an MP now as no by election has been called.
And nobody cares

This is a good summing up of Canadian Politics and why I'm not bothered about Canadian Citizenship. These things just become normal.

The UK has its dodgy characters too, but I always had the impression that most UK MPs are there because they want to "do good" whichever side of the fence they are on, rather than just making various career moves.

I have that (generally) positive impression of UK politicians too. I haven't followed Canadian politics recently enough to know if the same applies there or not.

In this province, no matter what party is elected to govern, it's routine that a campaign manager or someone gets appointed to a cozy well paying position with a crown corporation like liquor or power.

In opposition a party speaks against it and then does the same when it's their turn. Nobody cares.

After the last election here an email was leaked.

“It is the usual practice that upon a change in government road work contracts are made available to supporters of the government in power,”

Just so brazen

Yes that is brazen. But I suppose if there is no public outcry, then the people are happy with it (or at least do not consider it an important issue). There are bigger issues, after all.

I think they just believe it's normal.
It's the way it is....if it ain't broke don't fix it...these commonly used expressions must exist for a reason.

The big news here right now involves media people and politicians off on some jolly at what sounds like NB's equivalent of Chequers or Camp David and there were two lists of those involved to cover up the presence of those that really shouldn't have been there.

I get no impression that people are bothered even though it's all over the newspapers and CBC.

A few years ago the NB gov wanted to sell NB Power to Quebec Hydro. There was a very well organised and successful campaign of opposition and it didn't happen. The people can get worked up about something but mostly don't bother.

Which is fine. If that the local culture that's their prerogative. If you want political engagement you'll have to move back to Britain. Today's 'scandal' the Met has outsourced crowd management for public protests to an American security firm, without any legislated mandate. And will require protest groups to pay upfront for the security costs! You can imagine people will very soon be protesting about the right to freely protest! A rather different world.