Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Has Cadmania Already Paid Off?

Maybe.

As I argued a couple of days ago, if the Chuck Cadman scandal remained in the news long enough the Federal Tories would be less likely to force an election over their bid to hobble the Canada Wheat Board.

And, indeed, it looks like Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has backed down.

Asked whether the bill [amendments to The Canada Wheat Board Act] was a confidence motion, Ritz said: "Not at this point. We're keeping our options all open there. We'll work toward whatever it takes."

This is obviously not yet an admission of abject failure, but it is interesting nevertheless that Ritz is now claiming the introduction of the bill is more about symbolism , about "sending a message", than actually doing anything:

"I don't think we physically have to have the bill passed. We just have to have sent the signal that we are going to stay on top of this. Our date is still August 1, 2008 and we will move heaven and earth to make that happen," he said.

All hail the Cadman Scandal.

23 comments:

biff said...

Has (insert unsubstantiated bare allegation against political opponent here)

paid off?

Lets summarize shall we. Today I awoke to find Harper firmly in power, with no real chance of him being unseated in the forseeable future,

Dion abstained for the most important vote in parliament - the budget, just another in the long line of hand sitting,

and Dion is facing a libel suit, which on the face of it, appears very much valid, and being conducted by the best libel lawyer in the country.

Note none of these things are unsubstantiated bare allegations. These are very real.

Oh, I also see the Cadman affair already leaving the press headlines.

Ti-Guy said...

Great post, BCL!! The Harpies sure are feeling the heat!...!!!! You can tell by how Biff is hyper-ventilating.

bigcitylib said...

Really, Biff? I see Harper having failed to pass much of an already minimalist agenda, failing to kill the Wheat Board, and not really knowing what to do going forward other sit around watching his hopes for a majority fade as the economy softens.

Gayle said...

I love how the connies cling to the notion Harper has the best lawyer in Canada. I know a few lawyers who claim they have never "lost" a case. What they mean is they have never lost a case that went to trial. Generally, they tend to negotiate a settlement long before trial, and that settlement does not always result in the client "winning".

But hey, I guess biff has to find hope somewhere.

Ti-Guy said...

But hey, I guess biff has to find hope somewhere.

Why can't they all just concentrate on making white babies, gossiping about the moral corruption the couple next door and shopping?

More Beaver, less Cleaver.

Anonymous said...

I . . . see . . . 'teeth'.

And I . . see. . . 'Dion's butt'.

And . . I. . . see. . . 'chow time!'

What does it mean?

Ti-Guy said...

What does it mean?

That BCL should really shut off anonymous commenting, rather than engage/disengage "comment moderation" all the time.

What's up with that, BCL? Are there any anonymii feeding you useful info?

bigcitylib said...

I found that one mildly entertaining. I killed another non-entertaining one earlier.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

As long as Dion keeps sitting on his hands for every vote, I'm happy.

Who will your next 'leader' be? The American academian? The neo-communist turncoat? The goalie?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Strippergate.
Shawinigate.
Sea King cancellation.
Indian Affairs spending mystery.
Untendered Bombardier contracts.
Gun Registry Fiasco.
Sheila Copps' flags.
Human Resouces scandal.
Sponsorship.
Gomery.
Tainted Blood.
Submarine purchases.
ADSCAM.
Grewald vote buying.
Radwanski.

And that was just a taste . . .

Gayle said...

That's the way to win - dredge up old liberal "scandals" (most of which were barely noticed). Will the cons then run on a "yeah, we're corrupt, but not as corrupt as they were" campaign, or will try to deny their own corruption, thereby exposing themselves as the hypocrites they are.

That will be a winner.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, That's it...

After acting out the entire first half of "50 Ways to Love A Loser" the Liberals are now ready to show some backbone on this particular issue?

And the fact that the Conservatives have not yet decided to rub your noses in it is proof of... what was it again? The success of your rope-a-dope strategy? The burgeoning strength of the little leader that could?

That's some funny shit, right there.

LarryJoe

P.S. Your comment system still sucks which is why I'm posting anonymously. Do you guys discuss secret Mason stuff here or something? I can do my banking online with less verification than it takes to comment here...

Ti-Guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ti-Guy said...

Yeah, That's it...

After acting out the entire first half of "50 Ways to Love A Loser" the Liberals are now ready to show some backbone on this particular issue?

And the fact that the Conservatives have not yet decided to rub your noses in it is proof of... what was it again? The success of your rope-a-dope strategy? The burgeoning strength of the little leader that could?

That's some funny shit, right there.


I thought the proof the comment system sucked was that the system is treating glitches like this as actual comments.

Ti-Guy said...

or will try to deny their own corruption, thereby exposing themselves as the hypocrites they are.

Maybe they'll count their scandals tree times, like anony did with "sponsorship," "ADSCAM," and "Gomery."

That last one wasn't even a scandal.

Thank God the rest of us don't have to do any work to research CPC scandals...all we need is a copy of its platform.

biff said...

Harper's awful, his government is damaging the fabric of our life,

his government is engaging in repeated scandalous behaviour,

and Dion abstains to keep him in power.

Hmmmm.

Ti-Guy said...

Hmmm...

Anonymous said...

The current headline on the NDP website:

"WHAT WILL DION HELP HARPER DO NEXT?"

heh

Anonymous said...

And the Canadian Press (in the TO Star), is reporting that Dion will table a confidence motion......against the other two opposition parties.

Check it out.

Brave Dion, instead of actually opposing the government (apparently the title of "opposition party" has something to do with opposing the government, though frankly I think that's just a bunch of folklore),

is reduced to opposing the other parties NOT in power.

Anonymous said...

Liberals plan motion slamming . . . NDP and Bloc
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Mar 05, 2008 07:16 PM
THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA–Liberals will attempt to turn the tables Thursday on rival parties who've ridiculed them for being afraid of toppling the minority Conservative government.

They'll introduce a motion condemning the NDP and Bloc Quebecois

(I didn't believe it myself until I actually read it......how sad, the once great Liberal party).

Anonymous said...

Chantal Hebert is usually pretty reliable at assessing things in Ottawa and her take on the Cadman affair is that it was a smoke sreen used by Dion to change the channel so that the country wouldn't see him roll over again on the budget. To that extent it worked rather well for him. But as she says if he loses ground in the upcoming by-elections, and he may, she predicts the knives will be out for him. This is becoming a refrain from the national press these days.

I guess we'll all have to stay tuned.