Could the Reform-Conservatives Latest Scandal Cost Harper His Job?

The video above is just to remind Canadians that the 'In and Out' scandal has not yet been dealt with. The Reform-Conservatives are suing Canadian taxpayers because they claim that they are being picked on. Apparently you are legally allowed to forge receipts to transfer expenses, and then spend more than the legal limit on an election. Who knew?

A few Ref-Con Myths:

1. They said that all parties did it and in particular tried to turn it against the Liberals. However, Elections Canada checked their records and determined that NO ONE HAD EVER DONE THIS BEFORE!

2. They claimed that some one from Elections Canada leaked the news of the raid on their offices, and that's why the Liberals turned up with video cameras. Elections Canada confirmed that they had been in the offices for 2 1/2 hours before anyone from the Liberal Party showed up, tipped off by the Media, who were there first.

3. They said that bringing in the RCMP was just for show, but Elections Canada stated that they only called in the RCMP when the Conservatives refused to co-operate and hand over the material as requested by the search warrant.

4. They called this a vendetta, again perpetrated by the Liberals. However, many in the media had already heard rumours of an election financing scheme, which is why they automatically asked "is this about the 'in and out'". They were apparently just waiting for the news to break.

The civil suit has held the Media at bay, but it is supposed to start next month. After that, let's hope with their new tough on crime measures, that they reserve 66 cells. They may need them.

But back to their current scandals. There was a great Op-ed piece in the Hill Times, written by former politician Sheila Copps, that I thought I'd share.

Optics of Conservative cheque scheme dodgy

OTTAWA—Cheque mate. Except in this case the king isn't quite cornered yet. With vigorous denials emanating from the Prime Minister last week, Canadians may be forgiven for thinking the decision to replace a government logo with a Conservative one was a devious plot of rogue members run amok.

As evidence mounts, the biggest crosschecked loser is the Prime Minister himself. His early denials leave Canadians with the lingering impression that the Prime Minister can calmly dissemble the truth. With at least 47 Conservative elected officials involved in 181 cheque presentations, Stephen Harper signed some of them himself ....