There is a lot of discussion about Stephen Harper's plans to reform the Senate, by placing term limits of nine years, but only on those appointed after 2008.
Most of the opposition is coming from Harper's own senate appointments, many of whom have been rejected by the electorate, so would have difficulty finding such a cushy job, not to mention a pension for life.
Harper's other plan of an elected senate, would require a referendum, but even his current tweaking, demands a consensus from the provinces.
Being a Senator use to mean something in Canada, but the Senate is now just a $100 million a year drain on tax dollars, as a home for Harper flunkies.
They used to be there to protect us from someone like Stephen Harper, now they only protect him from people like us.
The Parliament debated and passed a climate change bill. The Conservative dominated Senate gave it a glance, then threw it in the trash.
And any Senate bills that might help Canadians or make government more accountable, never have a chance. Even if they could get enough support from Conservative senators, the Harperites have found a way to make sure they never see the light of day.
Normally, the author of a Senate private member's bill arranges to have a sympathetic MP sponsor it once it clears the upper house and arrives in the Commons. The sponsor informs the clerk's office that he or she will take responsibility for shepherding the bill through the Commons. But last month, Tory MPs began rushing to the clerk's office to sponsor bills almost the moment they were introduced in the upper house, whether or not they actually supported the bills and without waiting to see if they'd actually ever make it to the Commons.
A bill automatically dies if its sponsor fails to show up twice for debate on it. The Harperites who rush to sponsor the bill, make sure that they never show up to debate, stopping it in its tracks.
Ralph Goodale said the latest ploy is "an effort to muzzle a house of Parliament," and part of the government's continuing "vendetta" against the Senate. He said it's particularly hypocritical given the Tories' denunciations of the unelected chamber as an affront to democracy. "What they're basically saying is these topics (in the senators' bills) will not be debated. So it is very clearly the stifling of free speech."
It has just become another body that Harper can control at his whim.
A senator, especially a Conservative senator, is nothing more than a high priced bench warmer.
I did get my own back on one of them though. Senator Hugh Segal lives in Kingston, but we only hear from him when there's going to be an election. Like Wiarton Willie, if we see Segal's shadow, we know we're going to the polls.
I was there, and when it was over made my way to the restaurant to use the bathroom and phone my husband. The door I normally used was locked, but I spotted Segal coming out the side door.
I approached him, and with all the innocence I could muster, asked him if he worked there, and could he let me in. He bent his head slightly, perhaps thinking I hadn't recognized him, and "feared" that I might ask for his autograph. I knew who he was, but it felt good to pretend I didn't.
He's done nothing to earn my respect, and that's something I don't hand out for free.
So if there is a referendum, I will be voting to abolish the Senate. It no longer has a legitimate function.
Deniability is becoming more difficult as someone else has come forward with information about Soudas and the Montreal Port Authority scandal.
The former head of the Montreal Port Authority, Dominic Taddeo, says he resigned from the committee charged with choosing his successor in 2007 right after attending a meeting at a Montreal restaurant with Dimitri Soudas, spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office.
Opposition leaders are calling on Conservative leader Stephen Harper to fire Soudas, charging the PMO spokesman was pushing the Port Authority board to select a certain candidate for the job, former Montreal city manager Robert Abdallah.
Political interference in the selection process would contravene the Canada Marine Act, which says the port authority is autonomous and the selection of its president is up to its board of directors.
Yet Harper is still refusing to do anything about it, hoping for a majority so he can just make the whole thing go away.
A joint investigation by the Globe and Mail and Radio-Canada is alleging that a member of the Prime Minister's Office and a Conservative fundraiser directly interfered in a pair of political dossiers.
The report, which aired on the CBC's French-language service on Tuesday night, alleges PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas intervened in favour of a Montreal real estate developer currently embroiled in a lawsuit with the federal government, and sat in on a meeting with representatives of an international military contractor looking to sell its wares.
No charges were laid and Housakos was given a plum senate seat.
In 2010 a House of Commons bailiff tried to serve Dimiti Soudas and another staffer with a summons to appear before the Ethics Committee, but were twice refused entry to the government offices where Soudas worked. Stephen Harper had him in hiding, and no one was getting through the impenetrable barrier.
And yet at the time of Soudas' interference into an appointment with the Montreal Port Authority, cabinet Ministers were forced to intervene. Why were they forced to intervene if Soudas was not doing anything wrong?
In an interview, Mr. Sauvé said he worked on the event after Conservative supporters in Montreal told him “it was the thing to do” after getting the contract. “I felt the Conservatives needed help, and it was a kind of a thank you,” Mr. Sauvé said. The RCMP launched an investigation into the contract to LM Sauvé earlier this year, looking in particular at the nature of the relations between LM Sauvé and a long-time Conservative supporter and business relations adviser, Gilles Varin.
Mr. Sauvé said the fundraiser was attended by engineers and architects working with him on the Parliament Hill project. The guest of honour at the event was Christian Paradis, the former minister of public works who is now at Natural Resources. Mr. Paradis was the Conservative Party’s Quebec lieutenant at the time of the fundraiser.
Investigation into a fundraiser, a senator and a company who was awarded a mammoth contract, after attending said fundraiser and hiring said senator, has been handled by the perpetrators.
And shockingly, the perps said they did nothing wrong.
Easy as pie.
Maybe we should try that in the criminal courts, to cut down on costs. They could just judge each other.
Remember when you had to hand your test to the person behind you in class to grade, and were thrilled that it happened to be your best friend?
It's kind of like that, only better.
In 2009, the auditor general reported a “significant deficiency” in the Federal Bridge Corp. Ltd.’s corporate governance, saying the parent board had not exercised its oversight role with respect to its own affairs and those of its subsidiaries.
... The JCCBI figured indirectly in a December 2009 investigation by the Senate ethics officer, who looked at whether Tory Senator Leo Housakos had breached any of the upper chamber’s rules when the Champlain Bridge contract was awarded to engineering firm BPR. Housakos had been working for a BPR subsidiary at the time, and was also a key organizer of the May fundraiser.
If we thought the worst thing about Harper's senate selections were an illiterate hockey coach, and a man who is allegedly linked to the Montreal mafia, Mike Duffy is in a league of his own. Duffy campaigns for the Reform Conservatives. That's not worthy of taxpayer money.
After railroading an election for Harper, and being charged with ethics violations (something else the mainstream media ignored), he seems to think he can get away with anything.
And what was with attacking the Canadian Press? They have been pretty kind to the Ref-Cons.
Even Don Martin had his say, which completely blew me away. If the Ref-Cons lose Martin they'll be stuck with Kelly McParland to write their attack ads for the National Post.
It takes considerable effort to become a complete embarrassment. Congratulations Senator Mike Duffy, you've finally done it.
With his wild rant on a CBC national politics show this week, the television icon has accomplished the difficult feat of offending all those in his parliamentary orbit -- his former journalistic occupation, the Conservative party, senators, MPs and even the prime minister who appointed him ....
...Now, Duffy calling someone a faker equals pot calling the kettle black. This is the same Duffy who, as host of his own politics show, presented himself for decades as journalistically neutral, then accepted Harper's $130,000 appointment ten months ago and now devotes his energies to shamelessly shilling for the Conservatives.
That's the definition of fakery for you, particularly given he was appointed after airing that infamous CTV interview with then-Liberal leader Stephane Dion, a bumbling performance credited by some as the turning point of the 2008 election campaign for Stephen Harper. (Finally, someone said it. I've been saying it for months. Dion was within 4 points in the polls. Here's the report. So who's the faker now?)
While everyone is trying to sort through the accounting mess of this government's infrastructure program, another scandal is brewing in Quebec, which ties the Reform-Conservatives to the mafia investigations now taking place.
Ref-Con senator Leo Housakos, friend of Dimitri Soudas, seems to be once again linked to the alleged criminal activity, and is blaming his own party for implicating him. This just keeps getting better.
OTTAWA — The Harper government risks being sucked into a political scandal raging in Quebec with the revelation that a top Conservative organizer and senator had ties to key players.
The Canadian Press has learned that Tory Senator Leo Housakos worked politically with now-disgraced Montreal politician Benoit Labonte from about August 2008 to February 2009.
Labonte has alleged that there was an elaborate kick-back scheme to finance Montreal municipal political parties. He insists he never did anything illegal, but acknowledged he made ethical lapses while in city politics.
There is no suggestion Housakos knew of any wrongdoing, but he has now been linked to Labonte and controversial construction magnate Tony Accurso.
Labonte, formerly the leader of the Vision Montreal party, lobbed a grenade into the province's political class last week when he admitted to having met and telephoned Accurso, whom he said donated to his leadership campaign
Accurso's companies have been highlighted in media investigations of bid-rigging in the province's construction industry. Quebec Premier Jean Charest has announced a special investigation into the allegations of collusion.
The revelations have dominated the news in Quebec, and have spurred demands for a public inquiry. Charest has been drawn in, refuting Labonte's allegations that three of his ministers were also associating with Accurso.
A source who worked within Vision Montreal said Housakos visited the party's offices several times. Soon after he and Labonte agreed to work together, Housakos' close friend Giulio Maturi became Vision Montreal's executive director.
(I'm going to take a break here because I had already mentioned Giulio Maturi in another post. He was an organizer for Conservative senator Hugh Segal and the Alliance Party under Stockwell Day for his 2000 federal campaign. Housakos was then running for the Alliance Party in Montreal: "Alliance strategists are basically hoping to attract three groups in the Quebec electorate: former Conservatives, soft nationalists from the Bloc Quebecois and voters from cultural communities. They think the seats in ethnically diverse Montreal neighbourhoods will make or break their march to power if the outcome is close. Giulio Maturi, a former chief organizer of Hugh Segal's Conservative leadership campaign in Montreal and now an Alliance organizer, said that as the election campaign picks up steam, so will the efforts of his party to target the cultural communities. "Right now, we are approaching people from the cultural communities on an individual basis," Maturi said. "But as we get better organized, there will be a concerted effort to take our message to cultural communities of Montreal as a whole." Montreal Gazette, November 15, 2000))
Back to the current scandal:
"Leo had come to the headquarters and had several meetings with Labonte," said the source. "That's well known."
Maturi and Labonte had a parting of the ways in March. Maturi went on to work for the Conservative party in Montreal until recently.
Housakos did not return several calls from The Canadian Press, but he told the online news website Rue Frontenac this month that he had offered to help Labonte. Housakos insisted he did not do fundraising work.
He also acknowledged he was casually acquainted with Accurso.
"Yes, I know him," Housakos said. "I have met him a few times. He's a very big businessman." Labonte told Radio-Canada last week that it was Accurso who introduced him to Housakos.
"Mr. Accurso referred me to Mr. Housakos who I didn't know, and the next day, I met Leo Housakos," Labonte said, in comments that briefly appeared on Radio-Canada's website last week.
Housakos was also head of the Action Democratique du Quebec's fundraising arm. Former ADQ Leader Mario Dumont said over the weekend that he too had met with Accurso, who was a supporter of the party.
A fundraising reception for the ADQ in 2007 was held at one of Accurso's properties in Laval, Que.
"Accurso, the engineering firms, the construction firms, etc., all the politicians know them," Dumont told the Journal de Montreal. "They're the ones who build in Quebec, they're the ones who build Quebec."
Last April, Revenue Canada raided the offices of Accurso's companies in connection with an investigation into $4.5 million in alleged tax fraud.
One of those companies, Simard-Beaudry Construction, was part of a consortium awarded a $355-million contract to install water meters in Montreal. That contract was cancelled after a damning auditor general's report on the bidding process and awarding of the contract.
Several senior Montreal municipal officials were reportedly vacationing on Accurso's yacht while that process was in play.
Accurso did not return calls. He is suing Radio-Canada for sullying his reputation and breaching his right to privacy.
Radio-Canada's Enquete program reported this month that 80 per cent of Montreal road projects were controlled by a "fabulous 14" construction companies, including Accurso's. Sources they quoted said the Mafia were also involved in the collusion.
Labonte referred to "white-collar" Mafia that had influenced Montreal city hall. Labonte was forced to resign from Vision Montreal, after his meetings with Accurso came to light.
The potential relationship between Housakos and Accurso came up in the Commons Monday.
"Does the prime minister also benefit from the vast network of friends put together by Mr. Housakos and Mr. Soudas," asked Liberal MP Marcel Proulx.
Dimitri Soudas, a senior aide to Harper, is a longtime friend of Housakos.
The controversy surrounding Labonte has seriously hurt new Vision Montreal leader Louise Harel as she tries to unseat Mayor Gerald Tremblay next Monday, himself dealing with contracting scandals in Montreal.
Tremblay told Le Devoir newspaper last week that he knows a certain number of businessmen share construction contracts in Montreal, but that he's scared for his family to point fingers at specific figures without proof.
The Senate Ethics Officer is currently studying whether Housakos breached any articles of the Senate Conflict of Interest Code. Housakos worked for a Montreal engineering firm that won a $1.4 million contract as part of consortium studying the Champlain Bridge.
Housakos was the lead organizer of a major Conservative fundraiser in Montreal where four executives from the winning consortium and two officials from the federal bridge agency were also on hand.
Housakos and company BPR have maintained that he worked for the firm's wholly owned subsidiary, and had no knowledge or involvement in the federal contract.
This week, the senator said he suspects a member of his own caucus is trying to undermine him, and he will "take care of him soon."
"Take care of him soon"? Yikes. If he shows up on Parliament Hill with a violin case, someone better run!
As news broke this week involving another backroom deal and the funnelling of stimulus money, the Conservative senator, Leo Housakos, who was involved in the scandal; blames a member of his own caucus. No name yet, but could it be our favourite little spin-meister Dimitri Soudas?
Not only did Mr. Housakos funnel money to a company he worked for, but he also organized a fundraiser for Stephen Harper and soon after, several supporters at the event, were given high ranking government jobs. Probably a coincidence right?
Tory Senator Leo Housakos, embroiled in an ethics controversy over a stimulus contract, is accusing one of his own Conservative caucus members of trying to trip him up.
Mr. Housakos blamed his troubles on “somebody in my own caucus,” and said, “I'm going to take care of him soon,” La Presse reported Wednesday. (Take care of him soon. Yikes!)
The Senate Ethics Officer, at Mr. Housakos's own request, is looking into the matter of a Montreal engineering firm for which the senator worked winning a $1.4-million stimulus contract. BPR and a consortium will be studying possible repairs or reconstruction of the aging Champlain Bridge.
Mr. Housakos's accusations about his own party were greeted with some amusement by other members, who said privately he is wasting time looking for enemies in his own fold.
A source said he told his colleagues at a Quebec caucus meeting Wednesday he had pre-cleared his business arrangements with the ethics officer in the past and that he wasn't even working for BPR when the company won the contract.
BPR and the BCDE consortium won the contract on Sept. 21. Mr. Housakos's declaration to the ethics officer said he left the company Oct. 1.
Mr. Housakos and BPR said he had nothing to do with the contract, and worked for BPR's wholly owned subsidiary TerrEau, which had no contact with the federal government. The 41-year-old senator wields important power in the party as one its key organizers in Quebec, skills he honed when he worked with Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay and as head of the Action Democratique du Quebec's fundraising arm.
On May 20, Mr. Housakos organized a major Conservative fundraiser in Montreal featuring Prime Minister Stephen Harper, for which he was roundly congratulated.
Some of the figures on the guest list that night would go on to be placed in high-profile government posts within a matter of weeks or months.
Among them:
Jean-Martin Masse: The lawyer and Montreal businessman was appointed to Via Rail's board of directors on June 19, 2009. He and Mr. Housakos were members of the Progressive Conservative party's youth wing and worked together within the ADQ. Mr. Masse was an executive at an advertising firm that provided technical assistance to Mr. Housakos to do business under the firm's name in Greece.
Nick Katalifos: a long-time Montreal school prinicipal was appointed to the Employment Insurance Board of Referees on Sept. 9, 2009. He and Mr. Housakos co-founded a small international consulting firm called Quadvision International.
Claude Carignan: the mayor of Saint-Eustache was appointed to the Senate on Aug. 27, 2009. He and Mr. Housakos worked together at the highest levels of the ADQ, where Mr. Carignan was a party co-founder.
Mr. Masse, the son of former Tory cabinet minister Marcel Masse, said he did attend the fundraiser in May, and that Mr. Housakos did do business with his former employer Zoom Media while he was there as vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs.
Mr. Katalifos did not return a call by The Canadian Press. But Mike Cohen, a spokesman for the English Montreal School Board, described him as one of the best-known and devoted of the board's principals.
Mr. Housakos is a close friend of Mr. Harper's senior aide Dimitri Soudas, and both previous worked together at Montreal City Hall. In 2007, he was appointed to Via Rail's board of directors. By December 2008, he had moved on to the Senate.
Mr. Soudas underlined in an interview that all the appointments were made by their respective government bodies, and only qualified individuals are selected. Mr. Soudas said in the case of Mr. Masse at Via Rail, his appointment was recommended by the transport minister. In the case of Mr. Katalifos, his appointment was overseen by the human resources minister.
Still, Mr. Soudas acknowledged that the government “indicated its preference” when the Port of Montreal, another federal arm's length agency, was trying to choose a new president in 2008.
Opposition parties are demanding questions about that stimulus money, after The Canadian Press reported that Mr. Housakos worked for BPR when they won the contract. The MPs are also asking about the appropriateness of two members of Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridge Inc. (JCCBI) also attending the fundraiser. The Federal Bridge Corp. Ltd. and JCCBI are looking into the matter internally.
But they're sure keeping bloggers busy trying to keep up with their crimes, and if you think that stench is just Ref-Con backfiring, it's not. Its the smell of burning motors from the media's spin machines, futilely trying to spin these into something credible.
Too late guys. Another Reform-Conservative has been caught with his hands in the cookie jar.
A Montreal firm landed a federal stimulus contract while a top Tory organizer and senator was on the payroll, The Canadian Press has learned. Senator Leo Housakos's employer, BPR Inc., was part of a consortium that won a $1.4-million engineering contract to study the future of Montreal's aging Champlain Bridge.
Public Works Minister Christian Paradis announced $212-million in funding for the bridge — and a competition for the engineering contract — on May 20, the same day Mr. Housakos was stage-managing a major Conservative fundraiser in Montreal. The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the guest list for one of the special VIP receptions that was held just before the main fundraising event. The 48-person list included four senior executives from BPR and the winning consortium, BCDE ....
When Harper announced last December that he would be appointing 18 new senators, it was more than just another broken promise.
We were in the middle of an economic crisis, so it was not very prudent, especially given the mess his government had made of the economy so far.
He has always campaigned on an elected senate and swore he would never ever make senate appointments.
Of course he also said he would never ever allow patronage, nepotism, partisanship or cronyism to determine any government positions. So I guess what this really proves, once again, is that Harper lies.
Though I thought of a new name for his party (he's already changed it from Reform to Alliance to Conservative): The Conservative Family and Friends Network Party. Catchy, isn't it?
Harper blasted for Senate picks PM's choices include 2 journalists, an athlete and a philanthropist December 23, 2008 Tonda MacCharles Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper has tapped the ranks of card-carrying Conservatives and others sympathetic to his agenda to fill 18 Senate vacancies, a move critics blasted as an abuse of power at a time when opposition parties are threatening to topple the minority government.
Harper's patronage appointments include broadcasters Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, a former separatist politician in Quebec, several defeated Tory candidates and other prominent Conservatives, including the party's chief fundraiser.
The appointments mark a change of heart for Harper, who has derided the Senate and tried to bring in reforms that would cap Senate terms to eight years, as well as start down the path to an elected Senate. But facing possible defeat in just a few weeks, Harper instead moved quickly to fill the existing vacancies with Conservative appointees.
David Christopherson, NDP democratic reform critic, slammed Harper's appointments as "hypocritical and undemocratic." "The problem is that it's filled with so many identifiable Conservative hacks," he said in an interview.
Christopherson said Harper should have waited until after Parliament resumes on Jan. 26 and it becomes clear whether the Tory government will survive threats by the opposition to defeat it.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff did not speak publicly yesterday. In a statement, he said, "in appointing 18 senators while Parliament is prorogued, Stephen Harper has shown once again that he cannot be trusted."
Christopherson (Hamilton Centre) called on Governor General Michaëlle Jean, who must ratify Harper's picks, to hold off until after that date.
He cited a letter by constitutional lawyers to the Montreal newspaper La Presse, saying that a "growing body of expert opinion suggests the Prime Minister may be violating the Constitution by making these appointments without the confidence of the House of Commons."
With another 11 spots due to come open because of retirements in the next 12 months, the Prime Minister will likely be making further appointments, an aide said, if he remains in power.
"Our objective is to get a majority of senators in the Senate who support reform. That is our objective. Once reform is passed, everyone will be standing for elections," he told reporters at a background briefing yesterday.
"Our government will continue to push for a more democratic, accountable and effective Senate," Harper said in a statement that accompanied the list of appointees.
"If Senate vacancies are to be filled, however, they should be filled by the government that Canadians elected rather than by a coalition that no one voted for," he said, referring to the Liberal-NDP coalition agreement that was signed before Harper sought prorogation of Parliament earlier this month to avoid a confidence vote.
Senators may sit until age 75, at an annual salary of $130,400.
There are 105 seats in the Senate. There are 58 Liberals, 38 Conservatives, three Progressive Conservatives, four independents, one independent New Democrat and one senator with no affiliation.
Duffy, 62, a long-time Parliament Hill journalist and host of a politics program on CTV, was named to the upper chamber as a representative for Prince Edward Island. He'll be joined by Wallin, 55, his former colleague, who more recently has served as Canadian consul general in New York City as well as on an independent panel that made recommendations about the future of Canada's Afghan mission. Wallin was a reporter for the Toronto Star from 1978 to 1980.
Nancy Greene Raine, 65, who won gold and silver medals in alpine skiing at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics and overall World Cup titles in 1967 and 1968, is also a new senator.
Also among those named are former federal candidates Fabian Manning, defeated in a Newfoundland riding in the recent election; John Wallace, former New Brunswick candidate in 2006; and Yonah Martin, a former B.C. candidate.
Irving Gerstein, credited with filling the party's war chest as head of the Conservative Fund, was named to an Ontario seat, as was Nicole Eaton, who chaired the past two party conventions.
The list includes Michel Rivard, a former Parti Québécois MNA who ran for the Canadian Alliance under Stockwell Day and is an organizer for the right-wing provincial Action démocratique du Québec. Asked about the optics of appointing a former separatist to the Senate, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office defended Rivard's appointment, saying "people are allowed to change their beliefs."
It also includes Leo Housakos, a prominent Greek Montrealer, long-time Tory supporter and party organizer who is a close friend of Harper press aide Dimitri Soudas.The federal ethics commissioner cleared Soudas and Housakos of allegations they intervened on behalf of a Montreal real estate developer involved in a legal dispute with the public works department.
The Senate appointments are a blow to Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory's political prospects at Queen's Park. Tory, who has been without a seat in the Legislature since losing the October 2007 election to Premier Dalton McGuinty's Liberals, had hoped one of his MPPs would be named to the Red Chamber. That would have opened up a seat for him to contest in a by-election.
Joyce Murray, Liberal critic on democratic reform issues, said the "key issue isn't who, it's what and the timing of this."
She said the Prime Minister's failure to honour his promise to only name elected senators, and to do so at a "time of historical lack of confidence in elected leaders," contributes to Canadians' cynicism about public life. The advocacy group Democracy Watch called the appointments a continuation of Harper's practice of "patronage politics as usual, in violation of his promises not to do so." Tories filled 25 other jobs
OTTAWA–The Harper government approved 25 appointments to federal pension tribunals and employment insurance boards a day after it tabled an economic statement that nearly led to its defeat in the Commons. Government records show the appointments, to agencies that are used as traditional patronage rewards for party faithful, went through cabinet on Nov. 28.
At least two of the appointments appear to have gone to known Conservatives – one to a party member who lost a Nova Scotia nomination for the October federal election and another to an Ottawa resident the NDP identifies as a well-known Conservative from New Brunswick.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper denied the government rushed the postings through because it feared it would be toppled in a confidence vote the Liberals had threatened for the following Monday.
First he made a fool of himself and the PM over his handling of the Communion debacle; then fed his boss a quote that led to yet another venomous attack against Michael Ignatieff, only to realize that the quote was in error, forcing Harper to do something he never does. Apologize.
However, this period in his political life may not have been the first.
With friend Leo Housakos, he attempted to make backroom deals for political gain.
One was in a court case involving a Montreal businessman and the Government of Canada; and the second was an attempt to secure a military contract for a Conservative supporter in exchange for political favours.
A joint investigation by the Globe and Mail and Radio-Canada is alleging that a member of the Prime Minister's Office and a Conservative fundraiser directly interfered in a pair of political dossiers. The report, which aired on the CBC's French-language service on Tuesday night, alleges PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas intervened in favour of a Montreal real estate developer currently embroiled in a lawsuit with the federal government, and sat in on a meeting with representatives of an international military contractor looking to sell its wares.
The report says Soudas directly intervened on behalf of Rosdev Group, a Montreal real estate developer currently embroiled in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit with the Public Works Department over the management of two office buildings that house thousands of civil servants.
The report also says Leo Housakos, a longtime Tory supporter and party organizer in Quebec, also intervened directly with the Public Works Department.
Rosdev's president, Michael Rosenberg, ran unsuccessfully for the Conservative party in the Montreal-area riding of Outremont in 2006.
Housakos told Radio-Canada he was trying to get the message across that it would be good for the government to help out Rosenberg, a party supporter.
Housakos said he never asked Soudas to intervene in the case. And Soudas said all he did was follow up on a question from a municipal councillor and send the file along to Public Works.
But sources told the television network that Soudas was attempting to buy time for Rosdev from its legal battles and to help a key Quebec political ally. Soudas, apart from his role as a spokesman, is also a key strategist for the prime minister on Quebec issues.
The report also says that Soudas was present during a meeting between Housakos and an unnamed military contractor looking for an edge in bidding with the government.
Housakos, also a former financial director for the Action Démocratique du Québec who was appointed to Via Rail's board of directors in December for a four-year term, was approached by the company. Soudas was also present at the meeting, the report says.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's deputy press secretary told Radio-Canada that he did not breach any code of ethics by being present at the meeting. Housakos told the Radio-Canada reporter he had no recollection of the meeting and never received any money to do any lobby work. Housakos is not a registered lobbyist, the report says.
Another PMO aide in hot water Harper brushes off allegations as staffer, party organizer accused of meddling in lawsuit January 31, 2008 Sean Gordon in Montreal Richard Brennan in Ottawa
Internal federal Conservative party rancour has spilled into public view amid accusations of arm-twisting and influence-peddling that have thrown the Tories' Quebec wing into disarray.
The ill will surrounds Dimitri Soudas, a spokesperson and Quebec adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Soudas's longtime friend Leo Housakos, a Conservative organizer who was named to the board of VIA Rail late last year. (He was also one of 18 new senators appointed by Harper in December)
Opposition MPs say Soudas and Housakos interceded in a protracted lawsuit involving a Montreal property developer, Rosdev, and the federal government, pressuring Public Works officials to opt for mediation rather than litigation.
"The facts are that Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for the Prime Minister, intervened on a government file.He ordered senior ministerial staffers, including a chief of staff, to attend meetings designed to influence a $50 million deal," Liberal MP Mark Holland (Ajax-Pickering) said in question period.
Soudas denied doing anything wrong, but conceded he made the unusual move of calling a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in August 2006 to discuss the file.
"The file was looked into; as you may have noticed, the issue was before the courts at the time, it remains before the courts today and basically, no favours were exchanged," Soudas told reporters.
Even so, the New Democrats have asked Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson to look into the matter.
The affair is further complicated by the fact the principals behind the development company are influential members of Montreal's Hasidic community, a constituency that has been ardently wooed by the Conservatives as part of a strategy to broaden the party's appeal to minority voters in Quebec.
Harper, who campaigned on bringing a new level of accountability and ethics to Ottawa, batted aside Commons questions from the Bloc Québécois, suggesting they had racial overtones.
"Mr. Speaker, the Bloc member mentioned the name of two people with Greek origins, an employee who works here in Ottawa and another who is a Conservative party supporter in Montreal. The fact they are two Montrealers of Greek ancestry does not mean there is a plot," he said. "This company didn't receive any benefits or special treatment," Harper said. (Harper was the only one who mentioned that they were Greek. That NEVER entered the into anything. He was clearly trying to imply to the Greek community that they were wooing, that the opposition parties were racist)
Duff Conacher, co-ordinator of Democracy Watch, said the imbroglio shows the hypocrisy of a government that vowed to clean up politics and end backroom deals.
"We are seeing from a government that promised to be honest, ethical, and open ... unethical behaviour and excessive secrecy. That is the definition in government terms of being hypocritical," Conacher said. Housakos angrily denied any wrongdoing. "I'm a bit furious with a lot of people ... it's an inside job and that's what hurts the most," he told the Star. He didn't elaborate, but it's clear he and others see the revelations as a vendetta orchestrated by people hostile to Soudas. Some allies point the finger of blame at Public Works Minister Michael Fortier, whose office has previously jousted with PMO insiders over policy and communications decisions. When asked about the Rosdev affair, Fortier said "there was no pressure put on me."
It's the second time in less than a week Harper's communications staff has been in the headlines. Sandra Buckler, Harper's director of communications, was forced to publicly admit to misspeaking when she told reporters the military had not informed the government it had suspended the transfer of prisoners to Afghan authorities.
The infighting is also symptomatic of a split within the Tory Quebec wing, where factions loyal to both the Quebec Liberal Party and the Action démocratique du Québec – the political home of Soudas and Housakos – jockey for supremacy.
Though Quebec Liberal Party stalwarts like Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon and Fortier had Harper's ear early on in the mandate, the situation has shifted.
Relations have cooled between Harper and Premier Jean Charest since the last provincial election, and the Tories have cultivated closer relations with ADQ Leader Mario Dumont. That made political sense last spring, when the nationalist, right-leaning ADQ surged to Official Opposition status and won in ridings coveted by the federal Tories. But a poll published yesterday showed Dumont has slipped 11 points behind the Parti Québécois and 7 points behind Charest.
Both men were eventually cleared but it shows a pattern of how these guys operate.
After saying that he would never appoint a senator, Stephen Harper appointed 18 of them in December, so terrified that if the Coalition took power, they would give Elizabeth May one of the seats. She had wiped the floor with him during the debates, and vindictive thing that he is, couldn't allow that to happen.
One of the men he appointed was a longtime Alliance/Reform/Conservative fundraiser, and friend of Harper's aide Dimitri Soudas, Leo Housakos.
Housakos had run for the Alliance Party under Stockwell Day in the 2000 election, and while the Party was gaining momentum, was thought to have a pretty good chance. While the Reform Party was always opposed to multiculturalism (and still are), the Alliance tried to exploit it (and still do)
Montreal Gazette 15 November 2000
Alliance strategists are basically hoping to attract three groups in the Quebec electorate: former Conservatives, soft nationalists from the Bloc Quebecois and voters from cultural communities. They think the seats in ethnically diverse Montreal neighbourhoods will make or break their march to power if the outcome is close. Giulio Maturi, a former chief organizer of Hugh Segal's Conservative leadership campaign in Montreal and now an Alliance organizer, said that as the election campaign picks up steam, so will the efforts of his party to target the cultural communities.
"Right now, we are approaching people from the cultural communities on an individual basis," Maturi said. "But as we get better organized, there will be a concerted effort to take our message to cultural communities of Montreal as a whole."
Leo Housakos is running against Liberal incumbent Raymonde Folco in the riding of Laval West, where 20 per cent of the voters are Greek.
However, the expected steam cooled off as scandal after scandal dampened Stockwell Day's chances. From buying his seat to allegations of kick backs; his dreams of becoming Canada's Prime Minister in 2000, fizzled.
At one point during the election campaign, when he thought that Jean Chretien would only win a minority, Day made a secret deal with the Bloc, to form a coalition to oust the Liberal chief.
But alas, that dream also died when the Liberals won a majority, and the Alliance only picked up an additional six seats, despite the fact that they had joined forces with the Reform Party who already had sixty. (Note: the Conservatives, Reformers and Alliance are all now under one blanket, the Conservative Party of Canada. Stephen Harper was with the Reform and Alliance wing)
As to the riding of Laval West, Liberal Raymonde Folco had 31,758 votes to Leo Houskos' 4,631.
