Monday, August 17, 2015

The Mike Duffy affair - "What scandal?"

Colby Cosh: "If there’s a scandal in the Duffy affair, why can’t I spot it?"
"... If I ask what is actually scandalous about this, I am guaranteed to receive several different answers. The Conservatives are charged with having considered paying Duffy’s expenses out of party funds, which, I am told, are “public” in nature because they are supported by a tax subsidy. The Conservatives did, of course, contemplate using party funds … but didn’t. And those funds, though subsidized, exist precisely to be applied ad libitum for partisan convenience. ..."  [And, since when is it a crime to "consider" doing something?]
"... When media scalp-hunters say the Conservatives were trying to “avoid” or “tamper with” the Deloitte audit of Duffy, for instance, I find myself saying, “Well … yes: they wanted to make the audit unnecessary, to hold Duffy to the strictest view of his financial obligations.” Is that an illegitimate reaction to an audit?" ...



9 comments:

bertie said...

You can,t spot the scandal,because it is only a scandal in the minds of the MSM PM Harper haters and the parliamentary press gallery.Why this is even being brought up as a crime is beyond me.Duffy was apparently told his spending habits were OK by someone in the senate finance committee.He wouldn't just go spending this money if he knew he wasn't entitled to do it.And when it was found out it wasn't proper he paid it back.Case should be closed,where is the crime?

gord said...

It is not a scandal. It is a left-wing media witchhunt. They have no shame. And most Canadians aren't listening to them anymore.

Anonymous said...

The scandal is our media, defund the CBC Mr Harper.
The NDP owes us 4 million for their office scam Mr Muclair should be asked about that every time he shows his face in public.
Bubba Brown

Anonymous said...

Yep, the Media doing what they do, interfering in an election in a blatant and desperately cynical attempt to influence the outcome of the election. The Media don't care one bit whether Duffy is guilty or not guilty, as a matter of fact the Media's only concern with this case is whether they can inflict some political damage on the Conservatives while deflecting attention away from the incredibly dim leader of the "LIberals" and the citizen of France Mulcair. Canadians will see through this co-ordinated attack from the "Liberals", NDP and their Media and Union comrades.

Kensington1 said...

I have a difficult time figuring what is actually scandalous about how the PMO handled this matter. Nigel Wright, as the chief of staff, made a payment out of his own pocket to cover the expenses of a senator who reneged on a deal that could only benefit taxpayers. Where's the malfeasance. Oh, I know! The CBC and the opposition parties are camping out on the vain hope that they will eventually be able to show a conspiracy involving a cover-up. While the PMO managed this very vexing problem in a somewhat awkward fashion, due in large part to Duffy's intransigence, evidence clearly shows that it tried to resolve it in a fashion that did not compromise public ethics. Nothing to hide, especially when you consider that Duffy probably wasn't legally obligated to back those expenses anyway. By the way, it is Duffy who is officially on trial, not the CPC or even Nigel Wright, but ournational broadcaster is working overtime to attempt to whip up a media storm in that mythical court of public opinion. Give it a rest, guys, because I have this feeling that there is only a limited amount of credibility to your tactics.

Unknown said...

notice how silent the anti-Harper twitterverse is today...crickets...the Harper hating media and rabid lefties that dominate the internet are silent today because they have nothing else..all the other talking points ...eight straight deficits...highest federal debt in history...worst job creation record since ww2 ...have all been debunked ..... the old meanie pants mail clerk hiding in a closet coward offence is well past it's best before date..... the main stream media and the anti-harper pundits are now going to have to fill the dead air space with reasons why Canadians should elect a Quebec socialist from the most indebted Province in the country (public debt of $68,000.00 per Quebecois) to run this country during a time of financial insecurity...Duffygate was their last best hope and it will turn out to be a flop when nothing new or substantial is revealed.

bertie said...

Newswatch Canada has not updated in three days.NO NEWS I guess.That is the only place I go for news updates and the blogging Tories.Silence from the lefties is deafening.

Anonymous said...

Brenton, Where have these talking points been debunked? I've been waiting to hear the party slam these comments but I've yet to see any such feedback. The media party is the scandal in all this. It's absolutely sickening watching them twist and turn trying to bring our PM down. They won't stop! When they say that it is Harper trying to deflect attention away from the real issues it makes me sick. How can they not see that their beating this dead horse is the true deflection.

Anonymous said...

Brenton, Where have these talking points been debunked? I've been waiting to hear the party slam these comments but I've yet to see any such feedback. The media party is the scandal in all this. It's absolutely sickening watching them twist and turn trying to bring our PM down. They won't stop! When they say that it is Harper trying to deflect attention away from the real issues it makes me sick. How can they not see that their beating this dead horse is the true deflection.