Dipper blowhard Pat Martin up in arms on Power and Politics today screaming about Jason Kenney's parliamentary email being used for partisan purposes, which is definitely a no-no. Perhaps someone in the media might want to ask Martin his comments on this, or is it just against the rules when a Conservative does it ( kinda like the in-and-out bs).
H/T Alberta Aardvark
http://thealbertaardvark.blogspot.com/2011/02/linda-duncan-call-your-office.html
But it wasn't email Kenney's office sent out: it was a hard-copy letter & briefing note package on a partisan fundraising activity, that got hand-delivered that day, possibly to all the CPC MPs (plus this one they probably thought was the CPC MP Duncan) with the cover letter on a ministerial letterhead (against the rules) and being done by the taxpayer-paid staffer during office hours (against the rules).
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, fine, the fact that an NDP staffer used a Parliamentary email account was wrong, TOO.
But not AS wrong -- since a Immigration Minister's tapping MPs to dip into their own riding funds _does_ kinda smell of extortion, since one of the big functions of MPs is constituency work, which is mostly immigration related, whereas an NDP backbencher has no clout.
Extortion? Big word...isn't that SLANDER?
ReplyDeleteThis is an election strategy memo not a government policy paper. The Minister gave a request when he was out of the country to a staffer who didn't get it right. She has been fired. get your facts right....Is that you CBC?
Extortion = "Illegal use of one's official position or powers to obtain property, funds, or patronage"
ReplyDeleteand this action -- which, if not outright illegal, is certainly against the Parliamentary rules, and which the Tory talking points themselves condemns in no uncertain terms ("Using parliamentary or government resources for partisan activities is completely unacceptable") --
entailed invoking his position as the Minister of Immigration -- the Department to which all the MPs' considerable constituency work related to Immigration is directed -- to, shall we say, strongly encourage them to turn over some of their riding's funds, if they all want to win the election and stay in power (and if, as some might read b/w the lines, the want his Dep't's timely help on their constituents' files).
So, no slander here.