tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12218227.post113941506730455470..comments2024-02-12T05:46:36.595-05:00Comments on talk talk talk: Stephen Harper -- Alpha Male on the Hilltalk talk talk / Shireenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10453931641034885060noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12218227.post-1140053643599114022006-02-15T20:34:00.000-05:002006-02-15T20:34:00.000-05:00"Harper is reported to have called Brian Baby ofte..."Harper is reported to have called Brian Baby often during the election for advice."<BR/><BR/>This would not surprise me as Mulroney did achieve back to back majorities, quite the feat for Conservatives!<BR/><BR/>Since the appointments reminded me of Mulroney and Bouchard, Mulroney may very well be a Harper advisor and have suggested to Harper that he look outside of elected Conservative MPs.<BR/><BR/>I doubt though that we have a Harper-Mulroney government. Harper strikes me as a person who likes to be in charge and not be the front puppet for someone else.talk talk talk / Shireenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10453931641034885060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12218227.post-1139939870908341802006-02-14T12:57:00.000-05:002006-02-14T12:57:00.000-05:00Does Harper need new advisors? Or, the Mulroney g...Does Harper need new advisors? Or, the Mulroney grocery bag of money and Trojan Horse election:<BR/><BR/>The PM blew it with the two non-Tory-elected Cabinet appointments.<BR/><BR/> He moved fast, and some reports say he was not making this decision on his own – others advised him on them.<BR/><BR/>Does he need new advisors? <BR/><BR/>He is relatively green to the office of Prime Minister, and his experience as policy wonk and opposition leader does not necessarily equip him to represent all the people of Canada, including those in the large cities which did not vote any Tories into Parliament; therefore the quality of his advisors is rather important.<BR/><BR/>Are his advisors of the right sort? I spotted a preening Brian Mulroney on TV the night of the election, saying he would not comment on whether or not he was an advisor to the new PM, because he had learned that the easiest way to become an ex-advisor was to say you were one. He obviously signalled that he was one, and Harper is reported to have called Brian Baby often during the election for advice.<BR/><BR/>• A legitimate question for Harper: Did Brian Mulroney advise you on your two unusual Cabinet appointments (especially the Quebec one)?<BR/><BR/>• A second question: Is Mulroney the best advisor for a newly-minted PM, given his track record of leading the Conservative Party to the biggest implosion in recorded history?<BR/><BR/>Rafe Mair of thetyee.ca has an interesting snippet about Mulroney and a grocery bag full of money:<BR/><BR/>“Because of the news this week, permit me to digress. In various newspapers, over the past few years, it's been stated that Brian Mulroney took several hundred thousand dollars in a grocery bag from Karl-Heinz Schreiber, the Mr. Fix-it of the Airbus scandal. When the story appeared in the Globe and Mail about two years ago, it was in the weekend editorial on the second page by editor Ed Greenspon, who reported that Mulroney, far from denying this, begged him not to print the story and offered him a better one if he didn't. Now Mr. Schreiber has flatly denied Mr. Mulroney's statement that this shopping bag full of money was to help him open a pizza business. He says Mulroney was short of money and "…[Mulroney] was very simple and very stupid. Simple as that I gave him 300,000. Stupid in that he denied it…" This money, it's reported, came from a Swiss bank account. This leads to a bigger question. In 1995, the RCMP wanted to examine Swiss bank accounts looking for Brian Mulroney. In order to get cooperation from the banks, they had to compose a letter setting forth the reasonable grounds for the request. This request became public and Mulroney sued the government for $50 million. The government caved in and paid over $2 million to Mulroney in settlement. Some, including me, screamed blue bloody murder over this, but the establishment's captive press did no investigating and let matters lie. Now the CBC, God bless them, through Fifth Estate, have uncovered the $300,000 story and, it is hoped will follow up on the Swiss Bank Account caper.”<BR/><BR/>One further thought: If Mulroney is an important and trusted advisor of Harper, then have Canadian voters in effect elected a Harper-Mulroney government? <BR/><BR/>And did voters realize they were doing this, or is it – like the Vancouver and Quebec cabinet appointments – another case of a Harper Trojan Horse policy?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12218227.post-1139598316218254642006-02-10T14:05:00.000-05:002006-02-10T14:05:00.000-05:00I have some guesses!Given that all parties do dail...I have some guesses!<BR/><BR/>Given that all parties do daily polling and given the results were probably showing no Conservative seats in the big cities, and given that Harper, whatever his other motivations, wants to win a majority next time and needs seats in big cities to do that, he and his advisors probably started to strategize how they would get big city MPs in his cabinet -- before Jan. 23rd.<BR/><BR/>If it took them only 24 hours to approach Emerson, then they already knew -- before the election -- who they would approach and where; they'd already done their homework on possibilities. The 24 hours was simply a grace period...or they just all needed some rest!<BR/><BR/>Thinking about it, they probably approached a few, but the only one who was more power-hungry than respectful of the voters was Emerson; that may be why they went with a quickie Senate appointment with Fortier for Montreal. And they probably couldn't care less about Toronto, as no turncoat and no cadging a Senator from here. To me, Harper is behaving more and more like Joe Clarke, who thought so highly of himself and his ideas, he couldn't conceive that he'd be brought down if he didn't learn to work with other (parties).<BR/><BR/>I like your last point -- I'd like to know too.talk talk talk / Shireenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10453931641034885060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12218227.post-1139502467257033262006-02-09T11:27:00.000-05:002006-02-09T11:27:00.000-05:00A few questions which Mr Harper should answer, so ...A few questions which Mr Harper should answer, so that the voters have a clearer picture of the new government:<BR/><BR/>• How did the Tories know that Mr Emerson might consider changing parties?<BR/>• How many other Liberals, Bloc Q and NDPers were approached by the Tories to change parties, who were they, and were they offered any rewards for doing so?<BR/><BR/>Finally, if notes were taken of those discussions, or the talks were taped, are those notes and tapes going to be made public so that voters might judge for themselves whether the approaches were ethically done?<BR/><BR/>It would help if any members of the other parties who were approached – by anyone – to consider switching to the governing party, would come forward with details....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12218227.post-1139501057699121432006-02-09T11:04:00.000-05:002006-02-09T11:04:00.000-05:00Thank you! One thing I think all us Canadians shar...Thank you! One thing I think all us Canadians share is a love of political chat even when it drives us crazy. Thanks also for letting me know about your link. I've updated it.talk talk talk / Shireenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10453931641034885060noreply@blogger.com