Conservatives are corrupt too

[slowpoke]

I just spotted this little tidbit. Seems that the Danny Williams PC's in Newfoundland have their own little scam going. Just like sponsorship, they were caught by their auditor-general. It wasn't that long ago that many of you were whining about our corrupt Liberal gov't and were convinced that the conservatives were the only way to clean up Dodge City. If only life was really that simple:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2006/06/27/audit-companies.html

$2.6 million paid for pins, magnets: N.L. auditor
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 | 4:57 PM NT
CBC News

Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general is questioning why more than $2.6 million in government funds was paid to three companies for items such as lapel pins, fridge magnets and key chains.

John Noseworthy reported Tuesday that more money was paid to a fourth company connected to a suspended senior official at the house of assembly.
"This is unprecedented," Noseworthy told reporters at a news conference. "I've never seen anything like this in my career."

Noseworthy's office found that payments totalling $2,651,644 were made between 1999 and 2005 to Zodiac Agencies, JAS Enterprises and Cedar Scents International for promotional materials.

Noseworthy said the money was spent largely on "low value novelty items," as well as a number of more expensive items, such as customized gold rings for members of the house of assembly.

However, Noseworthy told reporters his staff could find no evidence that the items ever existed......

see link for the full story

 

[lustyhombre]

Do I understand you correctly :

" we should have left the Fed Libs in power because the NF Cons have dirt on their boots as well "

???

Isn't it almost tragi-comical to discuss perverted political morals in a forum like terb ?

O tempora , o mores........

 

[slowpoke]

Do I understand you correctly :

" we should have left the Fed Libs in power because the NF Cons have dirt on their boots as well "

???

Isn't it almost tragi-comical to discuss perverted political morals in a forum like terb ?

O tempora , o mores........

No you clearly don't understand. Maybe you should read my post again. You'll see that the statement you've put in quotations isn't mine so it is more than a little bogus for you to show your own spin as if it is mine.

Maybe we all grow up a bit and stop thinking in oversimplistic black and white terms. There are quite a few on this board who feel that conservatives are, almost by definition, more honest than liberals. This was abundantly clear during the last federal election. Of course I wasn't suggesting that we should have kept Martin in power because of this NF scandal (that wasn't even public during the election). What kind of an idiot would even suggest such a thing? I wasn't suggesting anything beyond the obvious conclusion that conservatives can be just as corrupt as liberals. How hard is that?

 

[someone]

I’ve been following this a bit and it seems to be that members of all parties are corrupt in Newfoundland as Noseworthy (Auditor General) has also found that liberal members and a NDP member (there are only 2 NDP members so 1 is 50%) are also involved in claiming many thousands of more in expenses than allowed. I would say that Noseworthy is earning his salary! I think that corruption is a problem in the Atlantic provinces, generally.

Edit

Noseworthy's office found that payments totalling $2,651,644 were made between 1999 and 2005 to Zodiac Agencies, JAS Enterprises and Cedar Scents International for promotional materials.

The conservatives have only been in power for the last couple of years in Newfoundland. 1999-2005 were mainly liberal years.

 

[xdog]

I would say corruption is a problem in all gov't's. Until people are serious about getting rid of corruption, it will exist. These auditors should have the power to lay charges.


x

 

[slowpoke]

Amen to that. Sheila Fraser too. If there was no chance of getting caught, the temptation to pull a quick scam would be too great for most people to resist. How many honest people would there be if it weren't for clear laws and strict enforcement? Probably very few. The fact that members from all 3 parties are being found corrupt is no surprise. What is surprising is how anyone could be gullible enough to think one party would be cleaner than another. Even with the latest guidelines and controls, there will ALWAYS be somebody who thinks they can beat the system.

 

[lustyhombre]

slowpoke : I realize that what I quoted in paranthesis put words in your mouth which you didn't utter ( you may have thought them , but you surely didn't write them ) . I apologize.....

A wise man once said " power corrupts , and absolute power corrupts absolutely " ?

Clearly , whoever has the power to decide how somebody else's ( read : taxpayer's ) money is spent is targeted by all sorts of temptors . Doesn't matter which party you belong to , once you are in power you become a target . It takes a man or woman of impeccable moral fibre to resist temptation ; regrettably, many people lack that quality and give in........some get caught and some get not.....

 

[dreamer]

The Conservatives did not come into power until October 2003, so to be fair they just continued with the game.

 

[CTSblues]

An honest man would never survive in the Machiavellian world of politics. Politicians of all political stripe have more in common with each other than they are with us. Don't let their game of musical chair make you think otherwise. Regardless who is in power they still win. We suckers who take them seriously are the losers.

 

[SPQR]

Power corrupts. True back back when it was said for the first time, still true today.

I have hated, and I stressed the word HATED the conservatives for oh so many years, but never for this reason. They are all cut from the same cloth. I almost expect every government to be corrupt. Sad but true.

As I said, I will vote the devil I know than the devil I don't know. Harper might as well be selling candy out of a Mustard gas factory, I wouldn't look at him any different. All financial scandals aside, I am more worried what they would actually do to this country when they actual implement policy. Then we can all get greeked.

I got to give them one thing though, sucking up to Quebec to secure a majority in the next election, looks like Harper likes greek too. I just became a seperatist.

 

[Never Compromised]

Statement by Conservative Party on Convention Fees

The Party's convention arrangements in 2005 fully respected the law.

The fees we charged our delegates to attend did not exceed the costs of running the convention. The fees covered such things as meals, hall rental, security and the like, and there was no net revenue earned by the Party. Consistent with interpretations of the Elections Act and the Income Tax Act issued by Elections Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency and applied many times in the past concerning the price of admission to political events, receipts for a political contributions were therefore not issued for any part of the delegate fee.

The President of the Treasury Board, the Honourable John Baird, was quoted, correctly, as saying that the Party did not issue tax receipts for the 2005 convention. He made no statement that the Party thereby did anything contrary to political financing legislation.

Michael D. Donison
Executive Director
Conservative Party of Canada

 

[dreamer]

The fees we charged our delegates to attend did not exceed the costs of running the convention.

If the Conservatives are right about their interpretation, then maybe they should also close that loophole. Donations to political parties are used to cover all expenses of the party, including conventions. Not to classify it as a donation opens up a back door for abuse.

 

[someone]

More on the all party curruption in NL: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060704.wnfldfunds0704/BNStory/National/home

 

[gabeti]

They all like to make deals, accept money for services... perhaps with very few exceptions.
One good reason that new people should be elected come election time... the less they get entrenched the better!