Category: Other

Nova Scotia NDP scandal and who knew what when?

Nova Scotia is electing a government next week and you may know that the Nova Scotia NDP has a competitive shot at forming the next government in that province. For those that have been following the race, you’ll know that the Nova Scotia NDP has caused a bit of scandal that is starting to peak as we ramp up to e-day on Tuesday.

The NDP is a funny animal; the party is a national organization unlike other parties. The NDP in each province is the same organization as the NDP federally. This is different from the Conservative party, for example, which is exclusively a federal party. Yes, there are provincial sister organizations, but not branches. This could theoretically allow the NDP the potential to play a bit of a shell game when it comes to finances.

The provincial NDP has been caught in a funding scandal during this election regarding a massive influx of money on a single day of the campaign. The hive-like organization of the NDP spreads down to its union affiliates as well. On April 9th, a resolution at the Mainland Nova Scotia Building and Construction Trades Council was passed to reimburse member unions for their individual $5,000 donations to the NDP. Essentially, this packed the contributions into a $50,000 envelope and this was passed onto NDP party HQ. The scandal here is that what was essentially a $50,000 donation was made to look like 10 individual $5,000 donations (including one from the organizing union). The NDP received the cheques on the week of May 5th. Prior to this, they received a phone call to let them know these donations were coming.

The scandal broke on May 30th when a reporter got wind of what happened and called the NDP party office asking them about the donations. The party claimed to be unaware of the cheques. Two days later, the party felt it necessary to call a press conference to declare that they would return $45,000 worth of donations.

On June 3rd, Ed Wark, the NDP’s official agent, said he knew a sizable amount was coming from the trades council and nine unions after a phone conversation with union president Cordell Cole. This is a direct contradiction of Darrell Dexter’s story on Monday that the NDP just found out about these donations on the weekend. It is simply unbelievable that the NDP received $50,000 in one day after a single phone call from a union president and they claim that no one raised any questions. The Chief Elections Officer said “It appears that the contributions by the individual trade unions were improper because it was not money belonging to the trade unions – that it was being reimbursed by the umbrella organization to the individual unions,”

The next day, PC Premier Macdonald puts pressure on candidates to release full lists of donors. NDP leader Dexter agrees but refused to return the $5,000 from the Mainland Nova Scotia Building and Construction Trades Council. On the 5th, Dexter releases a two and a half page document of donations to the NDP. This apparent demonstration of accountability came a full five days after the scandal broke. The document itself shows nine union contribution (remember that nine other union contributions were returned). This means that the NDP stood to net double in their union contributions column if this scandal had not been brought to light. Further, the list of donations does not declare individual donors.

The scandal for the man who could become the next premier of Nova Scotia on Tuesday is that he and his party feigned ignorance of the massive $50,000 influx of money. In fact, on the day they were unaware of the union donations, they were aware that this was their best day for donations. Also, consider that a union rep called ahead to let the NDP know they’d be receiving the $50,000 envelope. How can Dexter or the NDP claim ignorance of the donations until an outside source was able to ask them tough questions regarding election financing?

Second interview with Tim Hudak

Tim Hudak is running to become leader of the Ontario PC Party. I had the opportunity to sit down (in Ottawa) and chat with Tim (at Queen’s Park) and talk about policy and politics.

In this interview I ask about the Harris endorsement, the membership snafu, Tim’s position on the HRCs and the LCBO and how he’ll continue building the party should he become the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.

July election on EI? Possible but quite improbable

Is there election fever in Ottawa? This seems to be the question on Parliament Hill whenever we move through the months of May and June in a minority parliament. Of course, the most fevered example was during the late months of spring in 2005 when Stephen Harper’s newly minted Conservative Party tried an assortment of creative parliamentary procedures to take down the Paul Martin government only to be upset by former Conservative leadership candidate Belinda Stronach when she crossed the floor to sit in cabinet.

But in June of 2009, months after an attempt by opposition parties to form a coalition government without vetting of the idea before the Canadian electorate and just months and a few weeks after that electorate returned Stephen Harper to power to deal with the global economic crisis, will we have yet another election?

From the MPs that I’ve spoken to, many believe that it is a real possibility with Michael Ignatieff tabling a confidence motion on Employment Insurance which will paint the NDP into a corner forcing them to support a vote of non-confidence in the government. For Jack Layton, leader of that fourth party in the House, his votes are critical to this government’s survival. Though Mr. Layton’s party is not poised to make any serious gains in an election held in the short-term any failure to deliver – in the context of an embarrassing collapse of the coalition game – will have the party grassroots looking to replace its leader. The next election will be Mr. Layton’s last if he does not perform. Mr. Layton needs more time to explain why he’s still fighting and build a real election plan. NDP executive director Brad Lavigne was in Washington last week meeting with senior Democrats to get a fix on both strategy and tactics. As for NDP confidence, they could easily save face if a number of their MPs had the flu on the day of Ignatieff’s confidence motion.

As for the leader of the Liberal Party, Mr. Ignatieff has an important objective; the man who ran second place to Stephane Dion in a leadership race doesn’t want to go into the summer looking like his leadership predecessor. You’ll recall that when Mr. Dion was leader of the party, his MPs were shamed and embarrassed as Stephen Harper rammed his legislation through while the Liberals feably sat on their hands. While Mr. Ignatieff doesn’t face a caucus revolt over inaction, he does want to appear as though he’s given the Conservatives a rough ride and his party will claim it as a victory as they go into the summer with their heads held relatively high. Strategically, going to an election in July wouldn’t be ideal for Mr. Ignatieff as a $5-6 million Conservative pre-writ ad buy defining the Liberal leader would be much more effective if the Conservative messaging is fresh in the minds of Canadians. On the other hand, despite a $50 Billion projected deficit posted by the Conservatives recently, the Canadian economy is starting to show signs of recovery. If Michael Ignatieff wants to defeat Stephen Harper in an election which which will certainly be defined upon the Conservatives’ traditionally perceived strength (taxes/economy), his advisers are likely telling him that this may be his best chance. Yet Michael Ignatieff’s only visible policy proposal on this has been EI reform.

As for the Prime Minister, he will only precipitate an election if he believes that he can orchestrate a majority win. Many observers now agree that the dissolution of parliament previous to the last election was a defensive measure by the Prime Minister as he read the global economic indicators and found himself staring into an abyss about to rattle Canadians. If we are to have an election, it will be because the Prime Minister would have allowed it; either allowed himself to fall on a Liberal confidence motion, confident on the framing on an election on EI, or because he will orchestrate a political crisis which will upend the polls. For example, polling is moot if the Prime Minister were to frame an election on cutting public subsidy for political parties with the $50 billion deficit to back him up as to why. “If an election were to be held today” is a pointless question when elections are framed, campaigns are waged and events occur to shape electoral intent during a 36 day writ campaign.

An election based upon EI is a ruse. It’s a ruse because it splits voters into two politically inequitable camps: the employed and the unemployed – the latter won’t deliver a win for Ignatieff. It’s a ruse because most Canadian voters have paid more into EI than Michael Ignatieff as the Liberal leader filed his tax returns to British exchequers and American secretaries of the treasury for thirty four years. It’s a ruse, because the man who came second to Stephane Dion is only trying to appear that he has already bested him now after just a couple months as Liberal leader. An Liberal triggered election on EI is a ruse because the Conservatives occupy an entire side of the debate, the other parties will be fighting each other to stake out their position on the issue. Finally, the Liberals need to rebuild their party. They are still only raising money at par with the NDP and of their nominations, I’ve heard that they still have about 200 spots to fill.

An election in July? A dreadful prospect for any opposition party and not ideal for the PM unless the man best positioned to set the stage can line up a major win.