According to the way the Liberal's lawyers are interpreting the Income Tax Act, any amount a taxpayer gives to a political party is a monetary contribution under the Elections Act. In English, this means that no matter how you slice it, if you give a party money it counts towards your total. Of the 2,900 people who attended that little get-together last spring, the Conservatives had better hope none of them donated more then $400.00 over the rest of 2005.
How they are going to explain away the corporate donations is another story, as that's been completely illegal since 2004. If the Liberal interpretation turns out to be correct, the Conservatives are going to find themselves with quite a mess on their hands.
After an opening six months of proving they can be just as arrogant as any other party and have no conception of what the word accountable means, a nice little scandal involving illegal campaign contributions is just what's needed to get the ravens landing outside the windows on 24 Sussex, muttering under their breath words that sound suspiciously like "never more."
Article comments
1 - rob
Harper being so damned controlling of his MPs and suspicious of the media isn't going to endear him to the majority of Canadian voters, if anything, it will backfire. It smells of arrogance and deceit. To gain the public's trust, you have to open up to them. I'm surprised he hasn't figured that out yet.
2 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Richard,
Very interesting and informative. However a prime minister operates, he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. For example, had Harper been open with the press and tempering of his decisions, the press would have been all over him for indecision. I'm not defending the man, mind you, merely pointing out that when dealing with the press, it is always a Hobson's choice.
3 - Deano
"There's nothing that a party as corrupt and venal as the Liberals like more than being able to assume the air of violated virgins"
Nice turn of the phrase! Bravo!
4 - RealityBites
I am by no means a defender of Harper or the Conservatives, but in fact Harper has decisively ruled out the use of the notwithstanding clause - in effect admitting the entire exercize is a complete sham, a sop towards the ultra-lunatic fringe of his lunatic party - a group of people whose hatred of minorities is exceeded only by their gullibility.
Also, provinces haven't been quietly passing resolutions allowing equal marriage. There is no need for them to do so, as the definition of marriage is federal. All but two provinces allowed it before the passage of the federal law, as the result of court cases. Bill C38 forced the two remaining provinces (PEI and Alberta, where no court cases had been filed) to comply as well.
5 - Steve
I agree, Ruvy, no government can do anything right when partisans are the ones doing the criticising. Unfortunately, I have heard that some in the media have been proclaiming themselves part of the 'unofficial' opposition to the govt.
Which, of course, is way beyond what the role of the media is supposed to be (i.e. reporting the news). Alas, this idea spouted by some in the Ottawa press gallery has not appeared to receive much debate. Too bad.
After all, the more a govt. is criticised (fairly or unfairly), the more cynical the voting public will become. And the more secretive and untrusting a govt. will be with the media. It's a shame that some in the media fail to realise they are part of the problem.