Thursday, May 10, 2007

More Trouble For Defence Minister O'Connor

...in the form of a key player in O'Connor's riding association quitting amid allegations of "corruption". Party organizer J.P. Dorion claims:

...he witnessed earlier this year that one of O' Connor's constituency employees, Glenn Trebble, had been using office computers to do party taxes and fulfil Elections Canada reporting requirements.

[...]

Dorion raised red flags with the riding president Steve Liakos, but ultimately was unhappy with the response. The riding association had written a cheque to the government for $9 to defray the costs of printing the paperwork.

"This is corruption from the bottom," Dorion said in an interview. "We brought it up with Mr. O'Connor last month, he said he would look into it, and he didn't."

It took the Liberals 13 years to achieve a level of decadence the Tories are already approaching after...what?...13 months in power.

15 comments:

Jeff said...

lol...seems like small potatoes to me but i guess it can't help o'connor much.

bigcitylib said...

Actually, Dorion mentions in the article how they went after Dingwall for 97 cents worth of gum.

Red Tory said...

Nine dollars? You have got to be kidding me.

Petty little cheap shots like this make the accuser look ridiculous.

The words “beneath contempt” come immediately to mind.

Anonymous said...

"It took the Liberals 13 years to achieve a level of decadence the Tories are already approaching after...what?...13 months in power."

$350 million in the sponsorship scandal, or a local EDA being proactive and upfront in reimbursing the office for $9 after hastily fixing the books after the accuser spent a year messing them up.

You're absolutely right, BCL. No exaggeration necessary. Despite the accuser's personal agenda, these guys are just as bad as the Grits! (minus $349,999,991)

A Conservative source said Dorion has an axe to grind with the riding association because it failed to throw resources behind his failed bid for Ottawa city council last November. The source said Dorion had also expected to get a staff job with O'Connor after working on his election campaigns and was left disappointed.

Anonymous said...

In other words, he's crying because Tories don't reward cronies like the grits do. he thinks he's entitled to his entitlements, and he belongs in your party.

Anonymous said...

The CPC bragged and painted themselves as purity - so they have to take what comes with it.

$9.00 seems hardly worth the stink though.

susansmith said...

It's like adding an annoying fly, one that you just want to swat away, not a big deal, but soooooooo annoying.
More to the point, pride before the fall, people who live in glass houses, putting oneself on a pedestal....
No big deal that 9 bucks. This is the same govt with their baying dogs who slam poor people, call them lazy, say they should get real jobs, often suggest that there should be no minimum wage, so yeh, in that context, 9 bucks is a big deal.
Unless of course, they want to change their sorry tune.

Darren McEwen said...

Who cares if it's nine dollars or nine cents.

It's against the rules for crying out loud!

Signing up dead people to vote in leadership races or elections costs us probably less but it's still not allowed. Writing emails pretending to be an MP or someone you aren't doesn't cost a dime but it's still not ethical.

We're talking principal, not pennies here people.

Anonymous said...

Actually Darren, it is not against the rules or the law. Constituency offices have had partisan work done in them countless times, and as long as the work is paid for at the market rate, there is nothing wrong with it. I give them credit for at least paying for the printing before anyone asked them to.

I am still waiting for the Liberals to pay back the $38.5 Million from the Sponsorship Scandal.

Anonymous said...

You're presuming that $38 million was taken by the Liberals. It's missing in the books, but until they find out where it went it's speculation.

But again, Tories like to spin allegations.

Darren McEwen said...

So is Ditchburn wrong in reporting,

Using staff to do political work during government hours is not allowed under Elections Canada rules.

JimBobby said...

"Using staff to do political work during government hours is not allowed under Elections Canada rules."

That rule only applies to crooks.

Anonymous said...

Darren: yes, it was during government hours, but it was on Glenn Trebble's day off. He works in the office two days a week and came in to fix what JP screwed up before he quit the assoc. in a hissy fit. He did a full day of work and was not paid.

Tories are likely laughing that this is the worst skeleton you're found.

Ti-Guy said...

Oh, stop lying.

Darren McEwen said...

Yah, they're laughing that it's the worst skeleton we've found because they damn well know there are others in that closet just waiting to fall out. And as every day passes this week the hinges fall further off that closet door and more bones keep flailing out.

I adore how Conservatives now use lines that come out and say "it might have been bad but it's not as costly as Adscam."

The tune keeps changing.

It's almost like reliving,

"We're going after the WMD's"

"OK now we're going after Saddam"

"ummm ... we're going to bring democracy to the people"

"ahhh shit... well.... we can't leave now!"