Canuck Politics

April 15 to 17, 2008 -The RCMP searched Conservative Party Headquarters executing a warrant obtained by Elections Canada.

Elections Canada has not revealed the reason for the raid, and the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant has been sealed in a Toronto court.

The RCMP say the Mounties were merely assisting with the Elections Canada warrant:

It is not an RCMP investigation. We’re there to assist, but that’s it.

- RCMP Cpl. Jean Hainey

The Conservative Party is suing Elections Canada over an August 2007 ruling by the agency that disallowed rebates claimed for election spending during the 2006 election.

Conservatives claim other political parties follow the same practices, and they accuse Elections Canada of applying different standards to the Conservative Party.

MacKay Editorial Cartoons: Much is at stake for Elections Canada

The Tories say Elections Canada improperly seized confidential legal documents related to their civil dispute, and they claim the timing of the search is suspicious coming just one day before Elections Canada officials were to be cross-examined by Conservative lawyers.

The situation has led to speculation that Elections Canada is acting out a vendetta against Conservatives over past disagreements.

Links:

• Stephen Harper’s August 2001 fundraising letter in which he says “the jackasses at Elections Canada are out of control.”
  

Tags: election spending, Elections Canada, free speech, Gerry Nicholls, Jack Layton, James Moore, Michael Ignatieff, Peter Van Loan, Ralph Goodale, RCMP, Stéphane Dion, Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair

February 15 to 27, 2007 - The government lost their motion to extend measures of the Anti-Terrorism Act due to a sudden and unexplained change in the Liberal position.

There was speculation that Stéphane Dion’s sudden policy change was influenced by indo-Canadians in the Liberal Party led by Navdeep Bains, who delivered some 250 delegates to Dion at a crucial point in the 2006 Liberal leadership race.

Having won a Supreme Court challenge in 2003, the RCMP was proceeding with investigations into the Air India attack using the now expired “Investigative Hearings” provision of the Act.

In the House of Commons, the Liberals prevented Harper from reading a Vancouver Sun article reporting that Bains’ father-in-law is on a list of people the RCMP would like to question using the now expired “Investigative Hearings” provision.

Despite whipping the vote, 14 Liberal MPs did not vote along party lines. One Liberal MP broke ranks and voted with the government, one abstained, and twelve were absent from the House during the vote.

Tags: fake outrage, flip flop, Michael Ignatieff, Navdeep Bains, Ralph Goodale, RCMP, Stéphane Dion, terrorism

February 21, 2007 - Liberal MPs feign indignation, demand an apology, and repeatedly shout down Stephen Harper when he tried to read from a newspaper article during Question Period.

The Vancouver Sun reported that the father-in-law of Mississauga-Brampton South Member of Parliament Navdeep Bains is on an RCMP list of potential witnesses who may be compelled to testify about the 1985 Air India bombing.

The RCMP’s ability to compel witnesses to testify provided under the Anti-terrorism Act was about to be renewed when the Liberal party suddenly changed their position and allowed the Act to expire.  There was speculation Dion’s sudden decision was influenced by indo-Canadians in the Liberal party led by Navdeep Bains, who delivered some 250 delegates to Dion at a crucial point in the 2006 Liberal leadership race.

Tags: Air India, Bill Graham, fake outrage, hidden agenda, Michael Ignatieff, Navdeep Bains, Peter Van Loan, Ralph Goodale, RCMP, Stephen Harper, terrorism