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Feb. 15, 2006
Canada
Old Boys: Remembering Canada’s Conservative Party Network
by Angus McLeod
Stephen Harper was sworn in this month as Prime Minister as the first Conservative
to lead Canada in 13 years. There’s a reason why there has not been a Conservative
elected to the role in that long a time. For the last two decades, Canadians
have tried to forget the lies and scandals of the Conservative Party. Lies
that did not seem to end during the time Mulrooney was Prime Minister. As
Harper and gang take over Canada, for good or bad, it would not be a bad
thing to be reminded of what the Conservatives are capable of, so that we
may not be less vigilant of the Old Boys.
The Cover-Ups
In 1984, the Conservative Party was elected to the Canadian Federal Parliament
with the second largest federal Canadian majority ever (211 seats). Yet in
1993, when Mr. Mulroney had left the Federal Politics, according to some "his
personal popularity was lower than that of any other Prime Minister in Canadian
history," (See link).
One wonders how could such a promising leader, who could have greatly benefited
the Canadian people, how such a man could have plummeted so low in public
opinion? But, glancing into just a few of the scandals which involved the
"old boys" back-door political deals, and looking at Mulroney’s habit of
giving his supporters and friends plum government appointments, one can see
how the public sentiment may have changed. In fact, throughout Mr. Mulroney’s
Conservative Government’s rule from 1984 to 1993, Mulroney’s cabinet was marked
by one scandal after another.
Beginning in 1985, for e.g., Mulroney’s former Defence Minister, Robert
C. Coates was forced to resign from cabinet, "for breaching security by visiting
a strip bar in West Germany and chatted with strippers while he had secret
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) documents in his possession," (See
link).
Then came the next scandal, where Communications Minister Marcel Masses from
Mulroney’s Government was forced to resign after allegation of "voilations
under the Canadian Elections Act". The RCMP later exonerated him, however.
What came next was "Tunagate" when the Federal Minister of Fisheries
and Oceans, John Fraser, overruled the Fisheries Inspectors verdict
that some spoiled tuna as "not fit for human consumption or even fit for
cat food." (See link).
This possibly tainted tuna was allowed to be shipped to stores, however,
and it was removed from store shelves only after the scandal hit the airwaves.
The political situation barely had enough time to settle down before Mr.
Sinclair Stevens, the Minister of Regional Industrial Expansion, was forced
to step down following allegations of conflict of interest. In 1987, he was
found guilty on 14 counts by Justice William Parker. However, in 2004, "a
Federal Court overturned Mr. Stevens conviction having found that Justice
Parker’s definition of "conflict of interest" exceeded that in the guidelines
governing ministers in the Mulroney Cabinet, and also as Stevens’ behavior
had not violated the guidelines that governed him," (See link).
Just as the political wheel kept going around another scandal slammed into
the Conservative Party, as the Minister of Public Works, Roch La Salle, was
removed from his position of Minister of Public Works in 1987 "when he was
charged with accepting a bribe and influence peddling. He denied any wrongdoing,
but did not run in the 1988 election. The criminal case against him was eventually
dropped, (See link ).
With the slippery slopes of intergity now thrown to the side, the scandals
of the Conservative Party continued, as Michel Côté, Minister
of Supply and Services was "forced to resign from Cabinet, accused of being
in a conflict of interest due to a personal loan he accepted from a client
of the government," (See link).
Free Trade
In the 1988 Federal Canadian Elections, Canada had been divided into two
camps. One of the camps, comprised of mostly members of the Federal Conservative
Party, wanted free trade with the USA. While the other opposed free trade.
In this debate, Mulroney of courses belonged to the free trade camp, and with
a smoke and mirror routine, Mulroney and others in his party were constantly
pointing towards Canada’s inability to prosper without trade. How Canada’s
low population limited economic growth, and how the US economy bettered Canada’s
chances. Economic slowdowns had affected Canada in 1981-82, and the message
struck a nerve with the Canadians.
However, Mulroney had forgotten to disclose all of the information to the
Canadian people. By not disclosing all of the facts, in 1992, Mr. Mulroney
was allowed to finalize NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) with USA
and Mexico, which Mr. Chrétien later signed into law. In NAFTA
there was a "proportionality clause," and this "clause says that we (Canada)
can never decrease the proportion of our oil and gas production (that) we
send south of the border," (See http://thetyee.ca//).
Thus, Canada got tricked into becoming the USA’s main oil supplier. Judging
from the oil market in 2006, Canada could have quite easily survived without
depending upon the USA as a the main customer for its oil.
GST : One of the Most Hated Taxes
With the excuse of replacing an old "manufacturing tax" with a more modernized
tax that would bring the price of manufactured goods down, Mr. Mulroney’s
Conservatives brought out another tax in 1991 that was called the GST (Goods
and Services Tax. The GST, however, was later seen to be one of the
biggest Federal Government tax grabs from Canadians and nothing more.
(See link
)
Airbus Scandal
As though Conservative Party Cabinet had not lied enough, the Airbus scandal
surfaced. Right away, the allegations of possible kickbacks in the purchase
of Airbus Jets by Air Canada, led to an investigation into whether or not
Mr. Mulroney had directly accepted money in regards to this scandal. In 1995,
Mr. Mulroney won a lawsuit that he filed against the Liberal Party over allegation
that the Liberal Party had made against him. "Though there is no evidence
that Mulroney accepted kickbacks while Prime Minister, it was acknowledged
in 2003 that shortly after stepping down as prime minister in 1993, Mulroney
accepted $300,000 over 18 months from Schreiber. Mulroney claims that this
money was paid to him for consulting services he rendered to help promote
a fresh pasta business and develop international contacts for Schreiber. Mulroney
had not previously admitted accepting any commissions from Schreiber," (See
link).
To the people, who are not familiar with Karlheinz Schreber, he is a German
born lobbyist, fund-raiser, arms dealer and businessman (see link ). Since
1999, Schreber has lived in Canada, where he is a refugee and fights to avoid
being sent back to Germany to avoid facing charges on "allegations of fraud,
bribery and failure to pay $20 million in taxes to the German government on
commissions related to sales in the 1980s of Airbus jets."
Selling the Canadian Government to Chartered Banks
In the interest of big charter banks, the Conservative majority in parliament
eliminated "Statutory Reserves", which had been used in the past "for checking
and other short-term deposits that amounted to anywhere from 8 to 12 percent
and for longer-term deposits less." But, the Federal Government was required
to borrow the money from the Chartered Banks, which was paid back with an
interest rate every time, pushing Canada into debt considerably (See http://www.comer.org/).
Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accord
In order to gain power and win the Federal Canadian Election in 1984, Mr.
Mulroney made a deal with Quebec Separatists, in order to appear to be the
man who had brought Quebec into the Canadian Constitution which Quebec had
not signed. These special future promises of giving Quebec recognition of
"distinct society" and an "entitlement to a veto over any constitutional change"
threw Quebec’s support behind Mulroney, in the 1984 Federal Canadian election.
However, when it came time to collect on Mulroney’s promises under the Meech
Lake Accord, a few provincial politicians had seen the true dangers within
this Accord. And when it fell apart, Mulroney simply blamed the Premier of
New Foundland Clyde Wells for killing the deal, though the real fault lay
with NDP backbencher in the Winnipeg legislature, Elijah Harper (See http://thetyee.ca/).
In 1992, with the Charlottetown Accord, came the second attempt by Mr. Mulroney
to deliver on his promises to the Quebec Separatists: the promise of a national
referendum. No expense was spared on Mulroney’s side, as he marshaled together
his troops of big business, his media connections and numerous other connections
to win over the Canadians: an effort that did not work, however. (See http://thetyee.ca/.
In the years that have past, the failure of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown
Accord have only further driven a wedge between Quebec and other parts of
Canada.
What About The Liberals?
If the Conservatives come off as astute politicians the Liberals
are no better. In the next issue of Juryfury.com I will write about them.
Stay tuned.
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