Politics in 2017

[Kirkhill]

Are you honestly comparing Master corporal Bloggins hitching a ride as cargo on a Herc from Trenton to Ottawa that is going that way in any event to save a one way bus fare over the week-end with a minister of the state getting a ride for free specifically for him, that is worth thousands of dollars, where the minister may or may not be in a position to favour the provider with large amounts of public funds in return?

And the difference between hitching a lift in the back of a Herc utilizing crew training hours and in the back of a Challenger is....?

I'm not suggesting that it isn't worthwhile giving Bloggins the perq occasionally nor am I suggesting that the Minister be given priority crew hours.  I'm just suggesting that life is grey.  Or purple.

 

[jollyjacktar]

On the other hand - have none of you hitched a lift with a service aircraft going your way?

No, never.

 

[Edward Campbell]

According to an article in the Globe and Mail, LGen(ret'd) Andrew Leslie is getting a promotion to be parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs Minister and, despite not being a minister, even a very junior one, to be on the cabinet committee dealing with US affairs.

 

[Good2Golf]

I thought that Parliamentary Secretaries were included in the Ministerial group, and that while they were not members of Privy Council, per se, they had a number of restrictions placed on their conduct that one would otherwise also see placed on Privy Councillors.  No?

Regards
G2G

 

[Lumber]

Come on guys, we don't live in a communist country; whether you like it or not, we have de facto socio-economic classes. The PM is cut from a different clothe than the rest of us. He was born into money and continues to enjoy it. Let him. I have no fair tale illusions about everyone in this country making the same amount of money and getting the same opportunities as everyone else; life wasn't meant to be fair.

Being in public office is a tough job, especially with everyone criticizing every move and decision you make. There should be a few perks, like free flights, and nannies.  :2c:

 

[Remius]

I don't think that's the issue Lumber.  And yes you are right.  he's the PM.  The PM should have resources available to him/her to be able to do their job which is 24/7.  this should include things like residences, private aircraft and whatever support required.

I could care less what socio economic class he's from.

But, he should drop the act and stop pretending that he can relate to the normal average person.  He can't and never will.  He didn't come from that and will likely never become that.  His sob story about how he can understand the plight of immigrants because his Scottish grandfather (Sinclair by the way) told him stories about how hard it was when he came here at 3 years of age shows how out of touch he is.

Stop pretending to be something your not.  Just be yourself and do what you can for the country.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Lumber,
It is difficult to know if you are being sarcastic, or not.

I actually do not care if the PM uses the Challengers for family holidays. That is what that entire Sqn exists for.

I don't care that he has publically funded nannies.

What I do care about is the Law. Specifically, in this case, the one that states that no Minister of the Crown shall accept a ride in a privately owned aircraft, except in exceptional circumstances.

The Law may or may not be an ass, but the Liberals could have changed it in year one, if they wished. They did not. Consequence time, I would expect...

 

[Lumber]

I don't think that's the issue Lumber. 

Yea, my bad, I forgot this was still about the Aga-Khan helicopter ride thing.

 

[Lumber]

Lumber,
It is difficult to know if you are being sarcastic, or not.

I actually do not care if the PM uses the Challengers for family holidays. That is what that entire Sqn exists for.

I don't care that he has publically funded nannies.

What I do care about is the Law. Specifically, in this case, the one that states that no Minister of the Crown shall accept a ride in a privately owned aircraft, except in exceptional circumstances.

The Law may or may not be an ***, but the Liberals could have changed it in year one, if they wished. They did not. Consequence time, I would expect...

Not being sarcastic, but I do agree that there's too much conflict of interest for this to have been a smart decision for the PM to make.

However, I doubt there will be any consequences, and I think it's entirely possible that there is only the semblance of wrongdoing, without anything wrong having actually happened (meaning it could have been just a family trip, not a one-on-one lobby sesh with the ol' Aga).

 

[Jarnhamar]

[quote author=Lumber]  and I think it's entirely possible that there is only the semblance of wrongdoing, without anything wrong having actually happened (mean it was just a family trip, not one on one lobby sesh with the ol' Aga).
[/quote]

Minus the optics of liberals giving Aga's organization 55 million dollars over 5 years.

 

[Lumber]

Minus the optics of liberals giving Aga's organization 55 million dollars over 5 years.

You mean they're donating money to a philanthropic organization with a phenomenal track record of providing developmental assistance around the world?!?!

Say it ain't so!

:gloomy:

 

[Remius]

Not being sarcastic, but I do agree that there's too much conflict of interest for this to have been a smart decision for the PM to make.

However, I doubt there will be any consequences, and I think it's entirely possible that there is only the semblance of wrongdoing, without anything wrong having actually happened (mean it was just a family trip, not one on one lobby sesh with the ol' Aga).

Right.  The bad press is the only consequence that will come of this.

they did break the rules though with the helicopter ride unfortunately and tried hiding it or avoiding dealing with it.  It's also whether they knew it was wrong but still went ahead and did it anyways.

ultimately Canadians likely don't care too much.

 

[Lumber]

Right.  The bad press is the only consequence that will come of this.

they did break the rules though with the helicopter ride unfortunately and tried hiding it or avoiding dealing with it.  It's also whether they knew it was wrong but still went ahead and did it anyways.

ultimately Canadians likely don't care too much.

My money is on legitimate naivetém due to lack of experience.

 

[Remius]

My money is on legitimate naivetém due to lack of experience.

Well in his case sure.  But not his staff nor his office. It's their job to know this stuff.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

You mean they're donating money to a philanthropic organization with a phenomenal track record of providing developmental assistance around the world?!?!

Say it ain't so!

:gloomy:

I think you are missing the point Lumber.

The Aga Khan is a registered lobbyist at the Federal level. The good work they do is irrelevant. What would you say if, next year, the PM and his family was provided with a free private holiday worth tens of thousands of dollars by Amnesty International? Or Mercy Ships Africa? Or UNICEF? or Doctors Without Borders? Would accepting any such trips be acceptable?

And right now, can any of these organizations that also do great work around the world and also lobby Canada for support funds honestly believe that the Aga Khan is NOT getting favoured treatment from the government of Canada on how it splits the set amount that Canada has elected to spend on such organizations - or that budget crunch comes to shove, they will NOT be the ones cut off from public funding first, before the Aga Khan?

As I have said earlier, nobody forced Trudeau to become PM - he made that decision all by himself - and it has consequences on how you deal even with your friends. Don't like it: Don't stand for office.

 

[Lumber]

I think you are missing the point Lumber.

The Aga Khan is a registered lobbyist at the Federal level. The good work they do is irrelevant. What would you say if, next year, the PM and his family was provided with a free private holiday worth tens of thousands of dollars by Amnesty International? Or Mercy Ships Africa? Or UNICEF? or Doctors Without Borders? Would accepting any such trips be acceptable?

And right now, can any of these organizations that also do great work around the world and also lobby Canada for support funds honestly believe that the Aga Khan is NOT getting favoured treatment from the government of Canada on how it splits the set amount that Canada has elected to spend on such organizations - or that budget crunch comes to shove, they will NOT be the ones cut off from public funding first, before the Aga Khan?

As I have said earlier, nobody forced Trudeau to become PM - he made that decision all by himself - and it has consequences on how you deal even with your friends. Don't like it: Don't stand for office.

No no, I get the point, I'm just starting to wonder if our procurement system would be better off if we just gave our contracts to the vendor who supplied our civil servants with the most cookies.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Are you kidding!!! We'd never get warships built by anyone else than Irving: You just can't beat those Nova Scotia grannies in a cookies bake-off.  [

 

[dapaterson]

Are you kidding!!! We'd never get warships built by anyone else than Irving: You just can't beat those Nova Scotia grannies in a cookies bake-off.  [

So the net change would be...

 

[Lumber]

So the net change would be...

That we get ships sooner.

 

[Lightguns]

Are you kidding!!! We'd never get warships built by anyone else than Irving: You just can't beat those Nova Scotia grannies in a cookies bake-off.  [

Who else in Canada do you want to build ships in Canada?