Former lobbyist deems raids an act of revenge
BILL CURRY AND JANE TABER
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
April 17, 2008 at 5:21 AM EDT
OTTAWA — Raids at Conservative Party headquarters are an act of vengeance by power-hungry Elections Canada bureaucrats directed at Prime Minister Stephen Harper, says Gerry Nicholls, who worked with Mr. Harper at a lobby group that was heavily critical of Canada's election watchdogs.
For the second day in a row, Conservative Party headquarters was visited by officials executing an Elections Canada search warrant, creating a political frenzy on Parliament Hill and fuelling speculation about a spring election.
But Mr. Nicholls said this week's problems for the Conservatives date back to Mr. Harper's five-year hiatus from federal politics between 1997 and 2002, when he was president of the National Citizens' Coalition. Mr. Nicholls was vice-president for most of that time, and the duo regularly fought what they termed "election gag laws" that limit spending by third parties during campaigns.
"We were engaged in a blood feud with Elections Canada. It was a real war," Mr. Nicholls recalled. "There is definitely some bad blood, I think, between Harper and the bureaucrats at Elections Canada. And I think what happened [Tuesday] is just a continuation of that vendetta."
In a 2001 letter to NCC supporters, Mr. Harper wrote, "The jackasses at Elections Canada are out of control."
Mr. Nicholls, a freelance political commentator, who notes that he now is a vocal critic of Mr. Harper's government, cites that letter as an example of the kind of comments he believes Elections Canada has never forgotten.
In the Commons yesterday, the Prime Minister came under fire for the second consecutive day from Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and others. Mr. Harper repeated his government's assertion that his party disputes Elections Canada's concerns that Conservatives broke finance rules during the 2006 campaign.
"The Leader of the Opposition has lost ground. He has thrown away his ground on all his issues and now he is just throwing mud," Mr. Harper said.
Conservative ministers and MPs went further, suggesting Elections Canada is targeting the Tories in an act of intimidation.
"We further think it is unfair that it is an interpretation that applies only to Conservative candidates," Government House Leader Peter Van Loan said.
The Conservative defence had the opposition fuming, calling the remarks another example of how the Conservative government attacks independent federal bodies and citing the spat with the Nuclear Safety Commission.
"I think the Conservative Party is at war with our institutions," Mr. Dion told reporters. "Now you have a search warrant of two days now in their headquarters and their answer is to attack Elections Canada. This is very serious."
Earlier yesterday in a private meeting, Mr. Dion told his caucus the Liberals would defeat the government when he believes they can win an election.
Caucus members spent an hour yesterday posing with the leader for television commercials. MPs and senators crowded around Mr. Dion with television cameras recording. As well, two of his senior aides, Paddy Torsney and Eleni Bakopanos, left their positions on Tuesday.
Conservatives in court
While the Commissioner of Elections Canada is investigating whether the Conservative Party broke election financing rules during the 2006 campaign, the Conservative Party has launched a civil action against Elections Canada disputing the agency's interpretation of the rules.
It is not the only case where Conservatives have turned to the courts since forming the government in 2006.
April 11 The Conservative government requested a Federal Court ruling asking the court to block the Military Police Complaints Commission from holding public hearings over whether Canada turned prisoners over to Afghan security forces with the knowledge they may be tortured.
March, 2008 Prime Minister Stephen Harper filed a $2.5-million libel suit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the Liberal Party, claiming damages stemming from comments on a Liberal website about Mr. Harper and allegations that Tory officials attempted to bribe dying Independent MP Chuck Cadman before a key vote in the House of Commons.
November, 2007 Justice Minister Rob Nicholson sent a letter threatening legal action to Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla over comments she made about the Minister's role in Karlheinz Schreiber's deportation process.