Those wacky Canadian Conservatives: Candidate faces smuggling charge

[Newsjock]

Learning well from their U.S. benefactors, I see.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060111.wsmuggling0111/BNStory/specialDecision2006

Canadian Press

The Conservatives were unaware that one of their candidates in British Columbia is due to appear in court next month on smuggling charges, CTV News reported Wednesday.

If convicted, Derek Zeisman, a former trade commissioner for the federal government, now running in the Southern Interior riding formerly held by Conservative MP Jim Gouk, could end up in jail.

... In July 2004, Mr. Zeisman was crossing into British Columbia from the United States when Canada Customs charged him with attempting to smuggle in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle and 112 containers of alcohol, CTV reported.

Mr. Zeisman is also accused of lying to Canada Customs about the incident.

more

[AX10]

1. Sadly, there is a chance these pigs will control Canada soon.

[hopeisaplace]

2. omg..I'm so upset about that prospect

don't bring it up :cry:

[AX10]

3. How is the media in Canada?

It seems tilted to right from what I am seeing.

[hopeisaplace]

4. It's looking like they may be bought and paid for as well

..at least that's the impression I'm getting lately..it's weird.
They spend a ton of time discrediting the Liberals and very little
time in talking about WHO Steve Harper and the Conservatives are,
their policies...some media guys are "laughing off" the accusation
that Harper is in Bush's pocket..they sort of smirk off the Harper/Bush
connection..and I can't believe that!

[AX10]

7. I knew it. HeyHey is DEAD WRONG on this one.

Your media has been bought off just as ours has been. From what I've seen, I see a clear campaign to discredit the Liberals, just as the media worked to discredit Al Gore during the 2000 campaign.

DAMN IT!

[hopeisaplace]

8. Well that's the impression I'm getting here..and I watch

a lot of news...it really seems like a planned effort
(it's weird..I feel as though the media knows something the public
doesn't and are trying to shove conservatives down our throat, so to
speak)

[AX10]

9. Just like in 2000.

The neo-cons have gotten into Canada. This is just horrific.

[JohnyCanuck]

10. Even the gutless wimps at the CBC are in on it.

The CBC shitcanned a documentary program they had scheduled on a famous Canadian politician, Tommy Douglas, who was instrumental in introducing government provided health insurance for all Canadians. The reason they gave for the cancellation was that it was too close to the election and could be seen as undue influence on the political process.

However the SOBs at CBC turn around and run some garbage wingnut, smearjob documentary implying that the Canadian health care system is on it's last legs and about to collapse if we don't allow privatization.

CBC television has made a decision to show 'Medicare Schmedicare' thursday night, while at the same time deciding it would be inappropriate to air a program on Tommy Douglas during the election campaign]

We are writing to draw your attention to two disturbing revelations
involving the CBC. They are:

(1) First, the CBC has cancelled the showing of a new movie about
Tommy Douglas - until after the election! See the exposé below by John
Doyle of the Globe and Mail.

(2) Second, to make matters worse, tonight they will be airing a
smear-job on Medicare called "Medicare Schmedicare". The playing of
this biased and ideological attack on Medicare - combined with the
cancellation of a special movie on the life of Tommy Douglas, is
unacceptable.

<snip>

The Globe and Mail
November 30, 2005
Election delays Douglas biopic

By JOHN DOYLE

The first casualty of an election campaign is, what -- truth, courtesy, sanity? Well, the first casualty of this Canadian election campaign is the excellent CBC-TV miniseries Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story. Originally scheduled to air on Jan. 15 and 16, it has now been pushed back to March 12 and 13. Why? Well, as we know, the country votes on Jan. 23 and over at CBC HQ -- Fort Dork to you and me -- they've decided that the miniseries must be handled like some toxic substance and removed. CBC says, "It has been moved from Jan. 15 and 16 to March 12 and 13 -- because of the election campaign. We're concerned about the appearance of partisanship." Yeah, right. The entire election campaign might be overshadowed by a miniseries about the life of the late Tommy Douglas. We are all that thick. Worse, CBC still plans to air, next week, a scathing documentary about our medicare system. Called Medicare Schmedicare, it will air in prime time on The Passionate Eye. The documentary is promoted on CBC's own website as this: "Is one-tier medicare a myth? Have we been saluting its founder, the 'Greatest Canadian' Tommy Douglas, as an emperor who really has no clothes?" So, it's fine and dandy to tear a strip off the ideas of Tommy Douglas during an election campaign, but a miniseries which dramatizes his life must be pulled from the schedule?

http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?2108S

[hopeisaplace]

11. oh my, I know, I read that...

you know, I'm hoping the Bush Admin gets impeached
(lol, the whole damn administration..I dream big)
so that perhaps any plans any future Conservative Government
has here is severely hampered...
(I'm reaching, I know)

[applegrove]

5. I know. It still looks like a minority & they cannot go all neocon with

that.

[hopeisaplace]

6. I've heard a Majority is possible lately!

heard it more than once too
..a Minority would be awful too in that they will team up with
the Bloc (that should be good for Canada :sarcasm: )

[Telly Savalas]

13. They can't get too cozy with the Bloc.

If they cater to the separatists, they'll get their asses handed to them in the polls in the subsequent election.

[hopeisaplace]

16. I hope you're right about that

the bit on the news the other day was all about how they
are making most of their in-roads in Quebec because
they (conservatives) are successfully selling "a new kind
of federalism" for Quebec under a PC government - they're
promising something like "more autonomy, and more representation
internationally"..and some bloc voters are going to vote
PC because of this (isn't that hysterical! left Quebec voting
conservative :banghead: )

[Telly Savalas]

12. An extremely tiny chance.

Despite all the hoopla about a Conservative majority, it's really unlikely. As I've posted at DU a few times, there are 21 ridings in Toronto and 75 in Quebec, two places where the Conservatives probably won't win any seats. So that leaves 212 ridings for them to win 155 seats to get a majority (about 70% of 'em). The NDP will likely pick up over a dozen of these, which leaves less than 200. There's not much of a margin for error for them.

As far as a minority government goes, that really wouldn't constitute control. The Bloc and NDP are so far to the Left that it's hard to imagine them being able to keep their government propped up for more than a year.

[hopeisaplace]

14. You made me feel a bit better, thank you

:patriot: *and a Canadian Flag wave too*

[AX10]

17. What about the gains the Cons have made in Quebec?

What is your reasoning that says the Cons will NOT win a single seat in Quebec?

[Telly Savalas]

18. Which ridings?

Rising from a totally irrelevant third party to having the status of actually bleeding votes from the two contenders there isn't the same thing as having enough support in any given riding to actually win a seat.

[AX10]

19. Do you have any polls that show that the Cons can't win?

The only poll I see puts them 9 points in front.

[Telly Savalas]

21. 9 Points up nationwide.

Which doesn't really mean anything. The election is a set of 308 parallel contests. What's important is whether or not Harper can win 155 or more of these, not what the popular vote is. As I've stated before, there's very little chance that he'll win more than a couple out of the races in Quebec and the city of Toronto which collectively constitute 96 of these contests. Do you have a source that's not a Conservative pundit that thinks otherwise?

The election prediction project which has a reasonable track record for accuracy supports my claim. Based on the election results of 18 months ago and reader's submissions, the only Quebec ridings the Conservatives really have a shot at are Pontiac and maybe Beauce, but other Quebec ridings going Conservative would be like Utah becoming a blue state. Likewise in Toronto, the Cons have an outside shot in some of the ridings that were burbs pre-amalgamation, but even then it'd be a miracle for them if they could snag more than 1 or 2. (Although it'd actually be nice if they won Etobicoke-Lakeshore. The Liberal candidate there is Michael Ignatieff, who supported the Iraq war and is thought by some to be a future leader of the party. I'd just assume have his political career terminated before it got started, such that when the Liberals ditch Martin they might actually have the wisdom to choose a real leader.)

So with these constraints, things would have to go near perfect for Harper to pull down 70% or so of the remaining ridings.

[Telly Savalas]

15. The Grits need to jump all over this.

The fact that Harper hasn't ask this guy to step down wreaks of hypocrisy so badly a 50 gallon drum of Febreeze couldn't help.

[Jose Diablo]

20. Oh, dose wascally wabbits n/t

[Telly Savalas]

22. The story unfolds: Harper dumps the candidate

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canadavotes2006/national/2006/01/12/tory-candidate060112.html

He really had no choice, because he'd look like a total hypocrite had he not booted the guy.

Nevertheless, it's hard to take seriously Harper's claims of boosting accountability when Zeisman is allowed to campaign for a month before anybody in the Conservative Party happens to notice that the guy is likely going to jail.