The problem with most of the questions is that they start a bit later in the scenario than they should.

First up, was Mike Duffy promised a Senate seat if he worked really hard to sabotage the Liberals in the 2008 election?

I had been interviewed by Mike Duffy and known him for years.  I was fond of him.  I never thought he was biased one way or the other – until his coverage of the 2008 campaign.  Some may recall me taking him on in a live interview when his introductory set up for Peter MacKay (interviewed just ahead of me) was so outrageous that I accused him of a lapse in journalistic ethics.  When the interview was over, I remember thinking, “Well, I will never be on Mike Duffy Live ever again.”  And when he was appointed to the Senate right after the election, I knew I was right as the show ceased to exist.  His lapse of ethics was more spectacularly evident in broadcasting out-takes from the Atlantic bureau’s interview with Stéphane Dion.  Opportunities to do “re-asks” are not uncommon and they are never broadcast.  Doing so, when Dion’s team had been told they could ask the questions over again, was outrageous.  It clearly impacted the election results.

The other questions also matter.  Did the Prime Minister promise Duffy he would fix the financial and legal mess created by false claims for a housing allowance?  Why would the Prime Minister do such a thing?  Does Duffy have anything he can hold over the PM, such as proof of the Senate seat for journalistic shilling in an election campaign?  Did the Prime Minister ask his Chief of Staff to write the cheque?  Frankly, I can see no other reason why a smart person like Nigel Wright would do something so obviously wrong, unless he was directed to do so by the Prime Minister.

Normal people are asking questions like “who has $90,000 in their chequing accounts?  Who has $90,000 in their chequing account and they have it to spare in case someone needs it?”

None of these questions matter as much as why is it that no reporter has been able to get a response from anyone in Harper’s administration about the chemistry of the atmosphere now being dangerously altered.  The news that we have hit 400 ppm of carbon dioxide in the global atmosphere makes Mike Duffy’s expense account scandal look like the petty criminality it likely is.  And, of course, there are approximately 1% as many words in our press about the 400 ppm news as there is about the Mike Duffy scandal.

The big crime continues to hide in plain sight while Stephen Harper continues his looting of our children’s future.

UPDATE: Just received news that Nigel Wright has fallen on his sword for the PM and become the literal fall guy. All questions still stand.

The post Mike Duffy, Nigel Wright and Stephen Harper appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Two citizens, Tara Ferrell and Jonathan Allan, initiated the petition. They were also involved in organizing the big Robocall rallies in Toronto. Deeply concerned about the state of our democracy, they created a website [thefightfordemocracy.com] in order to collect signatures for their petition. Their cooperation was an overwhelming success as 1,500 people signed the petition. The Green Party also collected more than 8,000 signatures on its special Robocall website [robogate.ca].

The three MPs made statements in the House this morning:

• “I have over 600 signatures here from the Toronto area. The petitioners are seeking a full, independent investigation. Without making allegations as to who was behind it, we know something untoward occurred in 2011. We want answers,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May.
• “I applaud Tara and Jonathan who worked hard to get all of these signatures. This admirable grassroots initiative is raising awareness about an issue that speaks to the vulnerability of our democracy, to the combined threat of communications technology and unscrupulous people,” said Craig Scott.
• “What is key for these citizens is to be sure that we will know if the democratic right of some Canadians to vote has been suppressed because some people mislead them on the day of the election,” said Stéphane Dion.

“We need a public inquiry because Elections Canada does not have the resources to undertake the investigation that is required and the RCMP does not have a good track record uncovering electoral fraud,” added Elizabeth May.

The post Grassroots Petition Presses For Robocall Scandal Inquiry appeared first on Elizabeth May.