"In and Out" Scandal

[Hedley]

Admit it. I can't possibly be the only person that thinks this must be some kind of sex scandal involving the nanny, roller skates, Mickey Mouse ears, castor oil and steel wool.

No such luck. It's some dreary old accounting crap the media is trying to whip up into a frenzy.

Yawn. I guess if there's no news, the media figures it needs to create some.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/03/02 ... g-scandal/

According to a federal court of appeal ruling last week, in late 2005 the Conservative Party had nearly maxed out its $18-million party spending limit a month in to the federal election campaign. So party officials devised a scheme to funnel money through the campaigns of various candidates who weren’t likely to spend their personal campaign limit.

The party invited candidates to participate in a joint “regional media” campaign to purchase radio and television ads that would run in their local riding, according to the ruling. The party wired the candidates money for the ads and within minutes transferred the money back to the party headquarters. The party told candidates they could claim the money as campaign expenses, with the government reimbursing them for 60% of the cost from taxpayer funds.
The court noted the ads that eventually ran were all identical and promoted leader Stephen Harper with only a tag line stating they had been approved by the official agent of the local candidate. Candidates claimed widely varying expenses for the ads, from as little as $1,092 to as much as $30,000, amounts the court of appeal said closely mirrored amounts left in their personal election spending limits.

The plan was derailed when Elections Canada refused to allow the candidates to claim the money as a local campaign expense in a protracted dispute that saw Elections Canada enlist the RCMP for a raid on Conservative Party headquarters in 2008.

In January, 2010, a federal court sided with the Conservative Party, arguing that candidates could claim expenses for the ads. But the court of appeal ruling last week overturned the judgment, saying Elections Canada had a right to question the expenses. The Conservatives have vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, a move campaign finance experts say will finally bring some clarity to federal spending limit loopholes.

Yawn. Not much of a "scandal", really. Quite a disappointment. I would really prefer a juicy sex scandal involving late-night orgies in Parliament. You know, something entertaining.

[JakeYYZ]

aye .. Gird your loins...this will catch on like the long form census issue.

[Hedley]

Aye. Me timbers were shivered by the long census form.

Why do we have to have such boring scandals in Canada? Now, the Italians know how to have a good scandal:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Dis ... story.html

Enraged by the degrading images of the female sex emerging from the 'Rubygate scandal' surrounding Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italian women plan protests on Sunday to "defend their dignity."

"This isn't a political mobilization, it's a spontaneous movement of very different women of all ages, artists and normal people," Elisa Davoglio, a 35-year old poet, told AFP.

The protest follows weeks of intense media coverage of allegations — strongly denied — that Berlusconi paid for sex with underage disco dancer Ruby as part of a raucous sex life.

"We are against this wildly-spread culture of taking shortcuts, earning lots of money, enough to make yourself beautiful, going to a party and selling yourself for a night," actress Lunetta Savino said.

A manifesto, "If not now, when?," signed by over 50,000 women in a week, denounces "the indecent, repetitive representation of women as a naked object of sexual exchange" in newspapers, on television and in advertising.

"We are inundated with calls from women who want to participate, it's like an avalanche we didn't expect," actress Francesca Comencini, who is organizing the demonstrations along with her thespian sister Cristina, told AFP.

A video on Youtube calls on women to join the demonstrations as well as the flash-mobs and non-stop lectures that will be held on Sunday in Milan, Rome and hundreds of towns across the country.

Although those involved have been asked not to politicize the demonstration, several members of parliament who recently broke away from Berlusconi's centre-right ruling party have said they will be attending.

"Berlusconi has long shown a violent contempt for women with his misogynist remarks," Francesca Comencini said.

"He has now exceeded acceptable limits, he's created a totally archaic image of women," added her sister Christina, who promotes the "Di Nuovo" group, set up to draw attention to problems facing Italian women on http://dinuovodinuovo.blogspot.com/.

Poet Davoglio, who has started a blog for the occasion, will be attending the demonstration with her baby and partner. Men who support the cause are welcome.

The issue is no longer about pitting certain types of women against others. "This isn't a mobilization against call-girls," Davoglio said, with a a movement for the defence of prostitutes' rights due at Sunday's protest.

Famous faces in Italy, such as the architect Gae Aulenti or actress Laura Morante, both of whom will attend the protests, will use their own lives as an example to try and show that there are other ways to achieve success.

Even after Sunday's demonstrations, Cristina, Francesca and the others hope the movement will serve as a network to bring together women's associations in Italy, which they say are often fractured and politicized.

"Neither right-wing governments, nor left-wing ones have every done anything," Christina Comencini said, criticizing "discrimination in the job market due to a lack of day-nurseries, family helpers and part-time jobs."

Don't piss off the feminists, actresses and poets!



An "In and Out" scandal in Italy would be a horse of a different colour!

[mcrit]

I would really prefer a juicy sex scandal involving late-night orgies in Parliament. You know, something entertaining.

I remind you that Bev Oda could be involved in that, still want a ring side seat?

[shitdisturber]

Just be grateful Sheila Copps is gone!