The Marx brothers continued their starring run on Broadway today, as Premier Gary Doer side-stepped questions about his knowledge of the 1999 election refund forgery on 5 different occasions.
"Who was it that made the party aware?" of the fraudulent misrepresentation of union workers as a legitimate election expense, was tossed in various forms at Doer again and again by Consevative leader Hugh McFadyen.
'Groucho' showed off his vaudeville skills, tap-dancing around the serious issue by claiming the Election Manitoba official answered the questions in committee (he didn't), that the Tories spent more than the NDP did (as if that's an excuse to cheat the public), and that his government banned corporate and union donations as proof of their piety.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Dave 'Chico' Chomiak waved documents, pointed at words on paper, and demonstrated the unique skill of bulging his eyes out of his head, when forced to field questions directed to Finance Minister Greg Selinger about his own knowledge and role in the scam.
Tory MLA Len Derkatch wanted to know what was true- that letter from the NDP exonerating Selinger of any involvement in the fraudulent shifting of salaries on declaration forms to a subsidy-eligible expense, or was the premier correct when he said earlier this week that Selinger was in fact involved?
Derkatch also pointed out that Selinger was linked to withholding information about the Crocus Fund that was circulated in departmental memos predicting the funds' insolvency in 2000.
Chomiak, who invented a new word "constit-uations" in his diatribe, was worked into a lather by the pointed Tory attacks on his role as campaign chairman of the NDP 1999 victory. "His performance in this House shows he has no credibility on this issue", said Derkatch.
With 'Harpo' Selinger glued to his seat and Chomiak gasping for syllables, Doer once again took the spotlight, stating " Elections Manitoba is always right!", before launching into a bar mitzvah speech about how proud he is of the Justice Minister, in particular for his having coddled car thieves to the point innocent Manitobans were forced to install immobilizers to solve his failure to protect their safety.
It would be comical were it not so sad.
Elections Manitoba is NOT always right.
They are, if anything, TOO independant.
Manitobans do not buy their wall of silence, that somehow legally hides the justification for prosecuting Tory election spending scofflaws but not the NDP government that, conveniently, ensured a handsome pay raise for Richard Balasko. His organization ensured the public did not learn of this scheme to defraud taxpayers with false expense claims until well AFTER the 2003 election that saw Doer, Chomiak, and Selinger et al returned to office.
Who holds Elections Manitoba to account? What are the links between their officials and the players in the 1999 NDP expense-claim scam? Did Doer know and approve of the attack by NDP officials on the career of David Asselstine, the auditor who red-flagged the long-standing practice of bilking taxpayers for zer0-cost union workers?
Today at 4.10 PM, Liberal MLA Kevin Lamoureaux, who was first to ask Doer about who he learned about the scam from, will join the show.
At 4.35 PM, Transcona councillor Russ Wyatt makes his first appearance on TGCTS, to explain his letter to the Free Press extolling the virtues of David Asper's proposal for a new infrastructure tax, at the same time as the NDP has hidden a tax break in Bill 30 for Asper's new stadium if it is built at a University.
And at 5.10, Kelly Dehn of CTV joins us with his weekly Crimewatch report.
Plus news about a new Free Press column, our comments about their "award-winning journalism", we'll tell you about a great blog post comparing two FP columnists, plus the Harv-Al sports report at 5.23 PM!
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We've already paid for 5 days worth of meals - please join TGCTS and 92.9 Kick-FM us supporting this worthy cause!
MYS NEW CAMPAIGN “FOOD FOR A DAY” WILL
SUPPORT YOUTH EMERGENCY SHELTER
WINNIPEG, June 10, 2009 – Macdonald Youth Services (MYS) is excited to launch “Food for a Day”, a new campaign to support their Youth Emergency Shelter, which provided 1171 overnight stays to youth in 2008.
“The goal of this campaign is to have at least 365 people donate $18.00 each, which will essentially feed the shelter for a year,” said Sean Crawford, Manager of External Relations at MYS. “This will enable more of our existing budget to go to other elements of the shelter, such as conflict resolution and crisis counseling - which are provided to youth who need these services."
“We don’t want to see the youth in our community go to sleep hungry, cold, or without the basic resources they as youth deserve,” said Dr. Erma Chapman, Executive Director at MYS. “For as little as 18 dollars per person, we as a community can make an extremely large difference for these youth.”
To donate to “Food for a Day”, visit mys.ca and click on the Give Now tab to select the Food for a Day Campaign, or call 477-1722.
MYS fosters hope and opportunities to empower children, youth and families
throughout Manitoba to grow and heal through safe, caring, respectful and collaborative relationships. To learn more about MYS, please visit our website at http://www.mys.ca/
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For more information, please contact:
Sean Crawford
Manager of External Relations
Phone: (204) 477-1722
Fax: (204) 284-4431
Email: sean.crawford@mys.mb.ca
