New day, new political scandal

[kEiThZ]

It's been 6 months, Harper's still married. And I have not heard these rumours anywhere in Ottawa. I had a colleague whose kid was in the same class as one of the Harper's kids. She runs in Laureen Harper once in a while. And she has not seen any sign of marital problems. Laureen Harper is quite active in the community (and far more popular than her husband I might add) and there has been no evidence of her scaling back at all in Ottawa. We've even seen the Harpers at the movies with their kids at the Silvercity in Gloucester. They seemed happy enough.

Of course, my evidence is anecdotal. But I suspect that there's more than a little wishful thinking among people who spread such rumours. Unless Stephen Harper has some kind of Tiger Woods style history, I really doubt him and his wife of over 15 years are heading for splitsville.

 

[kEiThZ]

I still love and respect the father of my son if that is your yard stick for a successful marriage.

This was so cryptic, I just have to ask. Are you actually and still married to the father of your son?

 

[kEiThZ]

How could anyone stay married to a @#%&! like Harper?

Some women love men ambitious enough to become Prime Ministers and who are good caring fathers (I find it amazing that the PM still walks his daughter or drops her off most days at school...with no cameras to catch the moment). Who knew?

It's nice to know you judge people for their politics and not necessarily their personalities.

 

[afransen]

I don't see the relevance of Harper's marital status or other aspects of his personal life. I take enough issue with him on a professional level that I don't feel any need to touch on anything else.

 

[jade_lee]

Looks like the folks over at the Human Rights commission are experiencing some interesting/sad problems.

The Harper marriage distraction was taken by me to be all tongue and cheek. So serious about much to do about nothing yet some here are willing to ignore the obvious.

Looks like the military has a serial killer among their upper ranks as well.
I attended Scarborough Campus the very same years as Sovka. I paid for
outer parking to save a few bucks. I guess I am lucky.

 

[jade_lee]

Looks like the freedom of information is being hampered by petty political assistants who don't know their place. Lets see how this is investigated. See the globe and mail for details.

 

[jade_lee]

From the Toronto star today:


>At Rights and Democracy, it just gets worse.

Far from cleaning up the dysfunctional agency by removing its chair, Aurel Braun, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has opted to express "complete confidence" in the discredited board, and it has named a new president with problematic baggage of his own.

While Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon hailed Gérard Latulippe as the "ideal candidate" in appointing him Monday, he is a political ally with a controversial background.

Latulippe served in former Quebec premier Robert Bourassa's Liberal cabinet (along with Cannon). In 1994, he switched sides and supported Quebec's independence. Recently he has worked for an agency tied to the U.S. Democratic party promoting democracy in Haiti. But he was also an unsuccessful Canadian Alliance candidate in the 2000 federal election. And in 2007 he joined Quebec's sulphurous "identity" debate by voicing concern about the "hyper concentration" of Muslim and other immigrants in Montreal who don't always share Quebecers' values. He is, in short, somewhat of a political chameleon.

His appointment won't likely ease concerns that Harper is determined to make the agency reflexively toe the government's line.

Created by Parliament in Brian Mulroney's days, the Montreal-based agency gets a federal grant of $11 million to promote democracy and rights abroad. The ruling Conservatives apparently didn't like the agency's support for groups critical of Israel. Accordingly, Braun and others who reflect the government's pro-Israel stance were named to the agency's board, in what some saw as a hostile takeover.

Last month the revamped board "repudiated" grants to Palestinian and Israeli groups that document rights abuses in Gaza and the West Bank. Braun and his allies said at least one of the groups had "terrorist" ties. After the tumultuous board meeting, Rémy Beauregard, president of Rights and Democracy, died of a heart attack.

That plunged the agency into turmoil. The overwhelming majority of staffers demanded that Braun resign, along with his close allies. Several staffers were suspended. A private investigator was called in. A forensic audit is in the works. The staff union says a "witch hunt" is now on, working conditions are "intolerable," and staff face "religious profiling and intimidation."

Now Cannon expects Latulippe to work "in lockstep" with a board that is at war with its staff. As Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff points out, this will just add to the chaos. Canada's image doesn't need that.<