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Old 03-03-2008, 08:47 AM   #1 (permalink)
Ace_O_Spades
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Cadscam - The Chuck Cadman Affair

Well, to bring those up to speed on what's been going on recently in Canadian politics:

http://nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=341261

Quote:
OTTAWA -- The chairman of the Commons ethics committee signalled Thursday he is interested in investigating allegations Conservative party representatives tried to ‘entice" Independent MP Chuck Cadman to vote to bring down the Liberal government in 2005 by offering the dying man a $1-million life insurance policy.

Paul Szabo said the committee could explore the information gaps around the allegation, which burst into the public late Wednesday when details of the incident surfaced in a new book, Like a Rock, The Chuck Cadman Story, by Vancouver journalist Tom Zytaruk.

"It definitely would be a Criminal Code violation, extremely serious. It's influence peddling and bribery," Mr. Szabo told CBC television.

But Mr. Szabo also said there are parliamentary consequences if the allegations turn out to be true. If an MP were to be found to be directly or indirectly involved in trying to induce or influence another member's activity, they could lose their seat and be prohibited from running in a future election for five years, he said.

The insurance offer enraged the terminally ill Surrey, B.C., politician, according to author Mr. Zytaruk.

Quoting the late politician's wife Dona, Mr. Zytaruk wrote that the incident occurred in Mr. Cadman's office two days before a confidence vote that could have triggered an election.

Mr. Cadman's was the deciding vote.

"The Tories actually walked in with a list of offers written down on a piece of paper," says an excerpt from the book. "Included in their proposal was a million-dollar life insurance policy -- no small carrot for a man with advanced cancer."

Mr. Zytaruk said Cadman's response -- "bouncing them out of his office" -- was typical of the late North Surrey MP.

Instead, Mr. Cadman voted against an election and supported the Liberal budget, according to what he said his constituents wanted.

Mr. Cadman died in July 2005 after a two-year battle with skin cancer.

Penny Priddy, the New Democratic Party MP who succeeded Mr. Cadman in Parliament, said these were "extremely serious allegations" on which Prime Minister Stephen Harper would be pressed in the Commons and which may be investigated by the ethics committee.

"There has to be an investigation into this," she said.

Ms. Priddy added that if such an offer was made to Mr. Cadman, she is sure he would have told the interlocutors "to get the heck out of his office -- in much stronger language."

An official in Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's office said the government would be questioned about it in the daily Question Period in the Commons.

A statement from the Prime Minister's Office released Wednesday night said Harper "at no time directed any party official to make any kind of financial arrangement with Chuck Cadman."
The daughter corroborates the allegations: Linky

And now apparently the Tories have shot back with a libel lawsuit against the Liberals: Linky

I wrote my MP immediately last week stating I demanded a further inquiry into this matter. Luckily, it seems like the rest of the opposition shares my interest in this matter.

That they might have bribed an MP with no reprocussions is shameful and subverts our parliamentary process, and lets them know they can do it again.

I think this libel suit is going to go nowhere, particularly given some of the evidence that has come forward. But we'll see... Obviously the outcomes of the RCMP investigation will play a big role in that. I'm just happy it's gettin the attention it deserves.

My question is, what do you all think of this? Should it get a full parliamentary investigation or will the RCMP investigation suffice?
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