Hat tip to BCL

Who is Doug Finley? He is a senior conservative - one of the true inner circle - who ran two federal election campaigns for Stephen Harper. In 2009 he was rewarded for his efforts with a plum patronage senate seat, along with another political crony, party fundraiser Irving Gerstein.

Senators Finley and Gerstein, along with former party officers Susan Kehoe and Michael Donison in February of this year were charged with Elections Act offences and are currently involved in court cases relating to the so-called "in and out" financing scheme that. If found guilty those charged face penalties ranging from fines to jail time.

If one low level party worker, Sebastien Togneri, currently under police investigation, can be summarily dismissed from the Harper election campaign machine (after the media take notice) why is a very high level operative who has been under investigation for years and has since been charged and appeared before the courts on serious offences still allowed to participate in this election?

Finley's wife is a minister in Harper's cabinet. Finley himself is connected to Harper at the groin - he ran Harper's leadership campaign for the newly minted Conservative party in 2003/04. Gerstein was the chief fundraiser for not just the Conservative Party but also for many years headed the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Fund. These are not low level party flunkies but experienced political operatives who have a deep understanding of Canada's Electoral Act and in fact must have a deep understanding of the rules of conduct in order to perform their roles. Along with Stephen Harper himself, Finley and Gerstein are a the top of the Conservative food chain. It'd be impossible to name two individuals more senior and central to the party or its electoral success. For that reason alone these Elections Act charges really matter.

Given the circumstances, why is Finley working in the Conservative campaign war room? And does Gerstein have any role in this campaign or the party at this time? What about the other two charged? And why are Finley and Gerstein even permitted to occupy their seats in the senate?

Stephen Harper and his Conservative Government: tough on crime only when it doesn't involve them.

Criminal sabotage targeting only homes and vehicles belonging to St. Paul's area Liberal supporters this weekend was preceded by a similar attack on Liberal supporters in Guelph several weeks ago.

Its been brought to my attention that criminal attacks on Liberal supporters this weekend in the riding of St. Paul's are similar in nature to attacks made on August 30th during the then underway by-election in Guelph which was to elect a replacement for retiring Liberal member of parliament, Brenda Chamberlain.

Vandalism citing C-68

Brake lines cut and graffitti sprayed during Guelph by-election campaign (August 30, Guelph Mercury):

GUELPH — Vandals spray-painted the word "scum" in blood-red letters on the front wall of Frank Maine's Sherwood Drive home and lives were endangered when four vehicles had their brake lines cut overnight yesterday.

Maine was not the only Liberal party supporter whose property was stained with anti-Liberal graffiti, in what Guelph Police are calling "numerous cases of malicious damage and mischief incidents" throughout the city.

On top of brake lines being cut, two other vehicles had graffiti scratched into them. At least 10 homes were attacked, including Maines' next-door neighbour and others in the northeast Guelph neighbourhood. Some homes in the city's south end where also struck.

It appears only residents with Liberal Frank Valeriote byelection signs on their lawns were victimized, and some graffiti was decidedly pro-New Democratic Party. NDP candidate Tom King angrily denounced the vandalism, and likened it to an act of hate. Valeriote called it "voter intimidation."

All parties need to condemn these attacks immediately and all parties need to work pro-actively with police to identify the perpetrators as quickly as possible before a) someone is hurt, and b) to prevent Canada's electoral system from resembling that of Russia's.

Criminals lurk here

Hopefully these two very similar and nearby incidents are the act of a single person or group and police are able to quickly make arrests. The pro-NDP graffiti seems to me to be an obvious attempt at misdirection, a feint to put police onto the wrong track. Still, all avenues should be pursued, as I'm reminded of the chaps who flung dung at David Emerson's constituency office in 2006 (Brothers arrested in smelly protest). While they weren't tied to any party, their actions cast a cloud over all legitimate opposition to Emerson's defection.

Perhaps a more telling clue to the Guelph attacks appears further along in the above noted article:

A Liberal MP in the '70s and a Guelph city councillor in the '90s, Maine woke up yesterday morning to find the damage, which also included the graffiti writing "C-68 sucks." In Canadian legislation, Bill C-68 refers both to the country's gun control laws and to the first version of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

There are in fact three different bills labelled C-68 in Canadian parliamentary history, only one of which ever received Royal Assent, passed during a Liberal goverment:

1. C-68 An Act to support development of Canada's Pacific Gateway - 38th Parliament, 1st Session (October 4, 2004 - November 29, 2005). Status: First Reading
2. C-68 An Act in respect of criminal justice for young persons and to amend and repeal other Acts - 36th Parliament, 1st Session (September 22, 1997 - September 18, 1999). Status: First Reading
3. C-68 An Act respecting firearms and other weapons - 35th Parliament, 1st Session (January 17, 1994 - February 5, 1996). Status: Royal Assent

If the reference is to the Firearms Act, this would tend to implicate Conservative Party supporters, particularly those who originated from the Reform or Canadian Alliance parties. Some may recall the constant and strident opposition to Bill C-68 from those parties and sympathetic supporters. One Canadian Alliance MP, Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton-Melville - SK), made opposition to C-68 his personal mission, and continues to do so to this day as a Conservative Party member of parliament.

Rest assured Garry Breitkreuz will never betray the firearms community. We have been united in our 12-year fight to repeal Bill C-68. I will never give up and I hope you will stay with us until it’s dead and gone. Garry Breitkreuz

As an aide in understanding where Mr. Breitkreuz expects the Conservative Party to head on gun control legislation, he helpfully quotes Stephen Harper and his former boss, Preston Manning, in one paragraph:

“I was and still am in total agreement with the statement made in the House of Commons by former Reform Leader Preston Manning on June 13, 1995: ‘Bill C-68, if passed into law, will not be a good law. It will be a bad law, a blight on the legislative record of the government, a law that fails the three great tests of constitutionality, of effectiveness and of democratic consent of the governed. What should be the fate of a bad law? It should be repealed…’ C-68 has proven to be a bad law and has created a bureaucratic nightmare for both gun owners and the government. As Leader of the Official Opposition, I will use all the powers afforded to me as Leader and continue our party's fight to repeal Bill C-68 and replace it with a firearms control system that is cost effective and respects the rights of Canadians to own and use firearms responsibly.” Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance leadership candidate, January 2002

Opposing firearms legislation has always been a hallmark of the Reform / Canadian Alliance now Conservative Party. This policy has always been a sop to their mostly rural voting base. Most urban voters would like to see the Firearms Act contain ever more tight restrictions on firearms use and ownership, and firearm bans made even more sweeping.

Liberal supporters targetted: Saboteurs cut brake lines on cars; one victim narrowly escapes tragedy

All parties should denounce these terrible attacks immediately; the Conservative Party of Canada has a special obligation to go beyond simple cooperation with the police and actively hunt down these criminals within its own midst.

There are two child seats in the back of my car. To cut the brake line on a car like that is just evil. Awful. You have to crawl under someone's car and cut the brake line, knowing that it could kill someone, or their whole family. Andrew Lane, CFO for incumbent Liberal Dr. Carolyn Bennett's campaign

The headline reads "vandalism" but its in fact sabotage and attempted murder :

Toronto police patrolled a midtown area overnight, after vandals cut brake lines on at least 10 cars parked at homes with Liberal election signs on their lawns.

"We're investigating. Officers are paying special attention to the designated area and we take this very seriously," Staff-Sgt. Shawn Meloche, from 53 Division, said last night. "This is a danger to life as well as to property. Regardless of the motivation – and there appears to be a connection (to the [Liberal campaign] signs) – this is a public safety issue."

Affected residents live in the riding of St. Paul's, in a swath of the city around Eglinton Ave. between Bathurst St. and Mount Pleasant Rd., and had Carolyn Bennett signs on their property. Although Meloche confirmed 10 cases of vandalism last night, Liberal riding headquarters said the number was going up, reporting 14 by 9 p.m. The Toronto Star, 5 Oct. 2008

No blame is being assigned in the news reports to date but I shall, unfairly some may say, assume that Conservative Party supporters are behind these evil attacks.

Why? I've witnessed first hand virulent anti-Liberal hatred spewing from Conservative party supporters in the past. After David Emerson shocked constituents by switching parties to the Conservatives the day after he was elected, a citizen-led non-partisan campaign arose to protest and fight Emerson and Stephen Harper.

As one of the leaders of that campaign I witnessed on many occasions Conservative party activists and supporters taking aggressive and often times illegal action. They continually stole or destroyed our campaign's lawn signs, impersonated city officials to intimidate supporters, shouted racially based insults at supporters and in other ways not reported they regularly intimidated and threatened De-Elect David Emerson Campaign activists.