Stelmach on Stelmach
Ed Stelmach is, yet again, in trouble for unethical donations - this time, from a landfill site that donated $10,000 to Stelmach's leadership campaign. Now, Ed did return the donation...six months after he received it and three months after winning the PC leadership. And in fairness, by this government's standards, that certainly qualifies as "rapid response".
Now, if you're saying I'm being too partisan and shouldn't be so hard on Ed Stelmach, I'll turn to someone far more impartial than myself. A man called "Honest Ed" by many:
"The donation might have been legal, it certainly was not ethical."
Again - Ed Stelmach's assesement of Ed Stelmach:
"it certainly was not ethical"
I've got a say - if the Alberta Liberals have a video or audio clip of Stelmach saying "it certainly was not ethical", they've just got their "I'm entitled to my entitlements" moment for the next election campaign. Splice in a few shots of Eddie bumbling and some Calgary Herald/Sun headlines and you've got yourself a winner, right there.
Labels: Ed Stelmach
posted by calgarygrit at
8:42 p.m.
16 Comments:
Interesting!
The conservatives attacked the federal Liberal Party for corporate donations. But, it’s all right to take $5,000 donations (per plate) from secretive donors, and $10,000 from a public body.
By
JimTan, at 2:42 a.m.
Poor Ed... that's all I gotta say. Poor frikin' Ed. Things just get worse and worse for this guy. Begs the question: is he more or less as brilliant as, say, Don Getty?
By
Sean Cummings, at 3:05 a.m.
The funny thing is that they don't need the money.
They took corporate donations before as a party and have enough money in the coffers to fight two provincial elections.
The leadership contenders had to find their own money, so that is where these quirks come from.
Regional Premier's dinners still generate lots of cash for local p.c. candidates.
By
Down & Out in L A, at 6:03 a.m.
I'm confused. Are you saying the Canada Elections Act, which governs federal political parties and provides statutory limits on donations to federal party leadership campaigns, somehow applies to Alberta's provincial parties and their leadership race?
By
Paul, at 7:22 p.m.
paul said
"I'm confused."
Of course you are! Among other things.
By
JimTan, at 8:55 p.m.
jimtan is apparently a victim of Canada's education system. So we must forgive him for his inability to follow my point.
But perhaps CG can see past that, and explain how his buddy M. Dion is to be excused for accepting about a half-million dollars in "donations" which he classified as loans, beyond what he raised from lawful contributions.
In a leadership race in which the contribution limits are clearly set out by law. (Again, by contrast, what law is alleged to have been violated in Alberta's recent leadership contest?)
Or does M. Dion plan to repay these funds within the statutory interval?
Does CG really want to highlight unethical contributions to a party's leadership campaign? Will M. Dion repay the half million dollars, since Mr. Stelmach repaid the questionable ten thousand dollars?
By
Paul, at 3:13 a.m.
So what do you think about the 'donation' to the Alberta Liberals from the City of St. Albert. How is that any different. I'm sure there are a lot of taxpayers in that city thrilled to learn their tax dollars were being used for political donations instead aof fixing potholes.
Heck, in that case, Elections Alberta recommended charges. More than you can say about the Tories.
By
Art, at 9:14 a.m.
paul said
"jimtan is apparently a victim of Canada's education system. So we must forgive him for his inability to follow my point."
????
What's wrong with the educational system? Didn't the schools teach you how to think and research?
Did you actually fail to get the point about the difference between legal and ethical?
By
JimTan, at 10:43 a.m.
Joe said
“Heck, in that case, Elections Alberta recommended charges. More than you can say about the Tories.”
I’m glad that joe brought it to my attention. It’s about $700 paid for two dinner tickets. Nothing secret here! Edmonton Sun January 26, 2007
‘Liberal party executive director Kieran Leblanc said she believes the complaint relates to the purchase of two tickets to the Liberal leader's dinner in 2005.
Leblanc said city officials purchased the pair of tickets for $700 and she issued a tax receipt for $650, not realizing they were prohibited from donating.”
joe failed to mention that Alberta Justice refused to fail charges against St Albert. Edmonton Journal May 27
‘Deputy Electoral Officer Bill Sage said the Liberal party returned the donation to the City of St. Albert and the city has instituted a new policy to prevent future violations.
Alberta's chief electoral officer had recommended charges be laid in the case, but didn't make the same recommendation in another case involving the reporting of financial information by the Alberta PC Association because his department didn't notice the problem for years, Sage said.
The case involved a secret party fund containing political donations the party received before the province passed a law on disclosure of election contributions. The new law allowed the Tory party to keep the amount secret, but required it to report transactions annually to the chief electoral officer.
But when Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald tried to view the public records last fall, he discovered the PC Association hadn't reported on the fund in nearly two decades. Sage said the last letter on file was dated March 5, 1987.’
Ohhh! Beware of Alberta conservatives who speak about honesty and justice. The province has become the breeding ground for the righteous who believes that the rules don’t apply to them.
By
JimTan, at 11:16 a.m.
Paul, Dion and the other leadership candidates have I believe 8 more months to pay off their loans.
The 'rule' that was broken was that basically a crown corporation, cannot donate money for political purposes. Stelmach said it was unethical.
By
Concerned Albertan, at 11:37 a.m.
Paul; Like I said, Ed Stelmach was the one who called it "unethical", not me. Ask him to explain why he thinks it's unethical if you agree with that characterization.
Dion and the other leadership candidates have until the end of this year to repay their loans, I believe.
By
calgarygrit, at 11:44 a.m.
The fact is it was a political donation from the public purse.
Just because dinner tickets were attached to the donation - doesn't make it any less stinky. What, did the dinner contain any information not availble on the Liberal party website or by simply reading hansard?
I'm not defending the Tories. Their fundraising is pretty bad.
But do you really think St. Albert taxpayers want their taxes used to fund a political party?
By
Art, at 1:03 p.m.
CG said
“Dion and the other leadership candidates have until the end of this year to repay their loans, I believe.”
That’s partly correct. Apparently, loans that have not been repaid within 18 months can be written off. However, all the major candidates are fund-raising furiously to pay off their debt.
Much of the loans come from family members and the candidates themselves. In fact, some candidates had mortgaged their homes.
With the exception of Joe Volpe, there doesn’t seem to be any candidate that has targeted a specific industry. So, none of the big four have been compromised in this respect. Chretien’s Bill C24 (2003) appears to be paying off.
All provinces should have the same transparency and limits as the federal parties.
By
JimTan, at 5:19 p.m.
Joe said
“But do you really think St. Albert taxpayers want their taxes used to fund a political party?”
Yes, I absolutely agree with you on this point.
I was trying to make the point that harper is a hypocrite. He attacks the Liberals for fundraising abuses, but look at the provincial history of PC party practices.
It isn’t a surprise that the federal PC party failed to properly account for party convention donations. Nor, the many harper flip flops and evasions.
It’s a systematic problem.
By
JimTan, at 5:40 p.m.
I was trying to make the point that harper is a hypocrite. He attacks the Liberals for fundraising abuses, but look at the provincial history of PC party practices.
Please explain how Harper is even the slightest bit responsible for the actions of the Alberta PCs.
By
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