Jackass

Aaron Wherry digs up this gem of an old letter some guy named Stephen Harper wrote back in 2001. In it, Harper:

A) says "the jackasses at Elections Canada are out of control"

B) Criticizes Elections Canada for ordering an RCMP raid

C) Rails against election spending limits

D) Blames the Prime Minister at the time for the actions of Elections Canada

It makes for an interesting read, in light of the latest Tory conspiracy theories about Elections Canada.


UPDATE: It appears Harper has a long history of being upset at Elections Canada for prosecuting people who break the law. From alert reader KO comes this 2002 story (referring to a section of the Elections Act Harper has done nothing to change during his time as Prime Minister, I might add):

Peace River Block Daily News. Dawson Creek, B.C.: Apr 18, 2002. pg. 5

OTTAWA (CP) -- Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper lashed out at Elections Canada on Wednesday, saying the agency's charges against two Alliance campaign workers are unconstitutional and suggesting they smack of political bias.

Charges laid April 5 against two workers on MP Cheryl Gallant's 2000 election campaign were an "erroneous interpretation of a statute and an unconstitutional statute at that," Harper said in an interview.

He suggested the agency had motives for laying the charges other than enforcing the law.

"This is a real reach that frankly raises serious concerns in my mind about the objectivity of Elections Canada," he said.

"We are collecting some information that I think will raise real questions about Elections Canada's comportment in this whole affair. I think there's a lot here that's going to come out."

[…]

The act requires that when poll information is published, it must include certain information including who conducted the survey, the dates it was conducted, the number of people contacted and the margin of error.