Harping on Harper's lies

» It’s time for the truth, Mr. Harper

Davie Wong
Contributor

ith the federal election

looming, all eyes are on
the current and long-time Prime
Minister of Canada, Stephen
Harper. However, the attention
that Harper is receiving is
hardly positive.

In July 2014, former
Conservative senator Mike
Duffy was charged with 31
offences including fraud, breach
of trust, and bribery. At the
centre of the scandal were none
other than the Prime Minister
himself and his former right-
hand man, former chief of staff
Nigel Wright.

The whole scandal erupted
in 2013, when it became public
knowledge that Duffy had
falsely claimed over $90,000
in expenses. Later that year, it
was also revealed that Wright
allegedly wrote a cheque of
$90,000 to cover for Duffy.
Shortly after the allegations,
Wright stepped down from his
position, and Harper denied
ever knowing of a cheque.

The real question? Was
Harper lying? Did he actually
know about the $90,000
cheque? Earlier this month,
Wright was called upon to
testify in court for the trial of

: Duffy. It was revealed through
: several emails that Harper was
: aware of a plan to have Duffy

: pay back the original amount of ‘|
: $32,000 and apologize. However, :
: it would appear that he was not
: informed of the full extent of :
: the plan, which was to cover the :
: original amount secretly using :
: Conservative Party funding,

: as long as it seemed like Duffy
: himself was repaying the money :
: and admitted to the mistakes in :
: claiming of expenses.

Nevertheless, the plan

: seemingly fell through when it
: was revealed that the amount

: was over $90,000. When

: questioned in court about why
: he still went through with the

: plan, even though the grounds
: had changed, Wright only

: had this to say:
: obligation to fulfill my end of

: the arrangement [with Duffy].”
: He also claimed that Harper

: had no knowledge that he was

: still following through with

: the plan, albeit out of his own

: pocket.

“[I had] an

So did Wright lie to Harper

: to protect Duffy? In his recent
: court statement Wright said, “I
: don’t think I lied to the Prime

: Minister...
: on my list of things I needed to
: check with him.”

I just felt it wasn’t

 

 

 

A payment of even the

: original amount of $32,000,

: made secretly through the

: Conservative Party, should

: have at least been clarified with
: the head of the party or other

: major members of the party.

: So how could it be that no one

: else knew, not even Harper, the
: leader of the party?

Wright claims he acted

: alone. He claims that not
: even Ray Novak, the man who
> succeeded him, knew about the

 

: cheque, even though there was

: undisputable evidence that they
: were both in a conference call

: when the cheque was discussed.
: There was also an email sent to
: Novak by Wright confirming

: that he would be sending a

: cheque.

But who could he be

: protecting by lying about the

: cheque? Is it Duffy, the accused?
: Or is it his successor, Novak? All
: fingers point to a greater figure
: in the background.

  

Image via www.nationalobserver.com

In recent polling, it has

: been proven that Harper has

: already lost the faith of the

: people. Many no longer believe
: his vague promises of economic
: regrowth. Now with this

: scandal, many just want the

: truth, Just tell us the truth, Mr.
: Harper. No more lies, no more

: running. Give Canadians what

: we deserve as citizens and as

: human beings. Tell us the truth,
: Mr. Harper.

 

The importance of shedding your sense of entitlement

» Don’t let your daily frustrations get in the way of being excellent to your fellow man

Alex Stanton
Staff Writer

L* can sometimes feel
incredibly overwhelming.
With the ubiquity of
smartphones we are expected
to be on the clock while off
the clock. In addition, many
millennials are going to school
while working purely out of

necessity. To be at your optimum :
: fails you. BC Hydro has been

: doing everything they can to

: remedy a situation that was an

: unfortunate act of God. I know

: a few fellas way up North in the
: BC boonies who had their asses

: out of bed at the crack of dawn

: and were on site in the Lower

: Mainland by brunch to help

: get Netflix back up for you, so

: there’s no use at all in getting all
: uppity and frustrated with those
: whose sole job is to provide an

: essential service. Shit happens,

: and BC Hydro undoubtedly was
: clutch with the Coquitlam-sized
: POOp scoops.

mental state every waking hour
is an entirely absurd concept.
The paintings of Salvador Dali
are more grounded in reality
than the possibility of the
existence of people out there
with an infinite capacity for
empathy.

None of this, of course,
justifies taking out your anger
and frustration on a fellow
human being who is being paid
minimum wage to act like the
customer—that’s you, dumb-
ass—is always right.

But before I, for the billionth
time, go into my downright
misanthropic opinions on the
average Johnny Canuck, why
don’t I talk about something
that you would quite literally
have had to live under a rock to

: miss, the recent storm and the
: subsequent power outages.

Starting from around

: the time TransLink dared

: ask for a bit more money to

: improve transportation in our
: congested region, it’s become
: super fashionable to direct

: your anger at one part of the

: public sector or another when,
: even for the briefest moment,

the infrastructure of your city

I can’t say I feel too much

: for the guy who runs the

: BC Hydro Twitter account

: compared to, say, a 20-year-old
woman who sells cigarettes

: and lottery tickets from behind
: the counter at a grocery
: store. Speaking as a smoker,

sometimes it’s expected for

: people to be bummed out when
: their brand isn’t in or flustered

: when asked for ID. But taking it
: out on the person working their
: damnedest to provide you with

: a service? A service which, by

: the way, is absolutely nothing

: more than a privilege? I find

: the number of old, entitled,

: receipt-less people that go into

: my girlfriend’s place of work

: and end up hurling irrational

: abuse at her for something out

: of her control to be behaving

: entirely unacceptably, and this

: is unbecoming of a socially

: adjusted grown-up.

I’m the first to acknowledge

: that humans aren't infallible,
: and that we can act like

: genuine pricks under certain
: circumstances. But next time
: you're waiting in the express

: lane at the grocer and you're :
: stuck behind a Betty-White type :
: counting her nickels, dimes, and :
: coupons for minutes on end, go
: ahead and be frustrated. But

: don’t take it out on the little

: guys. An offhand comment

: under your breath about the

: crappy job the cart jockey just

: did helping you get on your way
: can potentially ruin some poor
: worker’s day.

  

Image via thinkstock

Bill and Ted said it best: “Be

: excellent to each other.” Even
: when you don’t feel so excellent
: yourself.