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Wayne's avatar

Eye opening article! As a political party the Conservatives have descended into the gutter (not a great leap) in both leadership and policy. Add to that rats like Roman and Scheer and you have a party desperate for power to the point of immoral and criminal activity.

I hope that a majority of Canadians never support the likes of Poilievre, Scheer, Wall/Slow Moe or Smith. As a country we are better than that - better than them.

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Robert Shaw's avatar

I don't understand why people or entities can't be sued for libel or slander any more, for spreading information that is unsubstantiated or knowingly false, and that is damaging to reputations.

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Meg Inwood's avatar

It isn't that they can't, at least in Canada. It's that in Canada, lawsuit settlements aren't nearly as big as they are in the US, so if you can afford to sue in the first place (often people can't), but the person or entity you're suing is substantially more wealthy than you are (e.g. Conrad Black/National Post) or can depend on having legal fees paid by right-wing organizations, as is often the case these days, your entire savings could well be bled out in legal fees and appeals before you finally get a judgement in your favour - and what if that judgement doesn't include your legal fees? You could end up ruined, or at least emotionally burned out and poorer than you started out.

Having the option doesn't mean it's a practical option, and rich conservative assholes are quite willing to use their money to intimidate people into not standing up for themselves and the truth because they're afraid to lose their home and retirement fund.

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Kathleen McCroskey's avatar

Great report, thank you! Information that is slimed over by Black/Postmedia and their embedded neo-liberals. For more on this read Donald Gutstein's book: "Harperism" showing the world-wide web of interlocking think tanks (stink tanks).

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Doug's avatar

I will never forgive or forget Stephen Harper saying “you won’t recognize Canada when I get through with it”. His agenda was derailed by his inability to obtain a majority in Parliament until his last term, and Canadians soundly rejected his view of Canada in 2015.

The Cons can try to soften Poilievre’s image all they want—ditch the glasses, sound more conciliatory while he remains without a seat—but he remains Harper’s lead attack dog. The Cons are attacking the democracy tree by pounding in copper nails… they can’t be allowed back into government in their current form.

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OriginalKaDs's avatar

Poilievre is already back peddling on his claims of having learned and wanting to improve; he’s right back to doing the only thing he knows. He’s attacking every single little thing Carney is doing and still using Canada Proud and Rebel News for disinformation.

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Diana Fournier's avatar

The Tyee did an excellent analysis of Mike Roman in 2023:

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2023/09/06/Mike-Roman-Canadian-Ties/

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Eve-Lynn Swan's avatar

What to do about it?

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Dougald Lamont's avatar

Ask the media why they won’t write about it. Ask elected officials why they don’t talk about it.

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Eve-Lynn Swan's avatar

I will ask my new Conservative rookie MP about it! Thank you!

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André Lapierre's avatar

... and I will ask my new liberal rookie MP about it as well.

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Dougald Lamont's avatar

Great idea !

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Dorte's avatar

Hi an enlightening article, living in AB and dealing with daily doses of DS, separation and the Alberta Republican Party, I would be interested to follow the money on that one. Convinced backers are US based.

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Cassandra Zilinsky's avatar

This was Brilliant! A totally enthralling read for this Canadian, who also learned a lot!

Thank you!

I am over on the beautiful West Coast.

All my life, my mother, myself, my brother, and my son have voted 🗳️ NOT. Conservative. EVER.

I recently had my very last coffee with my Father, as he told me to my face in a public setting that PP was his guy.

After I swallowed the bile, I took a deep breath, looked him dead in the eyes, and proceeded to rain a stream of actual FACTS at him.

He literally sat back in shock, listening, as well as anyone else nearby, before I said goodbye and walked out.❤️🇨🇦❤️

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Greg Basham's avatar

If it's happening in the USA in the way of lies, false narratives, misinformation etc by politicians there it will come to Canada with these federal and some provincial (not Doug Ford) Conservatives. When they tell the full truth without misinformation attached to it these days it's merely a coincidence.

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James Kinney's avatar

Right to the blue heart with a light saber! What is so frustrating is that none of the other parties are

leveraging this by putting their foot on the gas and outing them on their corruption and foreign influence. Instead of “repeating the lie” they need to repeat the truth at every opportunity and flush these twisted SOBs out into the light of day. That will be impossible if they kill CBC.

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Jim's avatar

Now I'm really puzzled about how the legality of allot of the Conservative Party's action lets them keep spewing lies and misinformation. The devil on my shoulder keeps whispering "gather enough on what they are actually doing and blackmail, sue and sabotage them as people" while the angel keeps pleading "don't stoop to their level". This is beginning to feel like a John Le Carre or Ian Flemming novel, and I'm young to play Smiley, and too old to play Bond.

There has to be some legal mechanism to force politicians to tell the truth. Giving them carte blanche while in Parliament or the Legislature is one thing, but we are all accountable for what we say and do. So what legal protection are they abusing that lets them lie and slander with impunty?

Part of me is glad I'm not a politician, because I would be calling people like Scheer and Poilievre out and challenge them to a fist fight. I may be old, but I would still take their pasty faces and wipe the canvas with them for going on and on spewing obvious lies and slander. (Might even wipe that stupid smirk off Poilievre's face for once)

It seems to me that if the Liberals had spoken about Poilievre the same way the Conservatives have spoken about Carney, the sue balls would be raining down like hail stones.

And as for foreign operatives like Roman and a host of others, why are they allowed to have access to people who could potentially for a government? Hiring mercenaries is never a good sign. The condottieri were always harbingers of doom, since their loyalties were to the deepest pockets. Like the Koch Brothers for instance. Last time I checked, that organization was several stones short on morals, ethics, respect, empathy and doing business legally.

We are better than that.

Nous nous souviendrons.

We are Canadian.

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Chris Fehr's avatar

I'd like to see more held accountable for lies but I'm not sure about the optics of Carney spending energy on a libel suite ideally after the CPC dumps PP.

I will nit pick that the JT government did have many ethics issues that I think were plenty obviouse for the average Canadian. I have hopes the MC government even with many of the same people involved will have better direcion in this.

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sotoportego's avatar

This is a hugely valuable contribution to helping the Canadian polity avoid Anerica's fate

The notion that all that matters un politics is winning comes with living in post-truth times.

Post-truth is a real world and a real postmodern era thing. It explains Joe Biden congratulating Donald Trump on his return to the White House.

The Cinservatives came too close to winning, and the attacks on Canadian political integrity will only increase.

To have a functioning democracy on their northern border is an affront to America's corrupt administration in the same way Ukraine is an affront to Putin's Russia.

Canadians of good will should expect and prepare for worse to come... 🌈🙏🇨🇦

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Wilma Norman's avatar

The links and machinations among Machiavellian western conservative actors hell bent on destabilizing Canada, are real and are deeply anti democratic, power driven and subversive.

Their motivations, north and south of the 49th parallel are eerily similar and inform their long standing, nefarious connections.

Kudos to the author…🇨🇦❤️🇨🇦

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Diana Leck's avatar

“Well, as I already said, I didn’t really say anything, I just spoke rhetoric and talked in circles whilst bashing the other party, hoping you’d smile and agree. Next question?”

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Tara J Kohinska 🇨🇦's avatar

Absolutely no surprise. The Conservatives have taken on MAGA and tried to Canadianise it. All they do is whine and foment division. What is their endgame? Turn Canada into the 51st state? 🤯

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