Buckdog

Are you getting the faint whiff of palace intrigue here, Dog? Does Steve Harper have his own Dalton Camp at work behind his back? Has Harper finally alienated enough of his caucus that the dissenters are emboldened to move against him?

Maybe the target of all the leaked e-mails, documents and information wasn't Duffy or Wallin or any of them but Harper and his indispensible chief of staff, Wright.

Maybe that was the threat that Harper perceived that led to Wright calling Duffy in and arranging the $90G gift to keep the matter "in house" and under control. The backroom deal makes sense in that context, no? I haven't seen any other coherent explanation for it.

Whoever is after Harper countered by leaking documents and info to Bob Fife. First Duffy's e-mails. Next particulars of the Wright payment and terms of the deal - Duffy's silence and the promise the investigation would "go easy on" him. Then the release of the original Senate report on Duffy contrasted with the "laundered" report that finally was released.

It's like a chess game and now Harper's Queen stands alone, completely defenseless, the King (Wright) exiled.

What else makes any sense? A coup by the Progressive Conservative faction.

Where's the "like" button?

I think it's a mistake to claim there's no point in pursuing an RCMP investigation into misuse of funds or fraudulent expense claims by senators, because they will whitewash the parties under investigation in any event.

This amounts to conceding defeat without even engaging a battle. If you concede them this, you're giving them a pass whereby they can brush off allegations of Conservative misdeeds in the future and argue that if you were so sure there was misuse of funds or fraud, why didn't you demand a police investigation at the time...

Rene .. there is merit in what you say. Normally, the RCMP have been able to talk to whomever they want to anywhere in the nation. But remember last week, Minister responsible for the RCMP (Toews), gave a directive to the Commissioner, that no one from the RCMP is allowed to talk to an MP, Senator or Parliamentary committee without permission of the PMO. We are losing ground in our democracy.

Mound ... (if there is a diety in heaaven) then let's pray that you are onto the truth. There must be a few who would like to see him get bumped .. someone who sits in the back bench without hope of ever seeing cabinet (or) an anti-choice devotee who has had enough (or) someone a bit higher in the pecking order who is ready to see a leadership race before the next election.

Gawd .. I hope you are correct!

Some Old Guy ... thanks!