Ezra Levant Implicates Doug Finley in CadScam

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, I just seen an article over in the National Post by Ezra Levant. Ol' Ezra tells us about what great men of character we have in Stephen Harper and Tom Flanagan. He relates how he was pressured to step aside in Calgary Southwest back in 2002. Levant had the nomination in the bag but Harper needed a safe Alberta riding. According to Ezra, they never hinted at any bribes. He said he was expecting some sort of offer, but it never came.

Okay, so we all believe Dona Cadman and her family when they say a one million dollar offer was made. Nobody seems to be trying to dispute that anymore. Ezra informs us that neither Harper nor Flanagan are morally bankrupt enough to make such an offer. The only two people who could have made the offer are Flanagan and Finley. If it wasn't Flanagan, it had to be Finley. Thanks for narrowing it down, Ezra.

Here's some of Ezra's article:

Stepping aside would be a painful concession for anyone to make, but it was even more so in my situation. I had started campaigning full-time for the nomination nine months earlier, recruited over 1,000 new supporters and had spent more than $250,000 on my campaign. Giving up a sure-fire entry to Parliament was tough enough; writing off nearly a year's work and a fortune was even tougher.
...
So as it became clear that a conflict over Calgary Southwest was coming, we put out feelers to Flanagan to see what consideration might be offered should I step aside. Would my nomination expenses be covered? Would I receive a paid position with the party? Would my personal debts be paid? Such crass inquiries were all but ignored by Flanagan, even as an embarrassing clash between us loomed in the media. In purely pragmatic terms, Flanagan had every incentive to give me an offer --even an offer he didn't intend to keep -- just to make Harper's entry smoother. But he didn't.

As the by-election drew nearer, and the media's delight at our dilemma grew, I received a personal phone call from Harper himself. He was blunt: For the good of the party, I needed to step aside for him.

I immediately asked: "What would be the reward if I step aside? What would be the punishment if I don't?" I expected that he might offer some basic indemnity for the money I had sunk into the campaign to date, or some token position with the party in recognition for the sacrifice he was asking me to make.

"If you step aside, my esteem for you will rise," he told me. "If you don't, my esteem for you will fall." That's it: no money, no job offers, just his respect and friendship.

Okay, that raises a coupla questions. First, how can a campaign for a safe seat cost $250,000 dollars? Second, did it sound to anyone else like Ezra was lookin' fer something other than reimbursement of his massive expenses? Does wanting to be bribed count for anything in the candidate's qualifications?

Anyways, I'm with Ezra. I'm predictin' the shit will land on Doug Finley. He's been largely invisible which makes him more expendable. Flanagan and Harper go way back and both are readily associated with the CPOC brand. Finley, not so much. I wonder if Harper will use that line about his esteem when he asks Finley to fall on his sword like he asked Ezra to do.

JimBobby

Harper Knew About Bribe Offer... Dona Cadman Told Him

Whooee! The big kerfuffle in the House o' Comments is all about whether or not Harper knew about the bribe offered to Chuck Cadman. Very few observers are still claiming there was no offer. To make such a claim is to call the Cadman family a bunch of liars. It's hard to rely on Mrs. Cadman's statement regarding Harper's ignorance of the bribery offer and, at the same time, say she and her daughter and son-in-law are lying about the existence of an offer.

Here's something that raises a question. Dona Cadman is now saying she confronted Stephen Harper about the insurance policy 2 1/2 years ago. According to Mrs. Cadman, Harper denied knowing anything about it and she believed him.

In a statement, Dona Cadman said she asked then-Opposition leader Harper more than two years ago if he knew about the alleged life-insurance offer to her husband in exchange for his support in a crucial confidence vote.

"He looked me straight in the eyes and told me he had no knowledge of an insurance policy offer," Dona Cadman said in the statement. "I knew he was telling me the truth; I could see it in his eyes."

She added: "From that point forward ... I didn't regard it as a 'party' initiative, but rather the overzealous indiscretion of a couple of individuals ... whose identity Chuck never revealed to me."

Dona Cadman - now the Tory candidate in her late husband's Surrey North, B.C., riding - did not recant on her characterization of the alleged offer as a bribe.
(Source)

Okay. Fair enough. Let's accept that as fact, shall we? The Con's are all citing Mrs. Cadman's statement as proof Harper didn't know.

But, here's the big question:

After being informed of the insurance policy offer 2 1/2 years ago, what actions did the CPC leader take?

Upon hearing from Mrs. Cadman that an illegal offer was put forward by Finley and Flanagan, did Mr. Harper attempt to delve further into this shocking accusation? Were Finley and Flanagan chastised in any way? Top level CPC operatives had been accused of offering a bribe. The accusation was made directly to Mr. Harper when Mrs. Cadman asked him if he was aware of the offer. Was there an internal party investigation?

The libel chill revolves around a headline on the official LPC website. The headline reads:

"Harper Knew of Conservative Bribery"

Perhaps, as Mr. Harper and Mrs. Cadman agree, Harper didn't know before the offer was made. Not long after that, however, Mrs. Cadman acknowledges that she did, in fact, bring up the offer to Harper. Unless Mr. Harper thought Mrs. Cadman was lying about the offer 2 1/2 years ago, he did know. At least, he knew that Mrs. Cadman believed an illegal offer was made.

We may never know if Harper was privy to the insurance offer prior to Finley and Flanagan making it. We only need to listen to the tape to ascertain that Harper did know about financial considerations. Mrs. Cadman's statements confirm that Harper was informed about the insurance offer shortly after it was made.

Does Harper deny that Mrs. Cadman asked him about the offer 2 1/2 years ago? After that allegation was made, didn't Harper have a legal obligation to follow up and make sure illegal offers were not made in the name of the party?

Mrs. Cadman was able to determine Harper's truthfulness by looking into his eyes. When she raised the spectre of Finley and Flanagan making an illegal offer, did Harper's eyes reveal shock? After all, the widow of a respected MP had just informed him that his top advisers had offered a bribe.

JB