David Dingwall: The Liberal Gift That Keeps On Giving
You could say that the Tories got into power, in 2006, because of former Liberal cabinet minister (and then patronage-appointed master of the Royal Canadian Mint) David Dingwall. Let’s face it, that “I’m entitled to my entitlements” crack did more to sum up the Liberal Party attitude towards government — and consequently turn Canadians off the party — than anything Stephen Harper could have dreamed up.
And, in a particularly delicious irony, this bit from the Globe’s Campbell Clark has Dingwall back onto the front pages:
Documents obtained under the access-to-information act reveal that Mr. Dingwall billed [the] sum [of $39,789] for the legal fees he ran up for his appearance at the committee.
The new Dingwall documents arrived three and a half years after they were originally requested under the access-to-information act by reporter Jeff Sallot, who left The Globe and Mail in 2007 to become a university professor.
Yes, you could look on this as an irony: that the Paul Martin government paid David Dingwall nearly 40 grand to sink it. And it also raises two questions: how much of the Librano activity, right now, is still driven by the Dingwall attitude? And can it ever really be purged from the current ranks of the caucus and the backroom?
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November 20th, 2009 at 08:27
The short answer? No.
The long answer? That kind of corruption and attitude is deeply ingrained in the Liberal ranks and their core supporters. It is impossible for it to be taken out their core beliefs at this point. The only way to end it is with the death of the Liberal Party.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:55
Also, I think one of the biggest things to ever help the Conservatives against the Liberals was the “beer and popcorn” comment. I remember watching that on TV, and then thinking, “Thank you, G-d!”