this can't be our demise

Tory faithful left shaking their heads
ALLAN WOODS, CanWest News Service
Sunday, February 12, 2006

A 63-year-old white man is responsible for the status of women, an anglo Albertan looks after the French at home and abroad, a Liberal floor-crosser must solve the softwood lumber dispute but cannot have dealings with the country's largest forestry firm, and a Manitoban convicted under the provincial elections act is the minister of law and order in Primer Minister Stephen Harper's Canada.

All of this says nothing about the wealthy Conservative organizer appointed to the Senate - and to cabinet - by a party that favours reforms of the upper chamber in order to pull strings for the people of Montreal. ... he can "spin" David Emerson's defection from the Liberals to the Tories to the people who elected him, but Michael Fortier's Senate appointment was a different thing all together. ... has left many party faithful shaking their heads in lament of their weekus horribilis - a week from hell that has shaken their rock-solid faith in Harper's judgement, leaving MPs to rely on a blind faith. ...

The only way the Tory gamble could have gone worse is if Wayne Gretzky's uncle - former London, Ont., Tory candidate Albert Gretzky - had made it to Ottawa under the party's banner, forcing a rookie politician to comment on the betting scandal that has engulfed the National Hockey League.

"It's unfortunate that Wayne Gretzky's going through this turmoil, but that story's going to suck up, as it has already, a hell of a lot more oxygen than David Emerson," said one Tory strategist. ...

On Friday, British Columbia NDP MP Peter Julian asked ethics commissioner Bernard Shapiro to investigate whether the prime minister has violated Parliament's conflict-of-interest code.

Also this week, Harper's government has been forced to deal with the fallout from:

Vic Toews's appointment to cabinet as justice minister. Toews has a criminal conviction under Manitoba's Election Finances Act by spending beyond the limit in the 1999 provincial election campaign;

The choice of unilingual anglophone Alberta MP Ted Menzies as parliamentary secretary for the Francophonie and Official Languages;

The appointment of Jim Abbott - a veteran B.C. MP - as parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women.

Still, few doubt the presence of a grand plan somewhere inside the prime minister's mind.

He came to power in a federal election that was premised on the need for change, a new ethical standard for the federal government and more accountable parliamentarians.

But his performance so far on the Emerson and Fortier files has given those voters pause, with a CanWest News Service/Global poll showing 48 per cent take Harper's controversial cabinet appointments as a "bad sign." ... Yet, some are willing to give the rookie prime minister the benefit of the doubt. ...

As bad as the first week has been for the new Tory government, getting off on the wrong foot is hardly uncharted territory for Harper. The first week of the Conservative leader's election campaign was similarly marred by missteps before he turned it around and knocked Paul Martin out of power. ...
souce