How many of your other Conservative candidates have criminal records, Mr Harper?
fraeauldb...@gmail.com
only broke the law, but broke a law
that he and his government introduced and passed in this past term.
The Tories insist that due to it being
a minority government, the law was not broken. If the law was not
broken, then the spirit of the law was certainly broken. He has been
quoted as stating that the intent was to stop a PM from calling an
opportunistic election when he or she thought the opposition was weak
and he or she had an opportunity
to take advantage of that fact. Well, here he is using the same tactic
he decried only months ago.
Tory Halifax candidate drops out as criminal record revealed
Sep 09, 2008 07:53 PM
Michael Tutton
THE CANADIAN PRESS
HALIFAX – A hand-picked Conservative candidate with two criminal
convictions quit the race in a Halifax riding on Tuesday, leaving the
party scrambling to find a replacement.
Rosamond Luke, director of a non-profit centre that assists immigrant
women, was announced as the party's candidate Sunday, with a news
release saying she was "unanimously endorsed" by the Halifax
Conservative Association.
The party had booked a headquarters for their candidate – one of four
the national office appointed last week.
A source in the Conservative party confirmed Tuesday that Luke had two
criminal convictions.
Luke could not be reached for comment on the criminal convictions, but
earlier on Tuesday she said she decided not to run because of work
pressures.
"I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing right now. ... That's it,"
Luke said.
She said she didn't have any other reason for stepping down.
"After a meeting with a few of my staff this morning, they told me
they weren't able to take this (work) on if I leave," Luke said.
Dan Dugas, a spokesman for the party in Ottawa, didn't raise Luke's
criminal convictions when asked why she was leaving.
He said Luke's employer had asked her to stay on.
Asked later if the party had done a criminal record check on Luke,
Dugas replied: "I don't know. I don't know anything other than that
she's withdrawn."
Dugas said the party had accepted her withdrawal.
"I'm in a bad way because she's not our candidate and I can't really
discuss her," he added.
The CBC says Luke was convicted of uttering threats and received 18
months probation in July 2006.
The CBC also says she was convicted of breaching an undertaking in
June 2007 and was fined $50 and given an additional nine months
probation.
Luke was one of four Nova Scotia candidates appointed by the
Conservatives last week. At the time, party officials admitted they
faced challenges finding candidates to run in the province's 11
ridings.
The Tories currently hold two seats in Nova Scotia, the Liberals six,
the NDP two and the other is held by an Independent.
Jeff MacLeod, a political science professor at Mount Saint Vincent
University in Halifax, said the last-minute appointments show the
party wasn't ready for an election call.
"To me it's a lack of preparedness," he said.
The riding of Halifax is an NDP stronghold, held by former NDP leader
Alexa McDonough for the past 11 years.
Still, MacLeod said McDonough's decision to step down should have made
the riding more appealing to the other parties.
"It's puzzling," he said. "I think this is a riding that other parties
would think they have a chance at and yet they don't seem to be
pulling out all the stops."
Dugas denied that the late appointments or Luke's resignation
signalled any disorganization or disinterest in Nova Scotia.
"One candidate has been asked by her employer to stay on and help in a
non-profit organization," he said in an interview. "I don't see it
having an application outside of that one riding and that one
candidate."
Meanwhile, the Liberals announced that Catherine Meade, a lawyer,
would be acclaimed at a nomination meeting in Halifax on Wednesday.
On Monday, the New Democrats chose legal aid worker Megan Leslie as
their candidate in Halifax.
The riding of Halifax was taken handily by McDonough in the 2006
election, when she won by an 8,000-vote plurality, with the Liberals
placing second and the Conservatives third.
jimjames5417
And where is the $ 40 Million they stole from taxpayers when last in
power??