The Chuck Cadman Merged Thread

[stegner]

Let's all wait and see what 24-48 hours brings up.

Sounds like a plan.  You are wiser than I. 

 

[George Wallace]

Sounds like a plan.  You are wiser than I Mr. Wallace. 

Both of us, as it wasn't me.  ;D

 

[stegner]

I just edited that now.  It was Old Sweat that I quoted.  You are wise too Mr. Wallace. 

 

[Yrys]

The 24 hours period hasn't pass, so don't comment the following now, but wait for tomorrow...

Scratchy tape begins with Harper request: 'This is not for publication'

 

[armyvern]

Seems to me that this statement:

Harper: "But the, uh, the offer to Chuck was that it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election."

needs to be expanded upon.

The reporter talks about insurance policies, not the PM.

Those "financial considerations he might lose due to an election" could very well have been (as George suggested), the regular benefits accorded to those elected members with a party ... or not.

The tape does not confirm/nor deny squat.

24 - 48 hours ... still ticking.

 

[a_majoor]

While this certainly looks bad, the source and timing  raise some red flags, and the fact that all the "evidence" is based on hearsay evidence raises some more. The prudent thing to do is go on listening silence and see if any real evidence comes to light.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I'll provide some food for thought from someone who has spent time getting his work published. I am not the author of this BTW

People write books for a number of reasons, but I wonder how many copies a biography of a deceased local MP, albeit one as principled and motivated as Chuck Cadman would sell.

There are a number of ways to get a book published.

One, and the preferred way, is to take a good idea, research it and produce a readable, interesting manuscript. Any number of reputable publishers will take the manuscript and publish and market it. The author then receives royalties, typically 15% of the price the publisher receives.

Second, same as the above, except that the publisher makes his or her daily bread by churning out titles to reach a treshold of Canadian titles per year. In return the publisher is subsidized by the Canadian government and need not expend a lot of effort in marketing the titles. Royalties are still paid, but the author usually ends up on the short end of the stick.

Last, is what is termed the vanity press. The publisher edits, designs and publishes the book in return for a fee. The amount of effort put into the process depends on the fee paid per copy. The author is responsible for marketing the book, which is a bit of a chore as most retailers are reluctant to go near these books. (This method is often used for family histories, church group cook books, etc.)

It would be interesting, but not necessarily germane to the debate, to learn what method was used and who, if anyone, funded it.

It's an aspect we, as a whole didn't really look at, but fell into with our debate, thus fulfilling one of the publisher's three options.

Ergo, really nothing to do whatsoever with the perceived problem...................but simply, all about selling books.

 

[sgf]

The latest development

Ms. Cadman, who is running for the Conservatives in her husband's old riding of Surrey North, stood by her story yesterday. In an interview yesterday with CTV, Ms. Cadman said her husband told her "that two gentlemen had visited him, offered him a $1-million life insurance policy and a few other things ... one was being welcomed back into the Conservative party."

And Mr. Cadman's daughter, Jodi, told CBC News yesterday that her father had told her about the offer.

"He just said, 'I have something to tell you,' and he told me that he was offered a life insurance policy; that my mom and myself would be taken care of," she said yesterday in Vancouver.

I am glad the RCMP has been asked to investigate and to ensure that there have been no criminal offences committed

 

[Donut]

Link?

Again, the author of the biography and political candidate is hardly an unbiased source.

 

[Old Ranger]

Wonder if it is just a coincidence that this story is getting hyped & torqued at the same time the book is being launched ?

I  mean, if I was the author or the publisher, I would consider this to be a gift horse, a herd of gift horses worth of free publicity.

But I am sure it is just a coincidence.

Uh huh, 100% sure.

And did I read $500.00 for a copy? You'd need all the hype you could get.

 

[Edward Campbell]

...
I am glad the RCMP has been asked to investigate and to ensure that there have been no criminal offences committed

Quite correct, sgf. A serious crime has been alleged; it behooves the Crown to investigate, quickly but thoroughly and then, equally quickly, either lay charges or inform the public that no crime has been committed. After that process is complete it may be appropriate for the HoC Ethics Committee to do its spastic best.

If, and it is an IF, the government, per se, is innocent of any criminal activity it may still be appropriate to determine if some fault - related to the ethics of members of parliament and their agents - occurred in this affair. Perhaps some ethical loopholes can be found or, perhaps, the Conservative Party was libelled by the book's author and civil lawsuits might be appropriate, pour discourager les autres, so to speak.

 

[jimb]

I'll just point this out..

ANY sitting Member of Parliament, who dies WHILE IN OFFICE, has his/her pension settlement DOUBLED upon their  death.

In the Cadman case, if he voted to topple the Government of the day, forcing an election, he was gambling that he would LIVE to be re-elected, and if he wasn't re-elected , his estate, as a former MP,  would be considerably reduced in value. What would you do in his place ?

Jim B. Toronto.

 

[stegner]

Quite correct, sgf. A serious crime has been alleged; it behooves the Crown to investigate, quickly but thoroughly and then, equally quickly, either lay charges or inform the public that no crime has been committed. After that process is complete it may be appropriate for the HoC Ethics Committee to do its spastic best.

Does Parliament need its own investigative agency to deal with the frequent events of political scandal?

 

[GAP]

I'll just point this out..

ANY sitting Member of Parliament, who dies WHILE IN OFFICE, has his/her pension settlement DOUBLED upon their  death.

In the Cadman case, if he voted to topple the Government of the day, forcing an election, he was gambling that he would LIVE to be re-elected, and if he wasn't re-elected , his estate, as a former MP,  would be considerably reduced in value. What would you do in his place ?

Jim B. Toronto.

ON Mike Duffy last night it was stated that he told Mike Duffy personnally this was specifically the reason Cadman voted for the Liberals....he knew he was going to die soon, but he wanted to die while in office, thus the benefits to his family....

 

[Edward Campbell]

Does Parliament need its own investigative agency to deal with the frequent events of political scandal?

Isn't that why we have an 'Ethics' Committee?

 

[GAP]

I think the Ethics Committee is a perfect example of an oxymoron

 

[2 Cdo]

The way I'm reading this is there is an allegation of a bribe to Mr Cadman. He denies on TV that there was a bribe, as does the two men who visited him. Nobody denies that a meeting took place. Now here's where it gets interesting. His widow alleges he was angry about being bribed. She has absolutely no physical proof of a bribe being made and her husband is no longer alive to agree with or refute the allegation. This has no hope in hell of ever being proved in any court, end of story.

I'm not saying 100% that a bribe was not offered just that there is absolutely no way to prove it. As for her motives, I have no clue what would drive a member of a political party to raise an issue that could potentially do great harm to both the PM and the party.



(Maybe Dosanjhi offered her a cabinet position if the Liberals ever get to form the next government! )

 

[a_majoor]

We could see some nasty fall out

http://mark-peters.blogspot.com/2008/02/about-that-cadman-insurance-policy.html

Friday, February 29, 2008
About that Cadman insurance policy thingy

If the insurance policy was "only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election" then it's an absolute non-issue. The Opposition should drop it immediately and get back to opposing.

If the policy was discussed as part of incentives to sway Cadman's vote then that's a criminal act and the RCMP should be involved immediately.

But if I were a Liberal MP I'd be very careful about what is said outside the House, particularly in media scrums, for right now there's no proof whatsoever that anyone in the CPC attempted to bribe Chuck Cadman. Plausibility DOES NOT imply veracity. Fertilized by political zeal, the ground is now ripe for defamation suits.
Posted by Mark at 9:01 AM

 

[stegner]

(Maybe Dosanjhi offered her a cabinet position if the Liberals ever get to form the next government! Shocked)

Are we blaming a Conservative quasi-controversy on the Liberals now?    :

So what are the daughters motivations?  She makes the same claim as the mother. 

I'm not saying 100% that a bribe was not offered just that there is absolutely no way to prove it.

If the allegations are true the alleged offer may have required the drawing up of paperwork.  It is not out of the realm of possibility that the conversation could have been taped.  Lots of very unlikely theoreticals here.   

 

[GAP]

like the daughter is going to contradict mommy dearest.......really