Now that @erinotoole has completed the defenestration of @DerekSloanCPC, it's time for him to come clean on his relations with Canada's NRA-style gun lobbies.
Is he still with them, as he proclaimed loudly during his leadership campaign?👇🏻
Here's Mr. O'Toole meeting with one of those groups, the Canadian Coalition for "Firearm Rights", less than a year ago: 1. He maintains he's the only person in the leadership race who's spoken against the Liberals' Bill C71.
2. He says he'll repeal the Firearms Act and replace it with something drafted by gun owners, gun manufacturers, police and 'members of the public' (appointed by @CPC_HQ no doubt). 3. He promises to 'educate' Canadians who have no contact
with what he calls 'gun culture'...
...(an NRA term?). 4. He claims suburban voters are 'prone to Liberal lies and deception'. 5. He characterizes himself as a 'proud Blue Conservative' who's not in the 'mushy middle'.
Remember, the CCFR organization is the one that publicly endorses permits for 'concealed carry' of firearms to be widely available across Canada, claiming in its Policy 15-10 that concealed carry is 'a significant benefit to society' and...
And here's Mr. O'Toole's 'report card' from the CCFR - a full-on 'A' grade👇🏻(click the image)
And then we had Mr. O'Toole with another gun lobby group, the National Firearms Association - again, less than a year ago:
1. He describes himself as an 'ardent supporter of firearms rights' who got an 'A' grade from the NFA in his first leadership campaign. 2. He proclaims 'firearms rights' to be a 'fundamental element of the Conservative Party. 3. He describes 'gun culture as being as Canadian 'as
the backyard hockey rink'.🙄 4. When asked in the NFA questionnaire about an alleged civil right to gun ownership for self-protection, here's the answer he gave👇🏻 nfa.ca/2020/03/26/cpc…
Remember, the NFA is the lobby group that opposed a handgun ban for Toronto, saying "Firearms owners are already over regulated in Canada, and more gun control is neither acceptable nor effective.” nfa.ca/2019/12/03/nfa…
Here’s where we’re at on l’affaire #WE:
In the midst of an historic and deadly pandemic, Canada is trying desperately to avoid a dreaded ‘second wave’ while preventing economic collapse, with a government that the vast majority consider to have responded rather well.
Mortified by the polls, @CPC_HQ, led by @PierrePoilievre and cheered on by #cdnmedia aching for clicks, want the PM and his entire Cabinet, along with endless senior officials in the public service, to be utterly consumed with explaining who was in the room, who sent which memo
to whom, and who made which phone call to whom and when, all in connection with the approval of a programme to aid 🇨🇦Canada’s youth this summer (not next summer), which approval had already been withdrawn immediately upon questions being raised about it. And, despite all the
Here’s the thing about the Conservatives’ behaviour over the past 72 hours or so.
The government announced a relief programme a number of days ago, without detailing the required legislation.
Then various public servants went to work drafting that legislation, knowing that in a
minority situation, it would have to be negotiated with the opposition parties, who could stymy quick passage by denying unanimous consent.
Then the PM and Cabinet undoubtedly approved the draft for purposes of that negotiation.
The draft was then timely circulated in confidence to the opposition parties for comment and response, in the usual way of any high stakes negotiation.
Here’s a lawyer’s very long thread on much that’s wrong with the Ethics Commissioner’s report, assembled after a very close reading. #cdnpoli@JustinTrudeau
Top lines:
▪️Result-selective reasoning
▪️Conflict of Interest Act misinterpreted
▪️Shawcross misinterpreted
▪️Irrelevant facts considered, relevant ones ignored
First, some principles:
The Conflict of Interest Act is meant to prevent the improper furthering of private interests by elected politicians, not to govern interactions between politicians and Attorneys General
In 35 years as a lawyer doing nothing but contentious cases, not once did I secretly tape record a client or anyone else, nor, as best I recall, did I ever tape record anyone, certainly never without their consent. And I dealt with lots of dubious types. #cdnpoli#SNCLavalin
If I wanted a precisely contemporaneous record of a conversation, I would have a colleague present visibly taking notes. If I wanted a close record of a phone call, I would have someone present and announced and one of us immediately dictate a memo to file. #cdnpoli#SNCLavalin
Seems we had as AG an inexperienced lawyer (only 3 years as a prosecutor) who really didn’t know how to conduct themselves in the real world. We’ve all met people who, after reading a textbook, think they know it all but can’t find their way out of a brown paper bag. #SNCLavalin