Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

What do you call this most beautiful fabric?

by Aaron Wherry on Tuesday, November 23, 2010 1:52pm - 28 Comments

The primary revelation from today’s committee hearings into the rebuilding of West Block seems to be that the Natural Resources Minister prefers cashmere.

The following day, Mr. Sauvé said, he received a call from one of Mr. Paradis’s aides who asked for an identical cashmere coat to be bought for Mr. Paradis at Holt Renfrew, at a cost of more than $5,000. Mr. Paradis acknowledges that the coat was stolen but denies that he directly or indirectly asked for compensation.

After Tuesday’s testimony, Mr. Paradis’s spokesman said the minister simply asked the Conservative riding association if he could be compensated $400 for the theft. Spokesman Richard Walker said that in addition to losing his coat, Mr. Paradis lost his keys, which forced him to replace a number of locks at his house. “The coat was worth $900,” said spokesman Richard Walker, saying it was bought at a wholesaler in Mr. Paradis’s riding.

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  • Olivier

    Who's lying?

  • Loraine Lamontagne

    The primary revelation from this article, and others on this story published on the Globe site, is that they always disable their comments section.

    Maybe he/she is just another young, inexperienced person with not enough 'nose' to be an aide to a minister. Why would the minister ask the riding association for a reimbusement anyway? He should keep an eye on his coat. Did anyone ever pay former liberal governments politicos when their suits were ruined by pie throwers?

  • Dave

    Christian Paradis cashmere coat is similar to Pat Nixons mink coat.[youtube ZuzPUKEbF0U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuzPUKEbF0U youtube]

    • hosertohoosier

      You mean her cloth, Republican coat.

  • Emily

    Mr Paradis is entitled to his entitlements.

    • harrylimelives

      We've know for a long time that emperor Harper has had no clothes…

  • Loraine Lamontagne

    Actually, I still think that the primary revelation is that Monsieur Sauvé had to pay $140,000 to Gilles Varin, a conservative militant, to see his file processed and get the contract. Did M. Varin keep all that money for himself? He is a consultant – he would have had to report this on his income tax, non?

  • burlivespipe

    In other words, Paradis demands Canadian taxpayers subsidize his chic-ness. Pretty cheeky of these CONs… maybe he could charge another focus group of friends to see how Canadians think of it?

    • Jenn_

      Just one little clarification. I've been to one of those focus groups. I am not a friend. I don't meant to say that was necessarily a focus group they paid any attention to, mind you, just that all the focus groups are not necessarily made up of friends.

  • Emily

    Well a man's full-length cashmere coat doesn't cost $600….no matter what the receipt says.

    But well done, no one ever priced the fake lake, much less at $2M….they complained it was silly.

    • john g

      Well, if by no-one, you mean the Star, the Globe, CTV, and CBC…etc…

      • Emily

        Not for the wading pool and water….the whole thing. As the summit organizers said.

  • E_B_

    One of three things is true here, and lord only knows if we will get to the bottom of it:

    1. Mr Sauve is lying to the Parliamentary Committee, and there was no request for $5,000. Presumably, it would be a serious problem to do so, and Mr. Sauve would be subject to charges if found out. In this case, one would hope that he really knows what he is doing.

    2. An underling in Mr. Paradis's retinue is guilty of trying to shakedown Mr. Sauve for $5000. One would hope that he will be identified and dealt with appropriately.

    3. If the coat really was a highend HR cashmere coat, then someone is trying to protect the minister by throwing the underling under the bus by undervaluing the coat.

    • Patchouli

      According to Kady's liveblog this am, Denis Coderre insisted the witness, Sauve, be sworn in prior to his questioning and testimony. I surely hope he didn't lie to the committee, and should also say that he had his lawyer with him for counsel.

  • Crit_Reasoning

    Canadian Business Magazine (another Rogers publication) covered it:
    http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_…

  • john g

    If Paradis finds himself looking for yet another new staffer after this incident, I've got a candidate he might be interested in.

    • Sigh

      Wow, hangar and all.

  • John D

    You can't just go to Tim Hortons in any old coat.

  • MaggiesFarmboy

    What bothers me about this ongoing fiasco is that our most important public buildings have been criminally neglected (large chunks of the West Block were raining down on passersby, etc), and stories like this will not encourage the public, and thus future governments, to invest in their upkeep.

    These projects always seem to be big shiny corruption magnets.

  • brooster2

    What I don't understand is why Paradis is (so far) getting a free pass from the PMO, after Helena Guergis was more or less invited to explore other career options for more obscure and as-yet-unspecified transgressions. What's the diff?

    • John D

      Quebec?

  • Jan

    Actually, Coyne has linked to an article on his twitter.

    • SamDavies

      I'm confused. Are you saying that following Coyne on twitter (not owned by Rogers) is now a requirement in order to get such information? For all I know, Coyne is busy writing his take on foreign ownership restrictions, and will post this sometime soon. But why would the editors choose not to make any mention of the event, as they do with normal current events posts? You know – the ones that are a few sentences long, and link to more informative articles? I find this both bizarre and suspicious…

      • Jenn_

        I'm hopeful it will make the magazine. The weekly magazine. This here is the blogs of various and sundry writers at Macleans, and as I understand it they are free (as in not compelled by management) to blog about whatever suits their fancy. It's the paying gig you want to pay attention to. If there is not some article in the magazine come Thursday, then by all means, do write a letter to the editor of said magazine.

        • SamDavies

          I'm not talking about the actual blog posts – I understand how that works, and have no problem with it.
          I am referring to whoever controls the "Posted by macleans.ca" blurbs, which are not blog posts.
          For example: http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/23/19-year-old-ma… http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/23/alberta-mla-bo…

          These are quick blurbs on stuff that is in the news, with links to full stories.
          If you follow the links, you will note these are categorized as "Need to Know".
          Who then decided that we "Did not need to Know" about the policy shift of the Minister of Industry?

          • Jenn_

            Ah. Carry on then. I love the concept of the Need to Know's, and you're right, they do cover up to the minute-type current news. They also need an editor rather badly. I wish there was a blog post on how the site is put together, such as who decides on the Need to Knows, how they decide which of five things that happened in the last hour get the number one (or three) spot, etc, and why some things are something we don't need to know.

  • Holly Stick
  • bill_y

    it is not about the cost of the coat – it is about the price the contributor – the host of the party was asked to fork over. You know, the one who said, you pay – you receive….

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