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

The meaning of is

by Aaron Wherry on Thursday, February 17, 2011 1:09pm - 23 Comments

From the Conservative dissent attached to the Foreign Affairs committee’s report.

When the Minister of International Cooperation was asked a direct question about who wrote the word “NOT” in the Kairos memo she refused to mislead this Committee. The Minister did not know who in her office had actually written the word on the document, as accurately reflected in her answer, “I do not know.”

… It must and does follow that the Minister’s answer did not in any way mislead this Committee or the House of Commons. In fact it is the Opposition that has attempted to mislead this Committee and the House both by mischaracterizing the Minister’s communication of her own decision in a way that suggests a breach of privilege.

Tags: Bev Oda, CIDA, foreign aid, house of commons, KAIROS, Parliament

More by Aaron Wherry

tedbetts

Wow. They've already conceded they've lost the ethics argument.

DBM

Bingo – they see yet another Speaker's ruling in which the Minister is chastised but the Speaker ultimately finds he is technically functus as the best case scenario. They're basically counting on Milliken's lack of gonads (which, if it hasn't already, should probably be enshrined among Wells' iron-clad rules of Canadian politics) to pull theirs out of the fire.

SteveJobs

I know Harper thinks we are all pretty stupid and will swallow whatever he swills up, but this…wow…

Thwim

In Mr. Harper's defense, look at who he's surrounded with.
NorthernPoV

In Harper's defense … it has worked pretty well for about 5 years now! glug glug

Emily

Admitting she's incompetent now.
danby

From Websters

ac·count·abil·i·ty noun \ə-ˌkau̇n-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē\
: the quality or state of being accountable; especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions <public officials lacking accountability>

This is an absolute disgrace

DBM

From Wikipedia:

"Willful blindness … is a term used in law to describe a situation in which an individual seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally putting himself in a position where he will be unaware of facts which would render him liable."

Of course the Conservative members of the FAIT committee would probably be quick to point out that we aren't 'technically' dealing with criminal or civil liability.

Dave

Vote Bev Oda! She Hasn't Been Convicted of Anything Yet!

ZestyMordant

This "defense", thin as it is, still doesn't address the fact that Ms. Oda ordered that a document be falsified.

Mike T.

Why do you hate the troops, zesty?

Kevin

A disgrace and unbelievable. When documents are drafted for approval, any desired changes are indicated (even pencilled in), but the document is ALWAYS sent back to the originators for formal amendment. Then and only then is a document signed.
WDM

National Post
Sun Media
Tom Flanagan

All call for her to resign. Opposition conspiracy is pretty hard to spin, but that won't stop them from trying.

briguyhfx

They all hate the troops, and are obviously unaware of THIS WEEK'S POLLS!
Brian

The more I see, the more I want Tom Flanagan as the leader of the Conservative Party.

Sure, I disagree with about half of what he actually thinks. But at least I can figure out what he actually thinks from one day to the next.

TimesArrow

Even Harris [ dick though he was] gave you an honest choice. I hasten to add i wouldn't wish him back on my worst enemy.

Olivier

So they don't even acknowledge that she came otu and said she was responsible for it afterwards?!
TimesArrow

"When the Minister of International Cooperation was asked a direct question about who wrote the word “NOT” in the Kairos memo she refused to mislead this Committee. The Minister did not know who in her office had actually written the word on the document, as accurately reflected in her answer, “I do not know.”

… It must and does follow that the Minister’s answer" …failed to state that while she did not know who inserted the word not in the document, she did infact know who ordered it put there…by the merest coincidence the minister herself…oops!

There, fixed.

I believe that is a sin of ommission. Not sure if Catholic liturgy appends to the HoCs.
DuffConacher

The scandal involving Conservative Cabinet minister Bev Oda is yet another example showing the clear need for an honesty-in-federal-politics law that applies to everyone and allows for complaints by anyone to an independent, non-partisan watchdog agency such as the federal Ethics Commissioner.

If the Conservatives had a majority of seats in the House of Commons, they would have stopped the current parliamentary process aimed at penalizing Minister Oda for her misleading statements. And the process is tainted by partisanship because a Liberal Speaker of the House will decide if Oda is guilty, and opposition MPs will decide whether she will be penalized.

If Minister Oda made her false statements outside of Parliament, for example during an election campaign and including some false election promises, the current process would also not be happening because MPs can only penalize misleading statements made before committees or in the House.

In fact, many ministers and MPs from all political parties, as well as their staff and government officials and lobbyists, have in the past escaped being penalized for false statements because of majority governments, or because of where they made their statements.

Given that dishonesty in politics is the main thing turning off voters, and a main reason for the drop in voter turnout, we clearly
need a strong, comprehensive, independently enforced honesty law so that people involved in federal politics will no longer get away with misleading Canadians.

Hope this helps,
Duff Conacher, Coordinator of Democracy Watch http://www.goodgovernment.ca http://www.CoffeeParty.ca
NorthernPoV

Ah to parse a politician is fraught with naught.
And honest government is not what we got.
Alas its time to play the final coda
for our poor beleaguered Ms Oda.
Herb

"The Minister did not know who in her office had actually written the word on the document …"

So, as far as the Harper Government is concerned, the issue is whose hand penned the three lettesr N-O-T on the document, not who made the decision to unfund Kairos, and whether that decision was made on appropriate grounds.

They must have the cream of the Jesuit Order working in the PMO to come up with that bit of casuistry. Just what we need in the Government of Canada: the finest minds producing false and misleading arguments.
ToTom

I'm surprised the PMO is willing to play with fire by standing behind Oda. If anybody understands spin, marketing and the power of the soundbite it's this conservative party government. That little graphic, of a handwritten "not" inserted into a sentence, is going to pop up again and again and again on t-shirts, posters, web spoofs, you name it. It's short, it's memorable, and it can be effectively used to make a mockery of any conservative statement or position – again and again in a thousand different ways – now and right through any upcoming election campaign.

The "not" graphic is going to haunt these guys, and I can only assume that the slick conservative marketing nerve centre is being overshadowed by hubris or something else entirely.