MP charged with refusing breath sample refused to co-operate: officer

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 2:48 PM - 0 Comments

EDMONTON – A police constable says he and his supervising officer had to handcuff an Edmonton MP during his arrest for failing to give a breath sample.

Const. Trevor Shelrud says Peter Goldring was dismissive, argumentative and unco-operative during the arrest in a parking lot in December 2011.

Shelrud says Goldring locked himself in his vehicle and refused to deal with him, so the officer had to call his supervisor.

Shelrud says his boss didn’t have much more luck, but eventually persuade Goldring to roll down his window.

Goldring, a 15-year MP for Edmonton-East, is on trial on a charge of refusing to provide a breathalyzer sample.

Goldring’s lawyer plans to file a constitutional challenge to the arrest, but Judge Larry Anderson is hearing the evidence first.

Edmonton MP charged with refusing breath sample won’t get police radio calls

By The Canadian Press - Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 1:31 PM - 0 Comments

EDMONTON – An Edmonton MP won’t be getting access to all police radio communications on the night he was arrested for refusing to provide a breath sample.

Judge Larry Anderson ruled there was no evidence to suggest that the large volume of calls that night had anything to do with the case against Peter Goldring.

Goldring had been seeking a list of all radio calls made the night he was arrested as well as recordings or transcripts of them. Anderson agreed that information could be relevant, but ruled there was no reason to believe it was. Continue…

MP Goldring locked himself in truck during arrest: police

By Dean Bennett - Friday, December 7, 2012 at 5:38 PM - 0 Comments

EDMONTON – A police officer has testified that an Alberta MP locked himself in his truck and refused to co-operate the night he was pulled over for suspected drunk driving.

Sgt. Conrad Moschansky told court he arrived at an Edmonton parking lot last December after an officer asked for help with Peter Goldring’s arrest following a riding Christmas party.

“He (the officer) informed me we had a member of Parliament under arrest and he was being belligerent,” Moschansky said Friday under questioning from Goldring’s lawyer, Dino Bottos, at a pre-trial hearing in provincial court.

Bottos read aloud one of Moschansky’s cellphone messages from the scene and the sergeant confirmed it was accurate.

“(I) spoke with (arresting officer) Const. Shelrud and he mentioned driver had locked himself in car and would not co-operate and would not open door,” read the email. Continue…

Members’ statements intrigue

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 19, 2012 at 12:45 PM - 0 Comments

Peter Goldring thinks the Conservatives were trying to mock him with a members’ statement.

He was, however, upset by what he felt was an incidence of “somebody is having a little bit of fun” at his expense in the House Nov. 8.  That day, Mr. Goldring rose to deliver a member’s statement thanking a group of Ukrainian Parliamentary interns who were leaving the Hill. After he finished, Conservative MP Ed Holder (London West, Ont.) rose to make a statement on Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “I’m doing a serious statement in the House of Commons, and Ed Holder follows right away with a statement that is incorrect that says ‘Don’t drink and drive,’” stated Mr. Goldring.  “I’m sure that I am going to be vindicated on it. But there is a certain amount of sensitivity do it. How can it, coincidently the statement flat-out like that following right up on my statement in the House of Commons? I think that that’s just childish behaviour,” he said.

But Mr. Holder said that his statement had nothing to do with Mr. Goldring. “I thought it highly coincidental that Peter spoke and I spoke, but he didn’t even come up in the thought process, quite frankly,” he said.  Mr. Goldring refused to say whether he believed it was Mr. Holder, or the office of Government House Leader Peter Van Loan (York-Simcoe, Ont.), or another individual, who intended to embarrass him. “This claim is completely false. Mr. Holder’s statement had nothing to do with Mr. Goldring,” said Fraser Malcolm, Mr. Van Loan’s director of communications, in an email. “Furthermore, the Speaker determines when the Independent Members of Parliament, including Mr. Goldring, are recognized to deliver a statement. We receive no advance notice of whether or when Mr. Goldring will be recognized,” he added. 

A preliminary hearing into the charges against Mr. Goldring was conducted last Friday.

‘Yellow journalism of the worst sort’

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 4:08 PM - 0 Comments

Independent MP Peter Goldring—he resigned from the Conservative caucus 11 months ago—has issued a statement to condemn the CBC’s reporting on a Canadian Forces video that poked fun at Osama bin Laden.

Edmonton East Member of Parliament Peter Goldring has expressed outrage and disgust over the manner in which the CBC conducted cheap, amateur, yellow journalism of the worst sort against Canada’s proud military.

The 2010 video of a private party skit in question involves a Canadian soldier dressed up in Taliban attire and posing as Osama bin Laden`s brother, ‘Eugene’. The CBC has latched on to this video and used it to paint the Canadian military and its members as both offensive and culturally insensitive persons.

“This video was meant as nothing more than a little black humour intended for a private audience,” Mr. Goldring stated. “The Canadian military didn’t make this video public, The CBC did. The CBC, who did the right thing to report it to the Canadian military, then had the opportunity to do the next right thing and simply put this video in the garbage can along with the rest of the copies where it belongs. Instead, the CBC are the ones inciting hate and hurting the Arab community worldwide by blasting this video out through national media to be picked up internationally.

“By engaging in yellow journalism and irresponsibly disseminating it for the world to see, the CBC hurt Canada’s image, our military’s image, and unnecessarily offended Arab’s around the world. By spinning this and putting it out for international consumption, the CBC is propagating racism. They took a video that was internal, personal, and limited to a very few, and turned it into an outward Canadian racial attitude for the rest of the world to believe.

“By calling upon CBC comedian Shaun Majumder – a visible minority – to speak out on the supposed ‘cultural insensitivities’ of this video is the height of hypocrisy, as Shaun has portrayed bin Laden as an Arab himself. The CBC attempted to detonate a racist scandal where there simply was none to be found.

“To frame this in perspective, the late Leslie Nielsen has portrayed Osama bin Laden in film – does that make him decidedly racist or insensitive? No, in fact he is recognized on Canada’s Walk of Fame and has also received an Order of Canada.

“Shaun Majumder – the CBC spokesperson condemning the actions in this video – has portrayed Osama bin Laden in skits himself, most notably in a spoof video poking fun at both bin Laden as well as the H1N1 virus during the outbreak. Majumder never faced any backlash or criticisms for his portrayal although it certainly could be said that he was propagating racial hatred not in a simple private event but worldwide.

“This video should not have been news-worthy, but the irresponsibility of the CBC’s reporting has served to define what this harmless skit has now morphed into.

“In the face of this incident, we have to thank the men and women of our Canadian military who were doing nothing more than relieving themselves of the endless stresses of their jobs with a little bit of black comedy that from time to time many people of all races of all countries enjoy, and ended up showing us where the evil truly exists in this country – the CBC headquarters.

“God help us if we have a CBC that does harm to our military and to our country worldwide by exploitative sensationalism.

“I call on the Prime Minister to call up the CBC to issue a sweeping apology to not only our military but our entire country. Their reckless reporting surrounding this non-story has done a great disservice to both our military and out country’s reputations.

“It’s time to consider whether the CBC is with Canadians or against.”

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the video included “inappropriate content and poor taste.”

Peter Goldring Maverick Watch

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, October 19, 2012 at 9:54 PM - 0 Comments

The Independent Conservative MP disagrees with changes to the MP pension plan.

“This is just cowardly. This is just appealing for the almighty vote without giving consideration on how is it going to reflect on the quality of your future parliaments,” Goldring said in an interview with Postmedia News. “It really isn’t fair compensation.”

After taxes and pension contributions, he figures MPs could effectively be taking home around $50,000 a year or less. Many MPs come from “substantial backgrounds” and leave behind well-paying careers when jumping into politics, he said. The pension plan, as it currently sits before the changes, provides an “extra edge” that’s needed because many MPs can’t return to their previous careers, he said. “You’ve got a vacuum here, and when people are considering whether they’re going into politics, they will be considering this,” Goldring added. “You have to have some type of leveller,” he said, otherwise the only people who will run for federal politics are “college kids or the very wealthy.”

‘I look forward to the opportunity to present my side of the story’

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 9:31 AM - 0 Comments

Peter Goldring, the MP for Edmonton East, explains what happened the night he was charged by police with failing to provide a breath sample and says he’ll explain why later.

“Although I was not impaired by alcohol, the police officer demanded I provide a roadside breath sample at the time because I admitted to having recently consumed a very small amount of alcohol,” Goldring told media at Edmonton’s courthouse.  ”One beer. The police had the opportunity to charge me with impaired. They did not. There’s no suggestion of impairment here.”

He said he would provide the reason for his refusal to take a breathalyzer only when his case comes to court.

Mr. Goldring withdrew from the Conservative caucus in December and declared himself a Civil Libertarian MP in January, but he is now simply an independent MP (possibly to avoid confusion with the actual Libertarian Party). He has previously expressed civil liberties concerns with random sampling of drivers.

This is the week that was

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 4:59 PM - 0 Comments

The NDP leadership contenders made their first impressions. Bruce Hyer napped. Robert Chisholm defended his unilingualism. Paul Dewar proposed a new kind of vote subsidy. Thomas Mulcair pitched cap-and-trade.

Chuck Strahl complicated John Duncan’s timeline. The citizens of Attawapiskat turned away the auditor, who’s costing them $1,300 per day. Peter MacKay had a history with helicopter rides. The Liberals double-checked. A retired major came to the minister’s defence. And the minister threatened to sue. Peter Goldring became an independent. MPs failed in their duty. And Jim Hillyer celebrated (and then kind of tried to sort of apologize). Continue…

‘Disregard for the rule of law’

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 3:50 PM - 67 Comments

The Federal Court has ruled that the government’s attempt to reform the Canadian Wheat Board violates the legislation that governs the board.

In a ruling today, Federal Court Judge Douglas Campbell said the government violated the Canadian Wheat Board Act by not holding a vote among farmers before introducing legislation eliminating the Wheat Board’s monopoly position. Judge Campbell admonished the government for not consulting with farmers and “simply pushing ahead” with plans to essentially abolish the board. “Had a meaningful consultative process been engaged to find a solution which meets the concerns of the majority, the present legal action might not have been necessary,” the judge ruled. He added that the government had to be “held accountable for [its] disregard for the rule of law.”

During QP this afternoon, the NDP’s Pat Martin suggested that perhaps the Goldring precedent—removing oneself from caucus on the allegation that one broke the law—should apply here.

Making our streets safer

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 9:15 AM - 31 Comments

Conservative MP Peter Goldring has resigned from the Conservative caucus after being charged for refusing a breathalyzer test this weekend.

Two years ago, on the basis of civil liberties concerns, he criticized a proposal from Mothers Against Drunk Driving that would have required drivers to comply with random screening. He also apparently opposed new drunk driving legislation being pursued by the Alberta government.

As to the historical legacy of Louis Riel

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, February 19, 2010 at 5:39 PM - 61 Comments

Conservative MP Peter Goldring has managed today the rare feat of uniting the Liberal party and the Prime Minister’s Office in scorn.

“This document is absolutely not, in any way, an initiative of our government or our party,” said Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in an emailed statement. ”This is a personal initiative of MP Goldring which we strongly disapprove of. Louis Riel is a historical and controversial figure. But he played an important role in the development of Canada and in the protection of the rights and culture of the Metis and Francophones in Canada.”

Conservative Shelly Glover, a Metis, calls Mr. Goldring’s published views unjust, inaccurate and unfortunate. The newsletter in question is here.

Peter Goldring Maverick Watch

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, December 14, 2009 at 10:27 AM - 9 Comments

The Conservative MP seems vaguely uncomfortable with the tone of recent ten-percenters.

… he believes rules governing the flyers should be amended to moderate the overtly political tone and content that has creeped in over the past few years, including recent NDP flyers he said he believes are targeting him for electoral purposes.

“I get an awful lot of Ten Percenters from the other parties, and particularly from the NDP in Edmonton East, they’re kind of targeting,” said Mr. Goldring. “I do believe that we could have it in a little more moderation, but the rules allow it that way. I would not have a problem with rules tightening up a bit.”