ROSS REBAGLIATI, Okanagan-Coquihalla Liberal MP Candidate

OTTAWA – Conservative patronage continues to plumb new depths of cynicism, as five new Conservative Senators and 32 more Conservative Party bank-rollers have been appointed to taxpayer-funded jobs – a total of 265 since the last election.
 

“Canadians do not accept for one minute Stephen Harper’s excuses for shutting down parliament, which include jamming the Senate with more partisan appointments,” said Marlene Jennings, Liberal Critic for Government Ethics and Democratic Reform. “Stephen Harper campaigns on Senate reform, but when in power he stacks the Senate with his most dogged, partisan loyalists.  On this issue of trust, Mr. Harper’s credibility is in tatters.”
 

With today’s Senate appointments, Mr. Harper is unequalled in Canadian history as the only Prime Minister to make 32 Senate appointments in just one year. 

Liberal Prime Ministers have appointed independent and even Conservative appointees.  But in every case, Stephen Harper’s Senators have displayed no sober second thought – they consistently toe the party line and vote how Stephen Harper tells them to vote.
 

Liberal MP Wayne Easter revealed that, in addition to stacking the Senate, 32 more partisan Conservative appointments were made to the courts, government boards and agencies since November.  265 Conservative patronage appointees have contributed a sum total of $315,000 to Conservative coffers since the last election.
 

“Mr. Harper is doing everything he once criticized, while failing to establish the Public Appointments Commission he promised,” said Mr. Easter. “How can he justify appointing 22 defeated Conservative candidates, and 11 former Conservative MPs to taxpayer jobs?”
 

Liberal MP Marcel Proulx noted that the government has spent almost $1.4 million on the phantom Public Appointments Commission, including $350,000 this year, even though it doesn’t exist – calling into question the qualifications of Conservative appointees to conduct public business.
 

“Instead of focusing on creating jobs and protecting healthcare, this government is fixated on rewarding Conservative insiders,” concluded Mr. Proulx. “Canadians are not blind to this government’s deceptive ways and can see through their partisan spin machine.  We’re going to keep exposing Conservative abuses of power – because the future prosperity of this country is at stake.”

 

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