Ruth Ellen Brosseau Accused of Lying on Resume

Allegations:

Further allegations against Ruth Ellen Brosseau (NDP representing Berthier-Maskinongé):

• On her biography on the NDP website, Ruth Ellen Brosseau claimed to have a diploma in Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications from St. Lawrence College in Kingston. However, the school says that is not true as she did not complete her diploma.
  

Commentary:

To me, this is far more serious than many of the previous issues surrounding her. This accusation, which has been confirmed by the college, means she (or whoever is in charge of the NDP biographies) is attempting to deceive the Canadian public. The school has confirmed that while she did study at the St. Lawrence College, she never completed the diploma requirements and therefore was never granted the diploma.

I really do not see why she would lie about something like this. Checking up on someone's education is such a simple thing to do. Did she really think she would get away with it? All it takes is one phone call to the school to confirm or refute someones educational claims. This is not a resume for a part time job - you have to have known your claims would get scrutinized. To me, while allegations of incompetence are one thing (for a rookie MP), confirmed dishonesty is something entirely more serious.

Is it just me, or do Ruth Ellen Brosseau and Jim Hillyer seem more and more alike every day? Both avoided public appearances during the election and both overstated their education. Both of these people seem to have controversy follow them where ever they go. And we have almost four full years to read about more foolish things these two do.

Source: CBC

Bloc Wants Official Party Status Because Quebec is a Nation

Quote:

"Because the House of Commons recognized us like a nation first of all, and we represent 24 per cent of the people in Quebec, I guess we have the right to be a party," - Maria Mourani (Bloc MP representing Ahuntsic in Quebec)

"The people are always right, but they could also be mistaken.... We have to accept it, we have to accept that this is what can happen in a democracy, " - Maria Mourani

Commentary:

In Canada, to be an officially recognized party (and get the benefits and funding associated with such status) you need to have at least 12 seats in the House of Commons. The Bloc got beaten badly in this election and only got 4 seats, putting them well back of the minimum. Maria Mourani, and she seems to imply the rest of the Bloc, think that this rule should be waived for them.

I am sure we could have a long debate about whether a 12 seat minimum is appropriate for party status. Personally, I think there should only be a one seat minimum and perhaps a minimum number of votes nationally (in order to exclude true independent, non-affiliated candidates). But the rules are the rules. The Bloc knew the rules before the election and, to my knowledge, never complained about them in the past. They are only complaining now because of their current situation.

While it is true they did receive 24% of votes in Quebec, that means they did not receive 76% of votes (and received 0% of votes in other provinces and territories). The people of Quebec, for the most part, voted the Bloc out of power in Quebec. This is not the case of a small party, like the Green Party, growing in size and wanting to get party status. It is a formerly large and powerful party having a very bad showing at the polls but trying to hold on to their former party benefits.

I personally find the second quote shows the most disrespect for the Quebec voters. Maria Mourani seems to be saying that the voters made the wrong choice and writes off the election as a flaw of democracy. This is just ridiculous. The voters voted for the party they wanted to represent their interests. In my opinion, it is quotes and actions like this that resulted in the voters flocking to the NDP.

Source: CBC

Ruth Ellen Brosseau Confirms Some Allegations Against Her

Quote:

In an interview, MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau (represents the Berthier-Maskinongé riding in Quebec) has confirmed come of the allegations made against her.

In regards to never going to the riding:

"Unfortunately, I've never had the opportunity to go to the riding," - Ruth Ellen Brosseau

In regards to going to Las Vegas during the campaign:

"It was planned before [the election], but it was just kind of bad timing," - Ruth Ellen Brosseau

In regards to her French language skill she acknowledged she was "nervous" speaking the language.


Commentary:

To be honest, none of these allegations were terribly serious nor were they ever really in doubt. We all knew, quite certainly, that she had never been to the riding, took a vacation to Las Vegas and was not very good at speaking French. These issues just show that the voters from Berthier-Maskinongé voted for a party rather than a candidate.

Even so, it is good she has finally come out and addressed these issues. It took the NDP party quite some time to let her do a media interview, and I think made this whole controversy last longer than it should have, but hopefully it can now be put to bed. All we need now is for Jim Hillyer to admit that, like Ruth Ellen Brosseau, he hid from voters and the media as well. Unfortunately, I don't think he will ever come out and admit his shortcomings.

Source: CBC

Jim Hillyer Allegedly Hid From Voters

Allegations:

The following allegations have been made about Conservative MP Jim Hillyer (representing Lethbridge):

1. He has emphasized his education but got his degree from a non-accredited university (George Wythe University in Cedar City, Utah).
2. His biography lists his employment experience (business consultant and educator) but he refuses to identify the companies he worked for.
   
3. He skipped the majority of debates and turned down numerous media interviews.
   

Commentary:

In regards to allegation (1), it seems like Jim Hillyer was overstating his education. Perhaps he considers a graduate degree from a non-accredited university to be on par with one from an accredited North American university, but the vast majority of people do not. I think if he had been more up front about where he received the degree people would not have judged him so harshly for it.

However, based on allegation (1) it seems like there might be something to allegation (2). Since no one has been able to confirm any of the experience he claims to have, people will think he is overstating himself like he did with his education. If he has actually done what he says he has it is very easy for him to clear this up - just get the companies to confirm his employment. They do not need to go into too much detail, but just to prove he actually does have consultation and education experience.

Allegation (3) is yet another case of voting for the party instead of the candidate. This is similar to the Ruth Ellen Brosseau situation, with both of them being "mystery" candidates, but Jim Hillyer was actually the favorite through the election (and he actually set foot in the riding). I am really surprised the Conservative party would allow such a candidate in a Conservative stronghold riding. This riding has been Conservative blue for years, so Jim Hillyer would have been dealing with largely Conservative crowds at all of these events. If he can not deal with supporting crowds how does the party expect him to handle the vultures in Ottawa? I can not believe the Conservative strategists did not run a more serious candidate in this riding.

Source: The Globe and Mail

MP Rick Dykstra Claims Census Will Soon Be Optional

Quote:

"We've already changed the long-form census so that it is not mandatory and that is, frankly, the road we are going with the short-form census as well" - Rick Dykstra (Conservative MP representing St. Catherines, Ontario)

Commentary:

I certainly hope this is a case of Rick Dykstra being uninformed and not of him leaking Conservative plans. A mandatory census is generally thought of as being vitally important to get demographic information about the population. It is necessary to get population estimates, find areas where people are moving to (and leaving) and determining what languages are spoken in a region. From a purely economic standpoint, the census data is useful to help businesses figure out expansion plans.

If the debate about the long-form census taught us anything, it is that the most respected statisticians in Canada (and, in fact, around the world) feel that only mandatory censuses are useful. If the forms are not filled out by everyone then the data is of a significantly lower quality and is much less useful for decision making. I really can't image why any government would want to get rid of the census since it has both social and economic benefits and helps optimize government spending.

I can't image a developed nation without a solid national census, so I am really hoping Rick Dykstra is uninformed about the plans of the Conservative Party.


Source: CBC

Thomas Mulcair Doubts Osama bin Laden Photos Exist

Quote:

"I don't think, from what I've heard, that those pictures exist and if they do I'll leave that up to the American military," - Thomas Mulcair (deputy leader of NDP party) on Barack Obama's claim that the US had photos of Osama bin Laden dead

Commentary:

In a nutshell, this quote from Thomas Mulcair (MP representing the riding of Outremont in Quebec) implying that President Barack Obama is lying to the world. He is saying he does not believe that the US actually has photos of Osama bin Laden's dead body. He goes short of saying he does not believe bin Laden is actually dead, but he seems to be implying that. Many people have been making such claims in recent days but I am very surprised the deputy leader of the NDP is one of them. Thomas Mulcair is the person who is suppose to be training and teaching all of the rookie NDP MPs. I certainly he isn't teaching them to make wild accusations about world leaders.

If the US was going to fake bin Laden's death why would they fake his hideout in a Pakistani city near a military base? All that would do is sour American-Pakistani relations (unless you are a conspiracy theorist who thinks the US is looking to invade Pakistan). If they were going to fake Osama's death it would have been much easier for they to claim they caught him hiding in a cave in rural Pakistan. It would be very believable and leave far fewer witnesses.

If anything, the 41st Parliament of Canada should be full of similar ridiculous quotes (from all parties).

Source: CBC

Many Allegations Against NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau

Allegations:

The following are a list of allegations against NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau who represents the Berthier-Maskinongé riding in Quebec:

1. She is said to have never stepped foot in the riding during the election campaign. Part of the campaign was spent on vacation in Las Vegas and the remainder of the time was spent in the Ottawa area.
2. She is unable to speak French even though she represents a largely francophone riding. She has yet to do any media interviews.
   
3. Of the 100 people who signed her nomination form, 10 of those signatures have come under scrutiny. Four people claim they did not sign the form at all (and one has been described as a clear forgery). Six of the signatures are said to be from people who do not reside in the riding (all signatures must come from people in the riding).
   

Commentary:

Allegations (1) and (2) are a clear case of people voting for the party instead of the candidate. The NDP was simply looking for a person to run, in order to get votes and therefore more funding, and never thought she would win. They clearly did not expect anything out of her and Ruth Ellen Brosseau clearly did not have any interest in actually campaigning. It is a shame that someone with no interest in the riding or the campaign process won because this could be an indication of the level of effort she will put into being an MP. However, she did win the election and might surprise everyone and do a good job. Time will tell.

The terrible part of this is that many people from the riding are now claiming they been tricked. That is clearly not the case. If people who voted for her did not do their due diligence and research who they were voting for that is their fault. You are responsible for your own vote. She never claimed to speak French or claimed she was from the riding. If you can not find any information about a candidate that might be a sign you should look elsewhere.

Many people, in regards to allegation (2), have been furious about her not doing any public appearances. In fact, many Conservative candidates in the election did the same thing (although they actually set foot in their ridings).

Allegation (3) is by far the most serious. If true, these are serious violations of the democratic process and possibly illegal if forgery was involved. Since Ruth Ellen Brosseau had never been in the riding, it seems doubtful she was responsible for this. The nomination forms were more likely to have handled by an NDP staffer or volunteer. Unfortunately this could result in further scrutiny if the people who handled Ruth Ellen Brosseau's nomination forms handled the nomination forms for any other candidates. People would certainly want to know if any other impropriety occurred.

If true, I believe (but am not certain) that a by-election would occur but Ruth Ellen Brosseau would be ineligible. Judging by the results, with the Bloc, Liberals and Conservatives finishing far behind the NDP, I would imagine the NDP would win the by-election. This could end up actually benefiting the NDP since they could run a serious and experienced candidate.

Source of allegations: Multiple news sources, including The Globe And Mail and CBC