Tense and ugly affairs

Last night, BlackBerries in Ottawa were buzzing when CBC and CP confirmed that Ian Brodie, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, was indeed the source of all the trouble for Barack Obama's "Canada problem" in the U.S. presidential race. This is huge. We are expecting reverberations today.

Readers of this blog will remember that this is the second time Brodie has been outed, so to speak. Last week, ABC News in the U.S. also reported that Harper's chief of staff was the leaker. ABC reported that the confirmation came from someone "close to the Prime Minister." Now we're getting a second confirmation, this time from the CTV reporters who received the leak. Brodie apparently was chatting to a clutch of CTV reporters in our federal budget lockup last week, they passed the news to their Washington counterparts, and thus, Obama's troubles began.

And so, if Harper is looking to "get to the bottom" of this international incident, he need only look at the next office over.

A couple of things that shouldn't get lost in today's firestorm:

1. Brodie apparently also told CTV that Hillary Clinton offered similar reassurances to Canada - that all this talk of NAFTA was just campaign rhetoric. So why did CTV only pursue the Obama angle? And interestingly, CTV had not a word to say about this developing story on its news last night - at least the one I viewed at 10 p.m.

2. Clinton's officials are confirming that this incident helped seal Obama's poor results in the Ohio primaries. That's serious too. Obama will remember Canada, and not in a nice way.

3. In ordinary times, heads should roll in Ottawa for how this government has responded to this incident and the whole controversy over whether a $1-million life-insurance policy was offered to the late MP, Chuck Cadman. The statements in the Commons and from the PMO to reporters, to be diplomatic, have hovered at the fringes of out-and-out untruths. I didn't write that last sentence lightly. These are tense and ugly affairs and many of us will be writing about them in the days to come.

Comments

[DDD]

Others are reporting only Clinton offered reassurances.

Should not proper (full, crystal clear, honest) televised apology be coming from the PM asap (before Saturday caucas)?

Anything less will further humiliate Canadians.

DDD

[Les Caine]

Obama did not want to concede Ohio and followed Hillary's lead disparaging NAFTA. In retrospect he may have done better in Texas with Latinos touting better relations with NAFTA neighbours. Has Hillary damaged trade relations with her fierce primary campaign? How can Hillary point to Obama duplicity and get off scott free?

Best result, Obama Democratic Presidency and a renewed Liberal Government in Canada.

[peter]

Don't get too focused on the "$1 million dollars" of the pro-ported "life-insurance policy". My memory may be shaky but as I recall there was already and individual nominated for the Conservatives in Chuck Cadman's riding. Any offer of any amount to cover any expenses would have not been legal as long as Mr. Cadman remained an independent. But the idea of a offering a policy or trust is not new -- Judge Wagner of Quebec received such a trust when the conservatives wooed him in Mulrony's time.

[Wascally Wabbit]

The chattering classes in the US that I am in touch with - at least the majority of the Democrats - are really steamed at this - and it is beginning to look as if it could boomerang on Hillary, based upon the rising anger and desire for retribution that is being expressed.
It may not have been Hillary's people that leaked this, but it might as well have been...and it is certainly not going to help the Democratic Party bind its wounds and reunite to defeat McCain when all this is over.

[Robert Gerard]

Is this a case of the Harper-crites trying to play disingenuous? After all, it's been well documented that they have close links to the Republicans including having Rove-like advisors assisting them with election strategy. Given their holier-than-thou attitude, I doubt any heads will roll.

[Dan O'Hagan]

The only thing missing from this story is your prediction that it will lead to an imminent election. Now that the budget scare is over, my wife and I have a small bet on how long it will be before the media invent another election scare. I am betting it will be soon. I am counting on you to win the bet for me. Don't let me down.

[ken cunningham]

What puzzles me,in the Cadman affair, is why if Harper is innocent he doesn't simply release what documents he has? Why drag this out, if you have nothing to hide? With each change of story and denial it only looks worse.

[MJH]

It seems to me that if you know the statements about the Cadman issue are "at the fringes of out-and-out untruths", you must have "truths" that you are not revealing. What is "true" will only be known when an investigation is complete unless you have access to information not yet exposed.

[Amazing Andy]

It's no secret that Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are nothing more than Republican lite. Heads should roll, but they won't. Questions need to be answered, but they won't. We'll get a pat on the head and a "run along now" from Stephen Harper and he'll just go back to Republican boot licking. It'll be good to have the Liberals back in power once an election is called. If only to drive Conservatives around the bend.

[Judith in NYC]

PM Stephen Harper can apologize all he wants for allowing an official memo to be leaked. This does not erase the fact that he underhandedly altered the results of my political party's primaries. The only way he can repair the damage is by an official statement to all American media confirming that the other candidate was involved in such negotiations.

Signed--An American Citizen

[Thom Corner]

While the U.S. election, and particulary the race for the Democratic nomination, may interest Canadians, what happened with a Canadian official apparently leaking information that damaged the cause of one of the contenders, pales in significance alongside apparent attempts by high-ranking Conservatives to bribe a member of parliament. One would almost think the Conservatives invented one scandal to divert attention from the other. The media need to keep their eyes on the ball.

[OBAMAGATE]

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT obamagate JUST DID IT AGAIN just off the 12:00noon CBC NEWS CANADA he just reaffirmed that CANADA does not need to fear his OHIO NAFTA rhetoric at the TIMM RUSSERT MEET THE PRESS DEBATE
THE idiot just told Harper CANADIAN PM that it's wink wink business as usual its wink wink all over again

[Mark-Alan Whittle]

Seems the she said, he said scandal surrounding Chuck Cadman has become the red herring of the century. If the thought of some insurance underwriter giving a life insurance policy to a man with terminal cancer sounds ridiculous it probably is. And all the statements attributed in the book, which I have read, are third party hearsay statements that would never stand up in court, or anywhere else for that matter. Even the author in an interview couldn’t even corroborate the allegations other than to say that is what Mrs. Cadman told him and she wasn’t in the room either. No doubt the conservatives would offer to help Cadman with an election since his riding association was broke and unable to finance a campaign. All other political party’s including the Liberals bolster riding associations this way. And according to the author, nobody except his legislative assistant Dan Wallace was in the room with Cadman and the representatives from the conservatives so any information flowing from that is mere speculation, or a fabrication since Wallace refuses to say what was said. According to the author he deferred to Dona as to what was said. If anyone knows a first-hand account, instead of the heresy of others, it would be Dan Wallace and no other since Mr. Cadman is deceased. As to Mrs. Cadman running for the conservatives, good luck with that. Seems this whole scandal is designed to pump up book sales for the author and increase the dividend paid to the Cadman family for their unsubstantiated statements in the book. What I find most amusing is how the media ran with the story before getting all the facts. Now that down-right irresponsible journalism. Shameful.

[Jan]

It seems that this entire issue is made larger than it realy is.
Listening to Suzan Delacourt on TV shows with the CBC and also her columns in the Star makes one wonder about her political leanings, which is fine but not as a correspondent to inform the public.

[aek]

Susan Delacourt wrote:

"The statements in the Commons and from the PMO to reporters, to be diplomatic, have hovered at the fringes of out-and-out untruths."

Please be clear: Are you saying the statements are untruthful, or not?

[Brian Smith]

Susan,
You should read your colleague Thomas Walkom's article in the Saturday Star entitled "Truth Has Been Lost in the Storm". This article finally outlines some basic facts about what likely happened. It may not be as convenient in bashing the government but from my vantage point as a former official in the Canadian Embassy in Washington, sounds a lot more accurate than your conspiracy theories.

[V. L. Robichaud]

Sigh...I'm jealous that the Americans have such great prospects for leaders -I especially am impressed with Sen. Obama. Can you imagine if we had someone like him in Canadian politics?

The Harper style of government (deceit & bullying)is turning so many Canadians off - If PM Harper is giving a speech or answering questions I am so disengaged I simply turn off the tv or change the channel.

Maybe one day we will have someone who will inspire us. We can only hope.

[Bob Mann]

It is no wonder that the Liberal-biased 'Star' is irrelevant. If you call yourself a 'journalist' then you should be ashamed of always presenting only one side of the story..

The author is nothing more than a Liberal cheerleader - the subject matter of every article is clearly designed to malign any subject that differs from the author's left-wing world view... including the 'moderated' blog comments (meaning - CENSORED). I dare you to print this!!

[Niall Mackintosh]

Hello T.O. Star / Ms. Delacourt

After a tiresome 21 paragraphs of partisan quotations, analysis, and slant I was hoping that the Senior Writer for the Star's Ottawa bureau would offer, at a minimum, ONE countervailing opinion from a representative of Canada's Government.
Not this time.
Corporate Ethics = Military Intelligence = Journalistic Integrity

Niall Mackintosh
Osborne Village
Winnipeg

[Cristhian Mejia]

Ian Broadie leaked this on purpose to help Hillary Clinton win these key states. This is a move along with others like it, that are strategic votes for Clinton to help her win the democratic nomination. Republicans know that Clinton won't stand a chance against Sen. McCain in the presidential elections. If it works then Steven Harper has nothing to worry, but if Obama wins the presidency then Canada will feel the brunt of it. Mr Harper's investigation will yield nothing, he should just admit to the commons that the he and his party feel that the next president of the United States will be one that will overlook this. Thats if John McCain wins.

[Jack Robinson]

After nearly fourty years as an engaged yet often outraged Canadian... I cannot recall a Parliament as toxically divisive, acrimonious and under-productive as that of Mr. Harper's bullying minority... which I now think of as Smoke-Stacked Hegemony Inc.

Bob Rae nailed the PMO's 'unfortunate interference' in the Obama/Clinton campaign by referring to our android ideologues in Ottawa as "a Republican farm team" dedicated to the interests of John McCain and the Neo-Con cabal he represents.

I can only hope that Mr. Dion, whom I respect and admire despite his lack of apparent charisma... keeps Harper in his cross-hairs and knows exactly when to deliver the Silver Bullet coup de grace... and put an end to this disgrace!

[Terry Gibson]

Characters like Bush, Harper, etc. and their electors must laugh themselves to sleep at night as they show us all each day that there really is no difference between democracy and fascism.