Canadian elections are more ritualized than the Greek Orthodox Church. Signs go up and signs go down. Stump speeches are delivered, but never listened to - just like sermons. But what if Canadian elections were run like an episode of Trading Spaces, the popular home decorating competition on TLC? In Saanich-Gulf Islands the clear loser in that competition would be federal Liberal candidate and Victoria lawyer David Mulroney.
Federal Liberal Saanich Gulf-Island's candidate David Mulroney doesn't just share a last name with Canada's most infamous prime minister. While Brian Mulroney was in office, the longtime Liberal told Public Eye he was a Progressive Conservative supporter - although he couldn't remember whether he had taken out a party membership. In unrelated news, former American president Ronald Reagan can't remember whether he sold arms to Iran.
Has Victoria lawyer David Mulroney, the federal Liberal's candidate in Saanich-Gulf Islands, had been the beneficiary of party patronage? That's what Reform Party Kootenay-Columbia MP Jim Abbott wanted to know back in 1995. Speaking in the House of Commons, he accused the Grits of awarding Mr. Mulroney federal government drug prosecution work because he was vice-president of federal cabinet minister David Anderson's constituency association - a charge the Mr. Mulroney has always denied.
Public Eye doesn't understand what this means but maybe you will. It seems Burnaby-Douglas federal Liberal candidate Billy Cunningham, a bank manager and member of Prime Minister Paul Martin's dream team, is going to be "advocating for...the B.C. Table Tennis Association" during the election campaign. Evidently, "for them, our campaign represents a New Voice for Burnaby." And that voice will, evidently, be lobbying for table tennis - one of the great repressed sports in British Columbia.
A senior Conservative campaigner tells us the Tory strategy sessions in Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca have, in some cases, resulted in yelling matches between candidate John Koury, incumbent MP Keith Martin's volcanic former executive assistant, and his affable fedora-wearing manager Gary Del Villano, a retired armoured corp. major. The problem: Mr. Koury's need to micromanage almost every aspect of the campaign - except, it seems, ordering signs. That order was made too late to get them printed before Prime Minister Paul Martin dropped the writ. As a result, Mr. Martin and New Democrat candidate Randall Garrison are the only ones who currently have outdoor advertising in the riding.
If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, then federal Liberal campaign headquarters must be a den of thieves. Prime Minister Paul Martin's advisors seem to think wrapping him in a Canadian flag will win them the election. And what could be more Canadian then paying homage to the military veterans who fought and died in...er...Norway.
Federal Liberals weren't the only partisans who attended Prime Minister Paul Martin's hour long visit to Broadmead Lodge, a Victoria veteran's care centre. Incumbent Saanich-Gulf Islands Conservative candidate Gary Lunn and his communications director Paul Arnold went behind enemy lines to counter Paul Martin's commitment to improve healthcare. According to Mr. Lunn, that commitment isn't credible because, "His record is $20 billion cuts to health. He's had ten years of being part of this government...and why should you trust him now 22 days before an election. You've got to be cynical."
Public Eye has been hearing persistent rumours from provincial Liberals outside government that the business community has become increasingly disgruntled with the party's on-the-job performance. And on June 3, we may find out if there's any substance to those claims. On that date, the Liberals will host their annual Dinner Under The Sails fundraiser at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Last year, the party sold more than 2,122 tickets to that event, with 1,838 being purchased by organizations. Those sales ended up earning the Liberals a whopping $633,998. But if those numbers are dramatically lower this year, it could be an indication there's been a serious accident at the intersection between Government and Howe Street. For reference sake, the Liberals sold 1,827 tickets the year before the last election, taking in $456,750.
The provincial New Democrats may want to leave the past behind. But their past doesn't seem to want to leave them alone. Former New Democrats MLAs, including Helmut Giesbrecht, Evelyn Gillespie, Harry Lali and Steve Orcherton are seeking or considering seeking a nomination for the next election. And, if they win those nominations, the Liberals will find it much easier to ask British Columbians this ballot box question: "Do you want to re-elect the same politicians who gave you ten years of mismanagement."
In 133 years of recorded provincial legislative history, no one had uttered the words "energy bar" in the House until Delta South MLA Val Roddick did. In a member statement, delivered on April 19, Ms. Roddick rose from her seat to tell fellow legislators and the assembled press about, "Perfect 10, a superb energy bar composed of ten natural ingredients, including locally-grown Delta cranberries." Evidently, "the bars are gluten- and dairy-free. They come in five flavours, with chocolate on the way, and they are simply delicious."
For those of you looking for evidence that the provincial press gallery (which includes Public Eye) is lazy, we've found some. At the gallery's annual general meeting on Friday, those who could make it re-elected by acclamation the sitting executive, which includes Broadcast News Victoria correspondent, BMW sportscar driver and president Scott Sutherland, Province columnist and vice-president Mike Smyth and Shaw TV Victoria bureau chief and treasurer John Richardson.
Professional radical feminist Donna Cameron, provincial New Democrat leader Carole James' assistant and travelling companion, may be sidelined before the next election say party bosses and advisors. Ms. Cameron, who ran Ms. James' leadership campaign, gained a reputation while the New Democrats were in government for alienating fellow ministerial assistants with her blunt-instrument management style. And now she's succeeded in doing the same to some Opposition caucus and party staff members. Another more minor irritant: Ms. Cameron records Ms. James's interviews with a pen rather than a microphone. Of course, there's no guarantee all that will be enough to move Ms. Cameron aside. After all, Ms. James has shown an enormous amount of attachment to her assistant.
This may very well provide the basis for a new reality series. As we reported earlier, federal Liberal advance men have been scouring Victoria and the surrounding regions, scouting out locations for Prime Minister Paul Martin's upcoming Thursday visit. But a senior Conservative says those advance men - which evidently included Saanich-Gulf Islands campaign manager Jamie Elmhirst, who previously worked as a special assistant to federal cabinet minister David Anderson - weren't alone. The Tories have had their own operatives following the Grits every movement.
It looks like amateur hour has officially started at the federal Liberal's national campaign headquarters. According to a party spokesman, the full-page advertisements that appeared in yesterday's national and major local newspapers, are meant (among other things) to show "parity" between the Conservatives and the Liberals - making this one of the rare moments in Canadian history where a governing party has actually wanted to make an opposing party look equal.
The federal Liberals in Saanich-Gulf Islands (whose constituency association has become the Canadian equivalent of a rotten borough) are continuing the time-honored tradition of hiding the Grit's campaign headquarters in that riding. During the 1997 election, that headquarters was located a dusty shack (we kid you not) smack dab in the middle of an isolated industrial park. And now we have learned the party's 2004 election candidate David Mulroney, a Victoria lawyer, has put his base of operations on the second floor of an office building - not the best place to attract attention or off-the-street volunteers (although we're told it has a very nice boardroom). By comparison, incumbent Conservative candidate Gary Lunn has his wholesome, almost too clean headquarters in a well-used strip mall. And New Democrat candidate Jennifer Burgis, a former provincial ministerial assistant, trumps them all, occupying an abandoned corner store (complete with an illuminated sign) near a major thoroughfare.
A senior provincial Liberal and a number of mid-level bureaucrats tell us the Campbell administration will be serving up a light legislative meal during the upcoming fall session (which begins Oct. 4), cooking up more substantial bills for the spring sitting. Of course, the only ones who know for sure are the premier, his office and the finance minister. But if those sources are correct, Gordon Campbell and Gary Collins may want to rethink that plan.
A senior Liberal campaigner has confirmed rumours that Prime Minister Paul Martin will be visiting Victoria this coming Thursday. No word yet on where he's going to be appearing. But we know he won't be at the University of Victoria's Centre on Aging, which local advance men decided was too claustrophobic. But the very fact they were visiting that location suggests Prime Minister Martin could be making a healthcare-related announcement during his visit.
More news from the bi-partisan end of session party. Attendees tell us the celebrations, which started at the Opposition's caucus office, wrapped up at The Clubhouse, a Victoria night club formerly known as the Cuckoo's Nest. A New Democrat source also informs us Sustainable Resource Management Minister George Abbott, who is well-known among provincial Liberals for his sense of humour, did an excellent impersonation of Bubbles, a popular character from the Canadian-made Trailer Park Boys television series.
In the category of wishful thinking: bureaucrats and provincial Liberals outside government have been telling us the premier's chief of staff (executioner) Martyn Brown will be leaving his post sometime next month for destinations unknown. Those sources also say Mr. Brown's replacement will be Andrew Wilkinson, the current deputy minister at Small Business and Economic Development and former president of the provincial Liberal Party. Mr. Wilkinson, a Rhodes scholar, also has a doctorate in medicine from the University of Alberta and a law degree from Dalhousie University. As you may know, Mr. Brown is a popular answer for those questioning why the provincial Liberals have mismanaged their 77 seat majority.
CTV's Website has posted the Ipsos-Reid Corp. poll we leaked earlier today. That posting confirms rumours the federal Liberals at 35 percent, down four percentage points since Wednesday - which means this is either a sampling problem or there's substantial volatility within the electorate. For their part, the Conservatives are unchanged at 26 percent and the New Democrats up three percentage points to 18 percent.
You can find out at federal Liberal candidate Billy Cunningham's Blog for Burnaby. Mr. Cunningham, a bank manager and party apparatchik, was appointed to his post by Prime Minister Paul Martin as part of the Grit's B.C. dream team (for reference and comparison purposes the other members of that team include a high-level bureaucrat, a former premier and a forest company CEO). In his most recent posting, the would-be Burnaby-Douglas MP tells readers "I found myself starting to feel a little emotional...at the end of (his last bank staff) meeting. However, perhaps partly because of recent more public events in Burnaby, I made sure that I sucked it up, swallowed hard, and nary a tear was shed." Good for him! We applaud Mr. Cunningham's attempt at emotional restraint.
A senior federal Conservative tells us CTV will be releasing an exclusive Ipsos-Reid Corp. poll on its national broadcast tonight showing the Liberals at 35 percent. That release follows a Compas Inc. poll commissioned by CanWest-Global and published earlier today that had the Liberals at 39 percent, the Conservatives at 31 percent and the New Democrats at 17 percent.
Apparently, being a star candidate doesn't guarantee you a star campaign manager if you're a federal Liberal. Colin Topham, who until recently was a full-time student at University of Victoria (surely graduating with a bachelor degree in election-fighting) will be running Shirley Chan's campaign in Vancouver East. As you may remember, Ms. Chan, a member of Prime Minister Paul Martin's B.C. dream team and the former chief of staff to Vancouver mayor and future premier Mike Harcourt, was appointed to run in that riding earlier this month. In addition to being a former student, Mr. Topham was also a Young Liberal campus club president and briefly served as the party's provincial youth director. A Liberal source says Mr. Topham, who has also worked with professional party schmoozer Keyvan Shojania at the Windsor Law Group, was looking for a summer job when he was asked to help Ms. Chan out.
Evidently, there was some serious bi-partisanship going on at the provincial New Democrat caucus offices last night (which legislative denizens know is smaller than many one bedroom apartments). Opposition staffers and supporters gathered with MLAs Jenny Kwan and Joy MacPhail to celebrate the end of session (and, for the New Democrats, there was an awful lot to celebrate). But they weren't the only ones partying it up. A source in attendance tells us government cabinet ministers Sandy Santori and George Abbott put aside their political differences to join the festivities.
Will Province columnist Mike Smyth be trading his pen in for a microphone? Sources inside and outside the legislature have been asking that question for weeks/months, saying that CityTV and/or Vancouver radio station CKNW are looking to hire him. But, in an interview, Mr. Smyth assures us that's not the case, with neither broadcaster having put an offer on the table. However, next week, he will be hosting The Agenda on CKNW, where he also does a morning commentary with host Frosty Forst.
It has come to our attention that federal Liberal candidate Billy Cunningham's campaign in Burnaby-Douglas will be managed by none other than Roy Bornman. Mr. Bornman, the party's former regional director in B.C., is Erik "Spiderman" Bornman's younger brother. Readers may remember the elder Bornman, a well-known Paul Martin operative, for his rat-fucking shenanigans, which have become the stuff of legend within the party. But his amicable and beefier younger brother is best known for telling an off-colour joke about former Prime Minister Jean Chretien (in the presence of many, many, many constituency association presidents).
Looks like the New VI, a Victoria television station, may soon be looking a whole lot newer. A source connected with that station tells us manager Richard Gray will be making some personnel changes sometime next week. Mr. Gray, the former director of information and human resources at the New RO in Ottawa, took over from chain-smoking news director Clint Nickerson last month. Soon after arriving, a source at the station says Mr. Gray held a no questions, no answers staff meeting where he announced his intention to drag the New VI kicking and screaming from the low-ratings gutter.
The language police have landed! In a confidential email addressed to senior bureaucrats and leaked to Public Eye, Children and Family Development Minister Christy Clark assistant Kim Haakstad identifies several words that are "no longer to be used in letters, press releases, issues notes or any other communication outside the Ministry." They include service redesign, service transformation, core service, strategic shift, budget target, voluntary initiatives, budget reference group, framework and governance (as a stand alone word).
