Phil McColeman, most spoonfed MP in the history of Western Democracy?

Since it has been revealed that Phil McColeman has used Conservative talking points in letters to the editors under other peoples' names and also to deal with his concerned constituents, this should come as no surprise: for Constituency week Consevative MPs have been sent home with scripted talking points for their constituents and local media. You can obtain a copy, HERE, without having to get elected as a Conservative MP like Phil.

This is beyond pathetic, Phil has not come up with one original thought since being elected. He has even snapped his fingers and requested a project from city hall, Monday's issue carried the story of Phil McColeman inviting city council to put together a high-profile project as soon as possible that could be ready to go just as soon as funding is approved from a federal program.

The fact that Phil has to be managed like a child would be embarassing if Mr. McColeman had any shame left. All the letters to the editor from December and January concerned with Mr. McColeman's lack of spine and original thought process was merited and has been validated.

The "Dummies Guide to Politics for Dumb Conservative MPs" covers various topics like the global econmic downturn, the Conservatives' economic action plan, the gun registry, crime reform, swine flu and the success of the Liberal Party of Canada under the leadership of Michael Ignatieff.

In anticipation of Phil's predictable nature and his upcoming badmouthing of Mr. Ignatieff, I suspect that Phil has never read a book by any of Foreign Policy Magazine's top 100 Intellectuals, a group that includes Mr. Ignatieff . I think Phil should challenge himself and come up with one original criticism, or he can solicit advice from high school kids, http://www.philmccolemanmp.ca/EN/8500/87709 , maybe the young adults will give Mr. Ignatieff a more original insult than "Mr. Smartypants"...

I could not count Phil among the 300 least micromanaged MPs in Ottawa.

If you're happy to be sitting in the front row CLAP YOUR HANDS!

On Wednesday, May 6th our Member of Parliament from Brant had the chance to keep one of the front seats in the House of Commons warm, he had a chance to sit next to his main man, Chucky S!
From what I could see, Chuck could not get a word in due to the loud, excessive clapping when anyone said a word on Phil's part...
I truly doubt that they discussed land claims or the standstill in Caledonia.
Phil showed off quite a number of different claps, such as: the Sonic Boom Clap, the rapid clap and interpretive dancing with his hands (for a minute I thought he was trying to use sign language like the lady in the upper right corner). Is this REALLY why we sent a member of the government side to Ottawa from Brant? Enjoy, the picture gallery goes really good with the music from the Youtube video.
If we average out his $155 000 salary by the claps he has probably done this parliamentary session, Mr. McColeman is working for less than the Ontario minimum wage during the 45 minutes that is Question Period...

Phil McColeman, Ghostwriter

When Phil McColeman came under fire for taking credit for a Liberal funding promise, he could have clarified the issue. He could have written a letter to the editor, or clarified on his misleading website that it was not his Conservatives who initially made the promise.

But no, Phil is clearly above partisan squabbles (when he wants to be, of course). Instead, he sends out his supporters with talking points, posing as normal citizens. Check out this recent letter to the editor:

MP's response bore resemblance to letter

Recently, I wrote a letter exposing that MP Phil McColeman took credit for a Liberal promise to build a new water treatment plant in Oshweken. Then Karen George wrote a response defending the Conservatives, listing several stats to help her case, which The Expositor published as well.

McColeman's office also e-mailed me a response on the issue, and this e-mail was nearly identical to Ms. George's letter. Thus, it is evident that the Conservatives are using so-called "citizen" letters to the editor to spread talking points put out by the Conservative Research Bureau.

If Phil McColeman has something to say in response to accusations levelled at him, he should come out and say it himself, perhaps in The Expositor's editorial section. But sending out "citizens" to write letters on his behalf is misleading and underhanded behaviour, and disrespectful to his constituents and your readers.

Josh Bradford, Brantford

Talk about getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar! The original Ghostwriter helped kids solve crimes; Brant's ghostwriter just spreads political misinformation.

Phili Vanilli

Loads of letters have been written into the Expositor regarding the water treatment plant since Phil McColeman made this "new" announcement. Phil McColeman, Member of Parliament for Brant on behalf of the Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development made the announcement that the residents of Oshweken will receive $10 million for a "new" water treatment plant. When I first read this, I was puzzled: This announcement had already been made in 2005 and the funds have also been available since 2005! So will there now be TWO new water treatment plants for residents of Oshweken, or will one plant cost $20 million?!

A basic Google search revealed that former Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, the Hon. Andy Scott had committed $10 million to Oshweken for a new water treatment plant, under the First Nations Water Management Strategy (FNWMS), this announcement is on the Ministry's website under 2005 news releases. Now, why did the government reannounce this funding three years later? The reason is that Stephen Harper became Prime Minister, then cancelled the historic Kelowna Accord and chose not to pursue this project. He probably figured that if the Six Nations had waited this long, they should wait until Brant elected a Conservative MP before getting any money. This is the same Prime Minister who also opposed a UN Resolution on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

A Conservative Indian Affairs Minister has not visited Brant since Stephen Harper became Prime Minister, all because of two words: land claims. Jim Prentice a former Minister of Indian Affairs, only visited Brant during the election and when he was no longer minister in charge of land claims. Why didn't Chuck Strahl make the water treatment plant announcement? Why did the PMO allow another patsy (Phil) to go up and make a reannouncement of something that had already been announced?

The answer will be revealed in the next round of campaign pamphlets full of more false claims by our shameless Member of Parliament. In Mr. Lloyd St. Amand's post-election interview he stated that he had worked hard to secure $10 million for a new water treatment plant in Ohsweken three years ago. He said it's unfortunate that the Harper government hasn't honoured that commitment.

In a letter addressed to Mr. McColeman published a few weeks ago, a letter writer hilariously comments,

Like Milli Vanilli, MP should not take credit

Phil McColeman: I was certainly happy to see some action from the Harper government on the water treatment plant for Six Nations residents, but this is too much. There was a letter in the newspaper about your "new" announcement, pointing out this commitment was originally made by the previous Liberal government.

Is this not shameless? I feel you owe the Hon. Andy Scott and Mr. Lloyd St. Amand apologies and should send out a news release soon. Are you familiar with the band Milli Vanilli? They were also dishonest and took credit for other people's work.

: )

NBC had this old saying to promote reruns during the summer: "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you"



"Phili Vanilli & Chucky S"

Witness: Phil's Committee Meeting

This past weekend I had the luck to visit Ottawa, and took an opportunity to sit in on one of Phil's committee meetings. The Tuesday-morning meeting was scheduled to discuss a review of the Sex Offender Information Registry Act, and to discuss the inquiry into Taser use in Canada.

During the first half of the meeting, the Sex Offender Registry part, Phil spent roughly 80% of his time playing on his BlackBerry under the table, 15% of the time staring distantly out the window across from him, and nearly the rest chewing on his glasses and furrowing his brow. During these two hours, by my count, he made only three written notes.

Other Committee members such as Andrew Kania and Mark Holland asked hard-hitting questions about how to improve the Registry, and illuminated a lack of action by former Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day. They were certainly NOT playing with their BlackBerrys. When Phil was finally called on to speak, however, his lack of preparedness was evident – he asked a witness to repeat facts that had actually been clarified earlier:

(clears throat) Well thank you ah again ah for being here and taking the time as you know this committee is charged with the review of ah this legislation and– and we're hearing from all sides and ah of course there's ah been representation on people who feel it's an infringement on human rights. (clears throat) I'll make a statement and then ask my question. I've spent a lot of time with special needs individuals over my life, both children and adults and it concerns me greatly (clears throat) their innocence, just as all victims I suppose, but especially in this and it's gut-wrenching for me to– to contemplate ah uhh uhh the situations that some of them may find themselves in. Ah so I– I definitely bias towards ah giving you the tools you need to do the job in law-enforcement on the street in a time– on a timely basis. It– it was mentioned earlier I think ah by Mr. Nez– Nezan [RCMP Officer in Charge, National Sex Offender Registry] that the– "the current ah setup is inefficient and the integrity of the data is compromised," that's the note that I made from your comments. Can you expand on that a bit?

We pay Phil $155,000 a year for this???

The second half of the committee focused on the Taser Inquiry, following the tragic death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver Airport. This is accordingly a very high-profile inquiry (and one in which Phil has already made a fool of himself). Once all the reporters, observers, and TV cameras entered the room, Phil could no longer play on his BlackBerry under the table without people noticing. So he spent the rest of the meeting chewing on his glasses and furrowing his brow, and contributed… absolutely nothing to the discussion.

A summary of Phil's performance in the Committee is that he is probably a nice, decent guy, but he is an awful politician. And he really, really likes his BlackBerry.

A couple of MPs who also need to be replaced...

Around 2:00 this afternoon while watching Question Period on CPAC, Ron Cannan, a Member of the Conservative Reform Alliance Party rose to deliver a Statement or SO 31, (The House of Commons ritual allows for fifteen minutes of what are called "Standing Orders 31's" which permit members to read statements. Before Harper's team arrived they were reserved for members praising the achievements of a local school or athlete, remembering a distinguished citizen, or speaking out on an issue of local concern.) As the Hon. Bob Rae puts it best, "the hooting and hollering has returned, and so have the nasty SO 31's, timed just as the Leader of the Opposition is about to get to his feet. So instead of praising local achievement we have the worst kind of personal attack, cheap shot and character smear." Even though it had sadly become routine for Mr. McColeman's colleagues to attack the Hon. Stephane Dion, who has done more for Canada then Mr. McColeman and all his backbench cronies ever will or will read about... I was disgusted with today's line of attack by the Despicable Ron Cannan:

The Conservative MP—”The voice of Kelowna-Lake Country in Ottawa“—rose immediately after Liberal Maurizio Bevilacqua had delivered a statement on the earthquake in Italy this afternoon and announced to the House the following.

Mr. Speaker, I too add my condolences to the folks in Italy. Our prayers and thoughts go out to all those folks in Italy.

But there is an earthquake happening in our own country.

I would like to remind Canadians what the Liberal leader said on April 14th, just last week, and I quote, “We will have to raise taxes”. We thank him for honestly revealing the Liberal plan.

A lot has been blogged and documented in regards to Mr. McColeman being muzzled by his party, Mr. Cannan not only needs to be muzzled but should resign immediately. The earthquake in Italy is a serious matter and nothing our Parliamentarians say can be equated to the loss of life in L'Aquila, Italy. The shocking thing is that Mr. Cannan probably did not write his outlandish statement – it is common knowledge that the Prime Minister's office is usually in charge of writing the smear attacks and forcing some patsy to swallow their self-respect and read them in the House of Commons. This shameful action was well documented by Mr. Glen Pearson in March:

I was upset today - I admit it. The Conservatives have taken to denigrating Michael Ignatieff in their statements just prior to Question Period, much like they used to do with Stephane Dion.
…
Today’s developments almost bordered on irreverence. Prior to Ignatieff giving his statement, another Conservative clone rose in the House to speak of his unsuitability for leadership. Then, to everyone’s surprise, the Liberal leader got up and delivered a deeply reflective statement on the death of the three Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan yesterday.
…
Not sooner had Ignatieff sat down than another Conservative stood up for the last statement before QP and unleashed his torrent at the Liberal leader. To people of finer senses it was jarring. I know that Conservative. He’s a decent man and wants to help others. But he was told to get up and read a speech written by someone else. The entire House just wanted him to sit down and be quiet. His intervention was highly unsuitable and out of place. During one of our finer moments in the House, a man permitted himself to become a patsy for the party and demeaned a meaningful moment and the soldiers’ memory in the process.
…
And for my friend, the Conservative who permitted his party to defeat his own sense decorum, he’s just one of many in that place that can’t discern a sacred moment from a profane one. I will remember those speeches for some time to come and how they not only elevated the House but the memory of those faithful soldiers and a former Speaker as well. And I will recall how quickly one frivolous and partisan remark almost snuffed out a sense of enlightenment for the sake of the irreverent.

Mr. Pearson is too polite to point out the patsy by name, but a quick Hansard search revealed that the Member of Parliament was James Bezan,of Selkirk—Interlake in Manitoba.

The common link between those two jerks is that they are from really Conservative voting ridings, where even a brainless insensitive dimwit can get elected, they have won their ridings with over 50% of the popular vote, so it is up to the local riding association to replace or continue to re-elect these men. Case in point is the Conservative riding association in Calgary West:

Calgary West MP Rob Anders is an outsider even inside his own party. Raise his name with Conservative MPs and they wrinkle their noses like they've just taken a big whiff of the stuff spring uncovers in an off-leash dog park.

But five-term Anders is among the best MPs at winning Conservative nomination meetings in this all-Tory, all-the-time riding. And this week he'll have to fend off a challenge to replace the riding board of directors he controls from a potential rival's move to elect friendlier types eager to dump their incumbent MP.

If you are a resident of Brantford and the name Rob Anders sounds familiar, it is because Mr. McColeman relied on Mr. Anders to help him get elected. Mr. Anders' office sent multiple partisan flyers to Brantford months before the election was called last year. I do not recall if Mr. Bezan and Mr. Cannan sent flyers to Brantford but would not be surprised if they did. A quick dictionary search defines tacit consent as, unspoken consent or tacit approval indicated by smiling, winking or silence. Please email your local MP and articulate your disapproval of such despicable tactics, McColeman.P@parl.gc.ca.

EMAIL, we know how to use it!

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