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Mark Your Calendars… May 2

With scandals becoming a day to day News topic and the loss of confidence of the opposition parties, it is now more than certain that the government will fall next week. There are two opportunities in which the government will fall, the budget, and the inquiry into the conduct of government practices. However, regardless of the day that is chosen, the government will fall as it seems more and more likely that for the first time in Canadian history, the Government of Canada will be found in contempt.

For now, there are two days to look at closely. The budget on Tuesday March 22 and the Contempt Report on Friday March 25. The opposition would prefer to set the tone of the election on ethics which is what Harper’s Conservatives did back in 2006. Either way, this would cause an election to be set on May 2. It is an election that can go either way. Either Canadians will give the Conservatives a majority as polls suggest or oust the Conservatives in outrage over their misconduct and broken promises.

Recent drafts by the committee that is looking into the charges of broken parliamentary laws have been reported to find the Harper Government in contempt. The hearings on the actual costs of Tory crime bills didn’t convince the opposition.

“Why shouldn’t Canadians find [this] government in contempt?”

Liberal House Leader David McGuinty

At this point, Harper has been cornered and it will be up to the Canadian people to decide his fate. If he manages to win the next election, he will be the first prime minister to be reelected after being the first prime minister to be found in contempt in Canadian history. If ousted, it goes to show that Canadians will not stand for abuses to their democracy.

Another Conservative Added to The List

Bruce Carson, a former advisor to Stephen Harper, has been accused of using access he had to senior members of the Conservative government to sell water filtration systems to aboriginals. His fiancée Michele McPherson was set to receive 20% of gross revenues of the deals. She worked for H2O Pros, an Ottawa-based filtration company.

The Aboriginal People’s Television Network has broke the story and Constable Julie Morel said that the RCMP is now trying to determine whether a criminal investigation is necessary.

Carson can now be added to an extensive list of Conservatives that were accused and now being investigated for breaking the law – something that will tarnish Harper’s ‘Tough on Crime’ agenda as his members can’t be elected or conduct their jobs without engaging in wrongdoing and blatantly breaking the law.

On Monday, Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose raked in Sebastien Togneri, a former aide to Christian Paradis, the Natural Resources Minister for interfering with an access-to-information request at the Public Works Department.

The lobbying that has taken place also infected John Duncan, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs who listened to Carson’s pitch to sell his filters.

Within the company, he sent several emails, that the APTN got a hold of, stating that his influence and meetings with the Prime Minister would see the company’s successful sale of filters.

Carson isn’t a stranger to the scrutiny of being investigated by the law. According to The Globe and Mail, he was debarred in 1981 and sentenced to 18 months in jail in 1983 after pleading guilty to two counts of theft over $200. These charges were apparently related to a real-estate deal gone bad.

This Conservative to be added to the black list adds even more fuel to the opposition fire to find the government in contempt.

More on the Elections Canada Scandal

In the beginning of the March. The Canadian Press reported that David Marler, a lawyer that who ran under the Conservative banner in the 2006 election was one of the only members to refuse to take part in the in-and-out financing scheme that is now adding misery to headache for the Party.

He announced his gratification that the Federal Court ruled against the party he once ran for stating, "It is gratifying to note that the Federal Court (of Appeal) has come to the same opinion, which always seemed to me to be obvious. I think they're doing the right thing by prosecuting the alleged offenders."

"It always seemed to me that the in-and-out was irregular and illegal."

David Marler – The Canadian Press

To add even more fuel to the fire, Marler attacked the government saying, "To think that we live in this country in which our government behaves in such a manner, has such a disregard for ethics, manners and respect, in what they do and how they do it..."

The Canadian Press also reported that Marler was joined by former MPs Inky Mark and Helena Guergis shortly after.

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