Mr. Speaker, on February 26 of this year I asked the Prime Minister to explain how it was ethical to appoint a Liberal Party lobbyist, David MacNaughton, to be the country's representative in Washington. The arrogance in the response was astounding.
Let us be clear. When it comes to outrageous political appointments like David MacNaughton, this is one at the same level as appointing a family member, like a nephew, to such a position. It is who one knows in the PMO for the government.
In the case of MacNaughton, his appointment at taxpayer expense is his reward for having sat in the same office as the Prime Minister's principal secretary, the individual who controls everything the Prime Minister says and does, and for being the Prime Minister's bully. This is the same David MacNaughton who is jointly named with the Prime Minister in a libel and slander lawsuit in the amount of $1.5 million. Is this the way the Liberal Party is getting the taxpayer to pay MacNaughton's legal bill? Give him a cushy job in Washington where he can lobby for his lobbying clients and add to his clientele list.
The libel and slander lawsuit tells us that David MacNaughton, and I quote from the lawsuit, “...intentionally or recklessly published the following false, defamatory and malicious comments...without regard to the truth or falsity of their contents”.
The lawsuit informs Canadians that comments to libel and slander another person were initially done by MacNaughton as an anonymous “party official”, until he was outed in response to a legal demand declaring an intention to apply for a court order to reveal the anonymous “party official's” identity if they did not do so voluntarily.
What was the basis of the lawsuit? The person who launched the lawsuit had fallen for the broken Liberal promise that democracy in the nomination process would be respected.
This is what Liberal riding president Julia Metus is quoted as saying, "There was absolutely no due or fair process...No one picked up the phone to contact me, there was no opportunity to discuss their concerns, and there was zero local involvement. This is contrary to everything the Liberal Party — new or otherwise — is supposed to stand for”, and “the party made unproven and malicious allegations against the candidate and her family... to cover up its desire to control the nomination process...”.
The Prime Minister's bully. MacNaughton is cursed by the taxpayers of Ontario for his time spent as principal secretary to Dalton McGuinty. Today, the people of Ontario are suffering from the highest electricity rates in North America. Ontario has the highest debt of any subnational government. Ontario went from being a well-managed to a have-not province, relying on western taxpayers to pay the bills.
It is important for the current government to hear what Canadians think about this unethical patronage appointment. Here are some comments from average, middle-class Canadians, which were printed in response to a story about this sordid appointment in Postmedia:
[The former prime minister] impressed me some years back by appointing former NDP Premier Gary Doer as our Ambassador to the USA. I never expected him to do so but he did. [He] put skill and merit above party loyalty and service that time. Here, [the current Prime Minister], rewards one of his cronies. Once again the Liberals have rolled back part of [the former Conservative government's] agenda and we're the worse for it. Merit over cronyism
This is another comment from Postmedia :
The Liberals have not missed a beat. Although they did have 10 years to plan their payoffs. These appointments should be more transparent, real independent appointments instead of ap"oink"ments. Way to go junior you've shown us that you really are ready to porkbarrel as well as anyone.
The next comment is:
I agree! The bottomline is Canadians need leaders who will address our needs and act in our best interests. [The Prime Minister] stands for nothing and he will bend over to every left leaning country in the world.
Then there is this comment:
Ahh, the age old rewarding of political sycophants, mandarins and bootlickers. The very essense of the French saying, "the more things change, the more they stay the same". Bravo....Repaying those with eminence grise who whisper in your ear.
Finally, there is this comment. “As much as there—