Election roundup: Harper “bubble” campaign target of opposition attacks
Posted Apr 7, 2011 05:48:58 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It seems the RCMP will no longer remove people from Conservative rallies unless there is a direct threat to the prime minister.
The Mounties have come under fire after a handful of people complained they were removed from Conservative rallies simply because they were suspected of having ties to the opposition.
The RCMP says the Mounties are responsible only for the security of party leaders, not for managing access to political events.
And, the Mounties say, their personnel have been reminded of that.
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NDP Leader Jack Layton says there are still many questions about why people have been removed from Conservative rallies.
Layton says regardless of whether the RCMP or Conservative officials removed people, he wonders who checked their Facebook pages and other items.
Layton says time will tell if the Conservatives loosen their restrictions on who can attend their meetings.
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More questions are being raised about how a man convicted of fraud was given a top job in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Bruce Carson says he was upfront about his five fraud convictions before being hired as a policy analyst in 2006.
He says he was screened for, and given, a secret-level clearance.
But he says he was never asked to undergo more-thorough scrutiny for a Top Secret-level clearance.
A former staffer who worked in the PMO under a different prime minister says that is astonishing.
The staffer, who asked to remain anonymous, says it’s “absolutely implausible” that Carson could have worked as a senior official without a top secret-level clearance.
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper says only his party can prevent Canada from falling into economic uncertainty.
He told supporters in Ajax, Ontario that Canada has outperformed other countries during the global recession while cutting taxes.
Harper says Parliament should be focusing on economic growth, not on a series of elections.
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Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff focused on local issues while touring Quebec.
Speaking near the Vermont border, he blasted the Conservatives for closing two border crossings and scaling back others.
He says the Conservatives don’t realize that people in the area need to cross the border frequently to work or visit family.
On Montreal’s south shore, he promised a Liberal government would help replace the aging Champlain Bridge — a major link from Montreal.
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Quebec provincial politicians of all stripes are lashing out at the federal Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats.
The legislature has passed a unanimous motion criticizing the federal parties for pledging to help the Lower Churchill hydro project in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Quebec motion says Newfoundland shouldn’t benefit from Ottawa’s help, because Quebec developed its hydroelectric resources on its own.
