Friday, March 12, 2010

And in local news: NDP MP Linda Duncan is upset...

Linda Duncan the NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona is upset. She is upset that conservatives in Alberta want to win back her riding and are, gasp, holding fundraisers for the conservative candidate Ryan Hastman. Oh my, those evil conservatives will stop at nothing to target helpless little ol' Linda.

You can read the article here, but there is more to this story than what you read.

First off the article is factually wrong; sort of.

After reading it a few times I was unsure if Calgary-West gave/transferred the money to the Hastman campaign or if it came from a fundraiser. The first part clearly states there was a fundraiser in January, which is correct, but then we get Duncan's comment “I guess they have nothing better to do with their time and money than to go and interfere in other ridings.”, followed up by a comment from an Elections Canada official talking about .."constituency associations aren’t breaking any rules if they transfer cash or raise donations for another riding so long as they comply with federal contribution limits." which leaves me wondering; what really happened?


Here are the facts which have been confirmed by a senior conservative. A fundraiser was held in January specifically for raising money for Edm-Strathcona/Ryan Hastman campaign. The Calgary-West EDA did not, organize it, pay any monies towards it, receive any money from it, or transfer any money to Edm-Strathcona. This was just one of the many political fundraisers that take place almost daily somewhere in Canada; which brings me to the second issue I have.

What in that story is really news, and what prompted its writing?

Was it that the CPC wants to win back the seat? Like that is news to anyone.

Was it because of the issues in Calgary-West? I doubt it because nothing is mentioned in the article on that.

Was it possibly because of Rahim? Again I doubt it since he is not even mentioned and that happened on the 9th, 1 day after the Sun story appeared.

Did the author just decide to do a story on Edmonton-Strathcona out of the Blue? Could be ;)

Was the story fed to the author from either the conservatives, which makes no sense what so ever, or perhaps from the NDP?

I don't know the answers, and perhaps the author would like to drop me a comment or email to clarify, but what I do know is that Linda Duncan is confused about the facts and the NDP sure loves irony.

Remember Duncan's comment from above “I guess they have nothing better to do with their time and money than to go and interfere in other ridings.” because as it turns out that Sun article made its way into a fund-raising email from National NDP HQ. (the same day!)

Yes, NDP HQ is doing what Duncan accused Calgary-West of doing, 'interfering' in Edmonton-Strathcona, and all over a simple fundraiser.

Click on image to enlarge. (the top link goes to the Sun story, the other 2 to a secure donation page)


I like the top line: Have you seen today's story. Today? Damn, that was fast.

Why was this story written again?

13 comments:

CanadianSense said...

Linda probably realizes the neglect by R.J won't be repeated in the next campaign.

She is running into voters he may have already met and won back. Pity L.D. she has a fight on her hands.

I have read the candidate has been active and working on winning back the riding by going door to door and meeting the residents.

Shelly Glover did the same thing pre-campaign for two years and was able to win the seat.

Candidates should be expected to work outside the "six week" campaign period and make themselves available to the voters.

Blame Crash said...

"Ol Brad" sure knows how to put people to sleep with his non-rousing pamphleteering.

I’d put it down to too many social science classes and not enough marketing classes back in his University days.

It’s too bad though. Insomniacs the world over would beat a path to his door if he could bottle this guff.

And voila! Money problems solved!

Miller Time said...

This Hastman guy is everywhere. I follow him on the Twitter and hes at events, community leagues, door knocking, I can't imagine when he sleeps. And Duncan, well shes been off to Denmark, and she just voted in favor of that Bloq bill to shut down the oil sands and help Quebec forestry. I don't think Duncan wants to run any more.

FrancoVoter said...

Peut-être lieu de se plaindre de l'ingérence, Linda devraient travailler plus dur pour sa circonscription. D'ailleurs, l'e-mail du NPD essaie de faire exactement ce qu'ils ont, à tort, accusent Hastman de faire. Ryan aura mon vote à la prochaine élection. Il est venu à ma porte et s'est présenté il ya quelques semaines, et j'ai eu une bonne impression de lui. Son français est passable, et il a une excellente attitude. Je pense Hastman fera un membre effectif du Parlement.

Former NDP voter said...

Linda hasn't been around in ages. Her Edmonton office is run by some arogant staff. I have called and called and called to try and get pins for a school group. I finally had to give up and get another MP to get me the pins. Not only has Ryan been to my door, he called me, and wrote me a letter.

bocanut said...

The NDP should hold a makeover fundraiser for Duncan's broom.

maryT said...

Brad is so wrong. How will he react when she is not re-elected.
Albertan's are moving, but it is to the Wild Rose, not the ndp.
Problem is, when polled, people have a problem distinguishing from prov to fed conservatives, and pollsters are saying the support for PMSH is going down in Alberta.
And just maybe LD's support is going down because voters have actually seen her in QP. She needs to see a hairdresser asap.

Bec said...

Jaffer, lost that riding, Duncan, didn't win it and you can be sure, her win is a pox on AB ridings, N-S-E-W.
As a team, it wouldn't surprise me in the least that Hastman would receive support, encouragement and every ounce of assistance from all corners.
Imagine, electing an MP in the Province of Alberta that regularly disses the industry that is the economic engine. What a piece of work she is and she must go.

No, I warned some of her followers that it would be a 'man the torpedoes' effort and it is and will be...
She may as well settle in and accept it or get her butt in gear.

Greg said...

Duncan is toast and she knows it.

No Alberta MP who is serious about getting re-elected goes around degrading the oil sands the way she has.

I think she's cramming all the lefty enviro-activist fun she can into one term before the big blue machine crushes her into oblivion.

She got lucky, and looks like the Hastman team isn't taking anything for granted.

wilson said...

WHAT EVER IT TAKES to (legally) get rid of Gayle's bff!!

Ardvark said...

Ryan Hastman has been working hard to win back the riding, while Linda Duncan has been busy whining to the press over a fundraiser.

She is not facing Rahim this time so I don't blame her for being scared.

Rich said...

I am glad that Linda Duncan is on her way out; I had sent her a number of emails outlining what Alberta is doing about cleaning up the Oil Sands; and I asked that she stop dissing Alberta's economy, I also copied her leader Jack Layton. This request was made last year and I am still awaiting a response. So if there is any way that I can help to get her defeated please advise. I am a memeber of James Rajotte,s riding

Ardvark said...

Rich- http://www.ryanhastman.com/