Grewal Tapes

A bit of Canadian Politics for a minute.

So, the Conservative member for the riding of Newton-North Delta in British Columbia, Gurmant Grewal, has released secretly recorded tapes allegedly proving that the Liberals were courting him in the days preceeding the non confidence vote last month.

Ummm DUH.

A few comments first. The tapes are apparently incomplete and in some are in Punjabi, so they have to be translated. Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh claims the translations of the alleged conversations are inacurrate or misleading and the beginning and ends of the tapes have NOT been released suggesting to many, me included that some comments may have been taken out of context and without the entire tape and knowing who initiated the converstaion as well as how it ended it is impossible to make any conclusions.

My opinion is that these guys are trying to do a deliberate smear of the prime minister and are only releasing the bits of the tape that support their claim. Unless the entire tape is released it is impossible to draw any conclusions regarding intent. It MATTERS who initiated the conversation and it MATTERS how it ended. To release only bits and pieces is highly suspicious imo. If they were REALLY interested in getting the truth out there they would have released the tape in it's ENTIRETY. That they have not leads me to conclude that they are attempting to spin this to their advantage in a manner I would expect from this group of neocons who take their lead from the corrupt gang south of the border apparently.

That the Liberals would have courted Conservatives before the big vote does not surprise me in the least. This is politics folks. If the Liberals had merely rolled over and accepted defeat I would have been FAR more outraged. They fought for what they wanted and I expect no less from them. As to whether a prime post was offered as a reward I have no idea, but I would expect that if a person was discussing a party change that person's future prospects and opportunities available in the party might be discussed. Offering a position as a bribe is one thing, discussing prospects is quite another ... unless the FULL transcript is released it is simply impossible to determine which scenario we are discussing here.

Personally I think this is a blatant attempt by the Conservatives to twist these tapes to suit their goal by deceitfully releasing only that parts that APPEAR to support their claims. I think that is inherently dishonest and crass. I am admittedly partisan here, but that's how I see it and unless I hear the FULL recording I think I will continue to hold that position.

Context is everything.

[update] Oops I guess a resource link might be a tad useful ... see below

Martin, Dosanjh question authenticity of tapes

[UPDATE 2] Having read further transcripts of the tapes here I have come to the following conclusion.

It sounds to me like Grewal is pushing for some sort of reward post for himself and/or his wife in return for a vote favourable to the liberals and considering how these tapes were put forward by him and his gang of thugs, I think that he intitiated the discussions with the liberals deliberately to entrap them in a scandal. In that light their discussions with this cretin take on a whole new slant for me. He was pushing for a patronage appointment and they, in their attempt to lobby his support, did not slam the door in his face. I don't think that's the same as trying to bribe the guy if that is indeed what he is trying to allege. If he did indeed initiate these conversations in order to deceive (and again I wouldn't put it past him) exactly who is the unethical person here?