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SCANDAL NUMBER FIVE – The one they dropped overnight: Healing lodge transfers

Jason Pugh May 16, 2023

Now this is the one where we get serious. That shows how low the Conservative Party is willing to go, and the “Scheer” hypocrisy is truly appalling.

Most people remember the Tori Stafford case. But what most people don’t remember is how the Conservative Party of Canada exploited it for cheap political points. All over the healing lodge transfer.

Have you noticed that when members of the Convoy Party of Canada bring up all the past “scandals,” they just happen to leave this one out?

Well here’s why.

First, let’s refresh everyone’s memory with some tweets from CPC MPs at the time. A snapshot:

Rempel:

Poilievre:

Scheer had this to say:

With Scheer as their leader, the CPC tabled a motion for the government to intervene in the case:

Scheer to force Commons vote on transfer of Tori Stafford’s killer to healing lodge

Of course, the Cons tabled the meaningless motion they knew would be voted down. They were intentionally making demands they knew the government couldn’t meet. The government or a minister can’t just say “Prisoner X can or cannot be moved to facility Y!”

They weren’t calling for a policy change. They were demanding immediate action so they could blast out fundraising emails saying the PM is “soft on crime.” Particularly soft on heinous crimes such as this. Just the lowest of the low.

After heated debate, hurled insults, Tory motion to overturn child-killer’s transfer to healing lodge defeated

But then, some rather relevant news came to light.

“There were child murderers transferred to healing lodges under the Conservative government. There were. And so they had 10 years to fix it but didn’t.”

Karen McCrimmon: ‘There were child murderers transferred to healing lodges under the Conservative government’

Yes, you heard that right. There were 14 similar transfers between 2011-2014 during Harper’s majority.

More than 20 child killers sent to healing lodges since 2011, figures show

“At least 14 of those offenders were held in healing lodges while the previous Conservative government was in power.”

Peter MacKay apologized for the Conservative’s record:

Former justice minister Peter MacKay said he did not know so many child killers had been transferred to healing lodges under the former Conservative government. (CBC News)

“I only wish that we had known this 10 years ago and taken proper steps to make those changes maybe this entire situation and the trauma for the Stafford family and others could have been avoided.”

‘I wish we had known’: Peter MacKay defends record over transfer of child killers to healing lodges

So why didn’t Peter MacKay know about the transfers that occurred under his and then Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s watch?

Well, that’s obvious. It’s because the opposition NDP, LPC, Bloc and Green parties understand that decisions like this are under the jurisdiction of the Correctional Service of Canada.

So, OF COURSE, the opposition parties didn’t try to make political hay out of such decisions.

They weren’t trying to twist every issue or decision by every department into something to exploit. To be turned into a ‘SCANDAL’ to score cheap political points.

So that’s why it didn’t come to Peter’s attention.

The debate over this led to this exchange in the House of Commons, where Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said this:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=342032386609118
(With Conservatives, every accusation is an admission!)

Ultimately after it came to light that there were 14 similar transfers during Harper’s majority, the CPC dropped the ‘scandal’ overnight.

After Ms. McCrimmon appeared on Power and Politics and revealed that similar transfers occurred under the Conservatives, Erin O’Toole when on to say this:

He was asking for the names, knowing that they couldn’t be released, just to cast doubt on whether those other transfers actually happened:

That was how bad things were FIVE years ago (or three leaders ago if anyone is keeping count) with the Conservative Party as LOYAL opposition. Just when you think they couldn’t sink any lower they go ahead and elect Poilievre as their leader.

“Doesn’t ‘the buck’ stop at the PMO?”

Well, no. That’s not how things work. Despite what Conservatives would have you think, the Prime Minister doesn’t personally review and sign off on every single decision made in the entire country. Pretty shocking, eh?

However, based on the tweets put out by the CPC’s leader, Pierre Poilievre, it seems he DOES think he would make all decisions at every level of government if he were elected PM. Or at least withhold or ‘close the gate’ to funding if they don’t do his bidding.

They are proving that there is nothing they won’t exploit and that there’s no low too low for the Conservative Party of Canada to go.

PERIOD.

Jason Pugh

TRUDEAU “SCANDAL” NUMBER FOUR: OH! THE STUPIDITY OF IT ALL!

Jason Pugh

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