B.C. candidate proceeding to trial on smuggling charges

[Breakthrough2006]

Anyone can become a good businessman when they take 171 million dollars of our tax money as a grant for CSL.

Then prompltly give Canada the bird as you close Canadian shipping yards and lay off 500 Canadian workers so that your profit could be 15 million per year as opposed to 12 million per year.

Who really believes Martin when he says he loves Canada? Certainly not me. He loves Canada like a business owner loves his business.

 

[nanaimoman]

Seeing as neocons on this board are few and far between, i can see why that would be...

I don't see this situation any different than that of Svend Robinson (except for the fact that Svend was charged, Zeisman we do not know yet). Like Finder said, it's up to the constituents to decide whether or not he will be elected.

Excellent post!

 

[missile]

He was working for the govt when he was caught,and as a govt employee,was given certains breaks that Robinson didn't. In other words,the charges would have been known before he became a candidate & the PCs would have chosen better.

 

[yballa09]

http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060112/derek_zeisman_update_060112

Harper dumps B.C. candidate facing charges
CTV.ca News Staff

The federal Conservative Party has dumped Derek Zeisman, a candidate in the riding of British Columbia's Southern Interior who is due to go on trial next month on smuggling charges.

In a news conference in Halifax on Thursday, Tory Leader Stephen Harper said it's too late to legally to prevent Zeisman from running.

But he added: "I will say today that this candidate, Mr. Zeisman, will not be sitting as a Conservative should he be elected" on Jan. 23.

CTV News reported Thursday that in July 2004, Zeisman was crossing into British Columbia from the United States, when Canada Customs charged him with attempting to smuggle in a Mercedes-Benz carrying 112 containers of alcohol.

Zeisman is also accused of lying to Canada Customs about the incident. He could end up in prison if convicted.

Harper said Zeisman underwent the party's usual screening process for candidates, and that a criminal background check was done. However, "this matter did not appear" during the check.

He said Zeisman should have revealed his legal problems before seeking the nomination. Harper stressed that this is not a criminal matter; "it is, however, a serious matter."

In an interview with CTV News, Zeisman didn't explain why he failed to tell his own party about the charges, and blamed someone in government for leaking the information.

Zeisman, who is running in the riding currently held by Conservative MP Jim Gouk, previously made national news for a serious car accident five days before Christmas.

He was driving from Trail to Castlegar, B.C. when his sport utility vehicle struck another SUV, landing him in hospital with a fractured pelvis, a broken femur, three broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

Zeisman is still in hospital and would not agree to an interview. However, he did speak with CTV News off-camera Wednesday.

"I have had nothing to hide during this campaign and those charges which were not even criminal charges are unjustified," Zeisman said. "And when I have my day in court, I am very confident that I will be exonerated.

"I have no doubt about that whatsoever, but you know, again, I hope we still live in a democratic country where people are allowed to have their day in court before they're found guilty in the court of public opinion."


There you go, they can't legally take him out of the race now, but if he wins he won't be sitting as a Conservative. Looks like Harper does practice what he preaches, even when it has nothing to do wth tax payers money.

 

[FiveParadox]

My applause goes to the Honourable Stephen Harper for having made such a statement, notwithstanding my lack of support for his party.

I would assert, however, that all of our national parties should perhaps take more care to conduct checks on a person's background before granting such a person the nomination of their party.

 

[bevvyd]

Well doesn't this look like a page from Bill Clinton's what is an isn't sex book.

The guy is up on charges from Revenue Canada, federal taxes and duties no doubt. If he paid all the duties and taxes that is required for this Mercedes and 110 bottles of booze then it should have been cleared up long ago. I've personally dealth with Customs, both Canada and the US, and yeah administrative erros occur, but all you gotta do is prove you paid and filed the correct paperwork and it gets fixed. It's just that easy, lol.

 

[mattyaloo]

This whole topic is a sad demonstration of the LIBS grasping at straws...never saw I'd see the Country's annointed dictators fall from grace so fast. This is gleeful. This campaign demonstrates on clear thing: as soon as the Tories stopped shooting themselves in the foot, the Liberals were an easy target.

Hey Libs: the shoe is on the other foot now. live wid it.

 

[yballa09]

fiveparadox i agree that it was poor on the conservatives part for not doing an adequate check on this guy, they are faulted for that aspect. But I think Harper acted quickly and did the right thing saying this man would not represent the CPC if for some reason he was still voted in.

 

[Citizen]

My, all the kudos for Harper over dumping that conservative candidate. Hello? What else did you expect Harper to do?

Keep in mind that initially Harper had said he was going to stand by the candidate and wouldn't dump him. Obviously Harper's advisors have told him he must do so in order to keep up the appearance of being ethical.

I've no doubt that had Harper been in the PMO, he would have stood buy that candidate!

 

[justfred]

What a difference a day makes. I see that the Lying Liberals had dumped a candidate in the lower mainland. Mr. Dave Oliver has been dumped as he is accused of asking the NDP candidate to let his name be taken off of the ballot and then tell his supporters to vote with the Lying Liberals. The internet article says that Mr. Oliver had offered a cushy job in Ottawa to the NDP candidate in exchange for his acceptance of the bribe.
I guess that we should all take each of these with a grain of salt as there are some instances where people are innocent.

 

[bruju]

The fiberals lied about the GST.
Trivia Question What governing Party introduced the Gst
Question #2 Who introduced Free trade that took so many jobs out of the country so the few wealthy concervatives and there friends could profit.

 

[Colpy]

Reality Check:

The GST allowed the Liberals to balance the budget.

The Free Trade agreement allowed the Liberals to take credit for a PC policy that invigorated our economy and took it to new heights, while driving DOWN unemployment.

 

[bruju]

You nead a Reality check
And driving manufacturing jobs out of the country to Mexico, Taiwan and China
We have lost more well paying jobs because of free trade all we got in return are call centers and hamberger flipping minimum paying jobs.