One of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s political aides was forced to resign Thursday after accidentally sending confidential Conservative campaign strategies and a request for $200,000 in campaign funds to an NDP MP. The employee, Kasra Nejatian, had been Kenney’s director of multicultural affairs.
This evening Conservative MPs got the following message in their in-box from the Conservative Party of Canada message center/info-bot:
Today, a letter regarding Conservative Party business was mistakenly printed on House of Commons letterhead. The letter encourages riding associations to make a financial commitment for the next election.
- This is very serious and unacceptable.
- The employee responsible for this matter has offered the Minister his resignation and the Minister has accepted it.
- Minister Kenney has taken responsibility for this and has apologized for his former employee's actions.
- Using parliamentary or government resources for partisan activities is completely unacceptable.
- Minister Kenney will be raising this matter with the Speaker of the House, the Ethics Commissioner and the Board of Internal Economy.
If asked if Minister Kenney instructed this employee to send this letter:
- Minister Kenney gave the instruction to have riding associations contacted.
- But as is always the case in these matters, he fully expected that this would be done after hours and on the appropriate letterhead.
- As previously stated, this employee has offered Minister Kenney his resignation and Minister Kenney has accepted it.
If asked on the purpose of the deck:
- Since its creation, the new Conservative Party has made earning the support of Canadians of all ethnic backgrounds a priority.
- We will continue this important work and will make no apologies for it.
they make no apologies for anything, probably because they are ethically bankrupt, and always were.
one after hours on the appropriate letterhead??
In a Minister's office, on a Departmental computer and printer, in a departmental office building, with thousands of employees, powered by electricity paid for by the taxpayers of Canada.
AND, then we are to believe that this was all discussed at lunch, outside the Minister's office, without resort to departmental phones or Blackberry's or taxi chits.
Ignore that man behind the curtain, Toto, we truly are in Oz.
I read somewhere that the “package” was hand-delivered to Linda Duncan.
If that is true … what kind of numbskulls are running around the Parliament buildings?
• LINDA Duncan and JOHN Duncan. How can those two be names be mixed up?
• Even if the “package” was not delivered personally to LINDA Duncan and was accepted by one of her staffers, surely the staffer can read the name on the “package”? If it said JOHN Duncan, why not refuse to accept it immediately and re-route it to the appropriate destination?
• Oh yeah, and since we're on the topic of ethics … would you all open an envelope that has someone else's name on it? Hmm? How ethical is that?
Package was addressed to Linda Duncan and hand-delivered to her. [Click through on the first link in this post — “the letter” — and you'll see.]
Thanks for your input.
So, that confirms — at least to me — that there are indeed some numbskulls running around loose in the Parliament buildings, regardless of their party affiliations. Shouldn't a Kenney staffer know Linda Duncan is an NDP MP who has no business reading that kind of confidential stuff? Why address the letter to her?
BTW … about that letter you steered me to …
In your blog post entitled The Duncan karma: Kenney accused of using Parliamentary resources for partisan fundraising you wrote:
“Minister Jason Kenney wrote a letter this week he thought to John Duncan but instead it went to Linda Duncan.”
However, the letter is signed “Kasra Nejatian.”
Yeah, maybe I'm being picky here … but I believe in accuracy. The minister did NOT write that letter, one of his staffers did.
On a completely different topic, why have the Sun newspapers cut off comments from the general public, limiting comments only to those who have a FaceBook account?
“After hours…” – what, so he's not violating federal Parliamentary laws prohibiting partisan activity, just provincial labour laws prohibiting mandatory unpaid overtime? Oh, well, that's okay, then: he is the Immigration Minister, after all, who presides over temporary workers. Guess we should add HIM to his own new database of bad employers, eh?
fine, David should modify his sentence slightly, but make no — or rather, no more — mistakes, this WAS done at Kenney's direction. Again, READ the letter before going off all half-cocked:
“I am writing today on behalf of Jason Kenney, PC, MP who is presently out of the country. Minister Kenney has instructed me to share with you…”
So sorry for being so pedantic, but I'm afraid your comment calls for another correction.
From dictionary.com:
“go off half-cocked, to act or happen prematurely: He went off half-cocked and told everyone the news. Also, go off at half cock.”
My comment was made after more careful re-reading of the letter Mr. Akin steered me to, so I'm not “going off all half-cocked” as you say I am.
Furthermore, Jason Kenney has not denied the letter was written at his directiont but, as has been explained, it was to be done after hours, using personal stationery.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/kenney-takes-the-heat-for-aides-unfortunate-error/article1931795/