Saturday, September 27, 2008

StealthCons

RossK at The Gazetteer is tracking all of the Conservative candidates who seem to have disappeared. He calls them "StealthCons". Our list so far:
Saanich-Gulf Islands Gary Lunn
Vancouver Island North John Duncan
Chunklets doesn't know whether Edmonton-Spruce Grove Rona Ambrose is a StealthCon yet, but he points out that her Events Calendar ends abruptly on Sept. 22.
And here in Saskatchewan, we think North Battleford's Gerry Ritz may have actually discovered the formula for invisibility because the newspapers aren't finding him anywhere.
Here is Ross's definition of a StealthCon:
A StealthCon is a Harpertronic conservative candidate who ducks the media and especially the public. Their most egregious acts of stealthitude occur when they subvert democracy completely by refusing to show up at all candidates meetings where the voters, instead of watching ads on the TeeVee actually head out the door in an effort to find out, via their own eyes and ears, what they will (or will not) be voting for. We first became acutely aware of the StealthCons that walk among us during the invisible Mar 2008 by-election candidacy of Deborah Meredith in Vancouver Quadra. And here's the thing......Ms Meredith almost won. Thus, despite the jocular, snarkoleptic tone of these posts, this is no laughing matter.
Any other contributions?
UPDATE: The Liberal party website lists "a litany of Conservative candidates who have declined to participate in all-candidates debates and/or refuse to speak to media at all":
Jilian Saweczko in Parkdale-High Park
Health Minister Tony Clement in Parry Sound-Muskoka
Christina Perreault in Toronto-Danforth
Gloria Kovach in Guelph
Immigration Minister Diane Finley in Haldimand-Norfolk
Dave Tilson in Dufferin-Caledon
Michelle Hunter in Wascana
Helena Guergis in Simcoe-Grey
Environment Minister John Baird, representing Ottawa West-Nepean, has refused to participate in an all-candidates debate hosted by the City of Ottawa.
A debate sponsored by the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario on October 8 is being rejected by the Conservatives.
Hull-Aylmer Conservative Candidate Paul Fréchette was a no-show [on Ottawa CBC's morning show] to discuss the issues on air with other local candidates.
So its quite obvious this refusal to participate in democratic processes is not just an idiosyncrasy of a few candidates but rather an expression of deliberate Conservative party policy.
I wonder if Canadians will realize that the Conservative party holds them in contempt?

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