How political is the RCMP you ask? The Globe and Mail’s Lawrence Martin gives you an answer:
It should be noted that Mr. Chrétien enjoyed very good relations with Giuliano Zaccardelli, the RCMP commissioner of the day, whom opposition MPs accused of not aggressively pursuing allegations on files such as Shawinigate.
At one reception I attended, Zack, as he was called, was quite open about his fondness for Mr. Chrétien. He told me that the difference between his career and that of Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua was that he had backed the right horse, while Mr. Bevilacqua had backed Paul Martin.
And to those who have wondered why it has taken the RCMP so long to finally charge Liberal organizer Jacques Corriveau for his role in Adscam (see here):
On the sponsorship scandal, we are left to wonder why Mr. Corriveau, who was Mr. Chrétien’s friend and had done political organizing for him, was apparently not the subject of a RCMP investigation until 2006.
Mr. Zaccardelli was forced to resign as commissioner in 2006, after presiding over the botched investigation into Maher Arar. This was the same year the Conservatives came to power and the RCMP investigation into Mr. Corriveau began. (see here)
Think about this for a minute – Martin is flat-out saying Zachardelli intentionally quashed a criminal investigation that could show Liberals linked directly to the PM of Canada committing massive fraud and laundering money into the Liberal Party coffers.
BC Blue: One BC Conservative's view on it all... 
December 17, 2013 at 8:29 AM
Remembering Chretien was Martin’s nemeses, for some ten years Martin coveted his job, why was this question not asked by Martin’s supporters to use against Chretien? Were they protecting the LPC ? Chretien was a disgrace at the Gomery hearings, how any Liberal could support that arrogant behaviour without being angered and lashing out is beyond comprehension. In the end they killed the LPC, as an old saying in Newfoundland goes, when they were finished “the arse was outta ‘er”. Martin got the job he coveted, didn’t know what to do with it but the people made a decision for him, they booted him out.
December 17, 2013 at 8:42 AM
Wasn’t there a bit of kerfuffle over the price Zaccardelli paid for a pair RCMP dress boots? Kind of showed the big spending Liberal DNA!
December 17, 2013 at 8:47 AM
The corruption that has been going on in the RCMP, Elections Canada, Parliament Hill and the MSM etc., over the past 20yrs or so is truly staggering. It’s like we’re in a third world country here.
Mulroney secretly accepted huge envelopes of cash, yet successfully sued the Canadian Government when they dared to call him dishonest. Chretien went to court as well after leaving office when Gomery suggested he and the Liberal Party shared some guilt in Adscam, and the courts sided with him and cleared his name. In both cases we find out later that there was a lot more to the story than was revealed at the time.
Lawrence Martin rightly points out how quickly the RCMP churned out a report in a matter of weeks on the senate, yet the Corriveau report and charges are only now seeing the light of day, three years after the investigation was complete (and the many years before that when the RCMP looked the other way to cover for their good buddy, Jean Chretien).
Alternately, now we have a frenzied media party and opposition trying to bring down Harper for allegedly being involved in seeing to it that taxpayers money was returned to them, after Conservative senators (not to mention a Liberal one as well) made very questionable expense claims. And the RCMP make this one a top priority… go figure.
It’s truly sickening to see all this corruption, and the worst part is that I don’t know how we get rid of it when most Canadians don’t even care enough to pay attention to these matters, and will vote the biggest crooks back in at the next opportunity.
And how can anything be fixed when some of the worst corruption is so deeply rooted in the RCMP itself?
December 17, 2013 at 8:52 AM
Also, does anyone else find it funny that the G&M’s comments section is closed on this Lawrence Martin story?
December 17, 2013 at 12:54 PM
There’s room for legal action against these joker’s. Just ask Pat Martin about it.
ADSCAM is back in the picture, so it will be interesting to see how that pans out.
Liberals and news media – arm in arm shysters.
December 17, 2013 at 3:12 PM
If you like your Liberals, you can keep your Liberals. Period.
December 17, 2013 at 4:53 PM
We do display some 3rd World qualities in Canada from time to time. Greed has been the overpowering force in previous administrations, and unfortunately even the watch dogs are not incorruptible. It seems we need watch dogs for the watch dogs, at pretty well every level of government. You see it even in municipal circles, where project proposals evoke hope of prosperity, then somehow disappear amidst a tangle of red tape and rhetoric. Legal fiascoes and payoffs abound, and hand-washings often follow brain-washings. What about Ontario Premier Wynn and her follow-up McGuilty racket? There are very selective rug-sweepings going on, and all we get to do is watch the gangsters in dismay. No one, not even the super sleuths of the RCMP, can connect PM Harper to anything shoddy, but it’s certainly NOT for lack of trying.
December 18, 2013 at 11:10 AM
With respect to the Corriveau story, I would expect any PPG journalist to grill Jr relentlessly about the names of 12 Liberal candidates reported to have received the stolen money. Are any still in the Liberal caucus, and if so will Jr be demanding they resign? Will LPC be refunding the money?
Perhaps these queries might seen unfair, given that Jr was not even an MP at the time, still is it any worse than NP displaying a picture of Ford and Jim Flaherity today, with no obvious connection. Come to think about it, how about a picture of Corriveau and Jr shaking hands. If such a picture exists, would the MM be apt to print it?