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Harper's Conservative Party Doesn't Uphold Traditional Family Values

Those who support the Conservatives see their party as practicing and upholding traditional family, moral and biblical values. Even though the Conservative government is extreme and disrespectful of science, knowledge, fact and rationality, its supporters would simply overlook faults even when they are glaring.
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Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks alongside India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (not pictured) on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada on April 15, 2015. Prime Minister Modi will continue his official visit to Canada in Toronto and Vancouver. AFP PHOTO/ COLE BURSTON (Photo credit should read Cole Burston/AFP/Getty Images)
COLE BURSTON via Getty Images
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks alongside India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (not pictured) on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada on April 15, 2015. Prime Minister Modi will continue his official visit to Canada in Toronto and Vancouver. AFP PHOTO/ COLE BURSTON (Photo credit should read Cole Burston/AFP/Getty Images)

The recording of Vancouver South MP Wai Young's talk at a church has caused a sensation in the media. She lumped Stephen Harper's Conservatives together with Jesus to promote the extreme and unpopular anti-terrorist bill. She smeared the Canadian spy agency by alleging that they knew in advance there was a bomb on Air India but did not stop the tragedy that killed 329 people. She said the news on today's newspapers is not fact.

Indeed, these untruthful deceiving comments made by an elected member of Parliament are despicable. Nevertheless, most media have neglected to look into how Young brought Tory politics into the church and how well the absurd message was received, to the extent that the church put Young's recording online to share with others so that more of the congregation could have access to it.

Those who support the Conservatives see their party as practicing and upholding traditional family, moral and biblical values. Even though the Conservative government is extreme and disrespectful of science, knowledge, fact and rationality, its supporters would simply overlook faults even when they are glaring.

The Conservatives' record shows that not only is the party's moral standard contrary to the so-called traditional family values, it is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Last month, the former MP and the Prime Minister's Parliamentary Secretary Dean Del Mastro, Stephen Harper's bully in the parliament, was convicted in court of violating the election law. He is sentenced to one month's imprisonment, four months' house arrest, a fine of $10,000 and not running for public office for five years. When the former prime minister's spokesperson on ethics left the courthouse, his hands and feet were in chains. His clumsy steps to the transportation vehicle were captured on video. The video was widely shared on the social media.

The week before, after the media reported that Senator Don Meredith had sexual relations with a minor, the Prime Minister's Office swiftly removed him from the Conservative caucus. According to the Toronto Star, Meredith, who is a pastor, met a 16-year-old girl in a church. The affair began with sexually explicit chats over online video calls, in which the senator asked the girl to remove her top and underwear and he masturbated on camera. Their relations progressed to physical intimacy and eventually intercourse. The affair lasted for two years and the senator broke it off early this year, with a text message that said, "God has spoken to me and am (sic) not happy with me ... I should be leading you not making you." In addition, Meredith is under investigation by the Senate for "allegations of workplace sexual harassment and bullying." The media reported that "four of his former female employees and four other Senator staffers allege that the senator made sexual advances, made sexual innuendos, and was often rude and vindictive."

Hard on crime, which includes child pornography and pedophilia, and at the same time promoting traditional family values are the Conservatives' claimed prime directives, particularly in the ethnic and religious community. The general who led the campaign against such social ills was former Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. He publicly condemned those not supporting his bill as siding with child pornographers. Nonetheless, the so-called "family value minister," who actively promoted Christian traditional family values across the country, was exposed as having an affair with the family's babysitter and impregnating the young woman. The extra-marital affair ended Mr. Toews' 33 years of marriage. Toews later left politics and was appointed as a judge.

Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau are senators handpicked by Harper and they're all in deep water. Brazeau is being prosecuted for breach of trust, fraud, assault, sexual assault, cocaine possession and other charges. Duffy is now on trial for bribery (the briber the prime minister's chief of staff), fraud and breach of trust. Wallin is under an RCMP investigation for fraud and breach of trust.

Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau were the Conservatives' stars in the Senate. Once they were appointed, the well-known senators travelled across the country helping to raise funds and garner votes for their fellow Conservatives. When the questions of Wallin and Duffy's expenses were first raised, Harper assured the public that he looked into them and found them all right. At the same time, the Prime Minister had his chief of staff and Conservative party leaders work behind the scenes to cover up the mess. Once such efforts failed, Harper reversed course and condemned his handpicked senators.

The more amazing development is that the Conservative Senate leaders who were reviewing and prosecuting the disgraced senators are being caught for similar expense issues. The recently released Auditor General's report listed 30 senators with questionable expense filings. Nine of those with more serious concerns are referred to the RCMP for investigation.

Let's take a look at some of the people around Prime Minister Harper. Arthur Porter was appointed by the PM as the chair of the Security Intelligence Review Committee which oversees the national spy agency CSIS. In 2011, Porter was exposed by the media as being involved with arms dealing with Sierra Leone. In 2014, Porter was arrested in Panama by Interpol on charges that he received $22.5M in kickbacks on public construction contract.

Bruce Carson was appointed as adviser to the prime minister. In 2012, he was charged by the RCMP for influence peddling, allegedly using his connections to take advantage of impoverished First Nations communities. In 2014, Carson was charged again with illegal lobbying.

On election fraud, several Conservatives are charged with violating the election law during the 2006 and 2011 federal election. They include party fundraiser Senator Irving Gerstein and organizer Doug Finley, former MP Peter Penashue and his campaign manager Reginald Bowers, as well as Michael Sona (or Pierre Poutine). Sona, a middle ranking staffer, is the only person charged and convicted for the massive robocall scheme that directed voters to wrong polling stations. Little wonder that the Conservative government have been so determined to change Canada's Election Act so that the authority of Elections Canada to investigate election frauds would be stripped.

With devastating facts like this, no wonder Young would tell the congregation that she no longer read newspapers because they are not reporting facts.

No doubt there are always a few rotten apples in political parties. By reviewing the record of the Conservative Party and its leader, we can see that the rotten cases look more like a systemic problem.

This article was originally published in June for a Vancouver Chinese weekly paper, before the NDP launched their online video ad on the Conservatives' corruption.

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