Looks Like The Harpercon Saulie Zajdel Camp May Be Pushing Irwin Cotler Out The Door Prematurely

Well boys ‘n’ girls, the latest political happenings in Mount-Royal could definitely go in the Harpercons flare for the unprecedented files.  It appears that the good constituents in the riding of Mount-Royal have been robo-called, being asked if they would support the Harpercons in the upcoming by-election. There’s a tiny snag, though; there is no upcoming by-election. Irwin Cotler ain’t resigning! The calls appear to be coming from the 514 area code and traced back to Ontario based market research firm, Campaign Research, who, according to Kady O’Malley, was largely instrumental in Mayor Fordzilla’s campaign, as well as a  controversial 2007 survey on behalf of a still undisclosed client that allegedly accused then-incumbent Liberal MP Joe Volpe of taking $5000 in donations. Hmm, they sound like delightfully reputable people, don’t they?  One constituent smelled a rat right away:

Mont Royal resident Marian Levy told The Huffington Post she received not one but two phone calls last week asking if she planned to either support the Conservative candidate or Stephen Harper in the upcoming by-election.

Levy said she was not fooled into believing Cotler had resigned or that there was an impending by-election, but she is concerned that residents who are less aware could be misled into believing the MP is no longer active.

“It was the deceitfulness of the calls, I kept arguing with them. They kept insisting that there was a by-election and I’m politically aware and there isn’t one. Their insistence that there is was just an affront to our system because the people who may not be politically aware, they are being deceitful (to them),” she said. “It’s offensive.”

On the second call, Levy said, the woman on the end of the phone suggested Cotler “may be resigning shortly.”

“There was no question that the person on the other end of the phone knew there was not a by-election,” she added.

Levy doesn’t belong to any political party but believes strongly the calls are unethical and that they are just there to start the “rumour mill.” A staff member in Cotler’s constituency office, however, suggested the purpose was clearly to identify political support.

Needless to say, Mr. Cotler is livid.

Rising on a point of privilege in the House of Commons, Cotler said his office has received calls from a number of constituents in recent days saying they have received calls from a firm saying it was calling on behalf of the Conservative Party and asking if they intend to support the Conservatives in an upcoming byelection because Cotler had stepped down, or was about to step down.

“The very fact that I am standing here in this place, and otherwise discharging my responsibilities, clearly illustrates that there is no vacancy in the electoral district of Mount Royal and thus no pending byelection,” Cotler told the House.

Cotler called on Speaker Andrew Scheer to rule the phone calls constituted a breach of privilege, saying the calls have sown uncertainty in the minds of his constituents and are affecting his ability to do his job as an MP.“Constituents are asking my office and myself when will this imminent — but as I said, non-existent — byelection, in fact, be occurring? Calls have come in asking – and constituents are surprised, if not shocked, by this — whether I am still serving. Such questions cause damage to my reputation and credibility and would do so to any member of the House.”

Good luck with that, Mr. Cotler, you will need it. As it is, young Andy Scheer appears to have problems controlling the House these days, plus, as I’ve always known, he is a partisan hack. Kady O’Malley has his whole statement in the house here.

Saulie Zajdel, a former city councillor and Irwin Cotler’s Harpercon rival in the last federal election, now has a plum position in Heritage minister James Moore’s office. You know what he does, boys ‘n’ girls? Well, he basically ‘talks to certain Montreal communities, informing them of various federal government services’.  I say it’s another way of preparing him early to run again in the next election or to be ready to pounce in any potential by-election, if there were one, which, of course, there isn’t, despite the best efforts of some.  It had been rumoured that some in the riding had requested Mr. Zajdel to stick around. Given his plush patronage appointment in James Moore’s office, count on it.

My question is, who’s responsible for this latest stunt? Who is trying to gaslight Mr. Cotler out the door prematurely?

Before I go on, I’m going to backtrack a bit on certain events as they are pertinent leading up to this latest insult.  Boys ‘n’ girls, this is not the first time there has been speculation regarding Irwin Cotler’s supposed premature departure of any kind–be it from politics or be it from the Liberal party.

The Election Campaign and Result

Living in the riding of Outremont, just next door to Mount-Royal, you may remember that I had the opportunity to observe what I would call a very disturbing and twisted campaign.  I posted my observations here.  It was twisted and disturbing on just so many levels. For openers, to an outsider, it looked more like a campaign for the best leader for Israel than for  the best Canadian MP.  Even my husband’s young, 20-something Jewish son, who lives in Mount-Royal didn’t get it–he told us, basically, “…but we live in Canada–not Israel. Why are they deciding on someone who is more loyal to Israel?” or something along those lines.  Exactly!  For the record, he voted for the NDP candidate, Jeff Itcush.

Like in other ridings I had heard about, Irwin Cotler’s signs were destroyed. I had seen Hitler moustaches scrawled on them. I had heard stories of car tires being slashed.  Things got really vicious.  Then came the candidates’ debate.  Even Saulie Zajdel with laryngitis managed to remain his usual obnoxious self.  So were his supporters in the room, for that matter. I had always questioned to this day, why the hell such an event had to be held in the hall of a synagogue? These events should be held in a more secular venue. They would have a more diverse audience. But that wasn’t the case here.

About two years before, in 2009, many would remember those ghastly ten percenters, depicting the Liberal party as anti-Semitic.

If anyone is a political junkie, and actually looks at the numbers and an electoral map of the last election, the results were fairly close.  Also, the districts of Cote-St-Luc and Hampstead which are heavily Jewish and affluent, went Harpercon blue.

The Speculation Aftermath and Perhaps Wishful Thinking From Some

As I’ve mentioned above, this is not the first time there have been ramblings regarding Mr. Cotler’s premature departure, whether it was a retirement or a departure from the Liberal Party. I think it bears mentioning today.

About a week after the election,  The Suburban Columnist, Mike Cohen penned his speculations (or perhaps wishful thinking) in the Jewish Tribune.  Mr. Cohen speculated that Irwin Cotler would likely resign in about a year or two from the date of the last election and that perhaps Stevie Spiteful would give him “an offer he can’t refuse”.

Sources tell me that there is also a movement afoot by some members of the Jewish community to have Cotler given a high-profile appointment where he can carry on his human rights work and do so more effectively backed by Prime Minister Harper.

Interesting.   Who were these sources? What movement? Is this the same movement that hired Campaign Research to Robocall Mount-Royal Constituents recently?

Clearly, with only six MPS in all of Quebec, the Tories need to bump up their presence here. With two openings in the province for Senate appointments they will probably take that route. Perhaps a Jewish personality could be in the mix.

Uh Mike, better check that arithmetic again. The Harpercons only have five seats in La belle province.

Now, I always believed and I do caution my readers to take Mike Cohen’s speculations and predictions with a large grain of salt as I’ve found he is proven wrong more often than not. However, at the time that column was published, I did wonder about the possibility, given the ramblings on Twitter and such.  Cohen was proven wrong again, but nonetheless, I think his column should be brought up again, because of today’s recent events. I do believe someone or some group is trying to oust Irwin Cotler prematurely.

Of course, rumours of Irwin Cotler crossing the floor to the Harpercons is nothing new. They go back as far as 2008.

So Why The Hurry?

Irwin Cotler is apparently not running in the next federal election. No doubt that Saulie Zajdel will use all this time, using all the resources working for James Moore can have to offer, to run a long election campaign. What’s the hurry? Are they (whomever is running this get Cotler out asap campaign) afraid the constituents of Mount-Royal will be reminded exactly how obnoxious Zajdel really is?  Whatever the case, somebody sure is antsy. Antsy enough to hire that Campaign Research to robocall.

It also seems to me that Stevie Spiteful is particularly obsessive with this particular riding, while pretty much abandoning the rest of la belle province. Even more so than Lac-St-Louis, which is the one that is particularly WASPy–the one Senator Touchdown Larry Smith ran in and that Liberal incumbent, Franis Scarpaleggia won in. In fact, I remember Stevie Spiteful pretty much dumping Senator Touchdown near the end while he toured Jewish community centres and Kosher grocers in Mount-Royal til nearly the end in Mount-Royal.  Could it be that, in Stevie Spiteful’s case (unlike the Jewish constituents), that this has nothing to do with Israel or even Irwin Cotler, and everything to do with his Liberal derangement syndrome and his sick vendetta against the late Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who held this very riding?

Naturally, Fred Delorey, Stevie Spiteful’s mouthpiece had not returned messages or calls, nor did Campaign Research. Elections Canada spokeswoman, Diane Benson is neither confirming, nor denying having received any formal complaints. However, she does say that any and all complaints received will be investigated. Again, Diane, why the cloak and dagger routine?