Toronto Tory has been digging up dirt onthe executives , all two of them, who are on the BCE board. And how BCE donates to the Liberals. From this he jumps to the conclusion, complete with nice Yahoo Stock charts, that BCE somehow benefited from Ralph Goodales Income Trust announcement.
Of course BCE is a publicly traded company and NOT an income trust, but of course that begs the question when those with conspiracy on their minds start to play connect the dots.
Well all capitalist corporations benefit from and support the state, regardless of the party in power. They donate to both main parties and they hire from both parties. Here is a former BCE excecutive manager who was instrumental in the BCE buying CTV and the Globe and Mail and she is a Conservative.
She is now the President of the Board of Trade in Montreal, do you think she is helping the Conservatives gain votes in her home province. Do ya? Is it a conspiracy? No of course not it's politics of the rich and corporate elite as usual.
Isabelle Hudon
President and CEO
Board of Trade of Metropolitan MontrealIsabelle Hudon has worked in the field of public affairs, communications, and strategic positioning for more than sixteen years. She has developed solid expertise in the areas of company reorganization, strategic counseling, communications, crisis management and government relations in both the public and private sectors.
In 1988, Ms. Hudon began her professional career in federal politics, where she worked for more than six years. Starting out as regional organizer and coordinator of ministerial tours for the Quebec wing of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, she joined the office of Minister Monique Landry as press secretary in 1990 – first in the Department of External Affairs and International Trade and then in the Department of Canadian Heritage. For six months, in 1994, she served as executive assistant to Ms. Mila P. Mulroney, responsible in particular for managing the Mulroney family's transition to private life.
After a one-year sabbatical in France, Ms. Hudon joined Bell Global Solutions, a subsidiary of Bell Canada, as a communications consultant. Her mandate focused on positioning Bell solutions in the emerging e-commerce sector.
From 1999 to 2001, Ms. Hudon was senior manager, communications and public relations, with BCE Media. Spokesperson for the company, she was also responsible for coordinating internal and external communications and planning and managing advertising purchases. In particular, she worked on the acquisition, by BCE, of CTV and the Toronto Globe and Mail .
In 2003 before the Elections act changed to reduce direct Corporate donatiaons, Bell Canada and BCE were in the Top 50 donators to the Conservative party. Information is from Elections Canada.
| 1007 | Bell Canada | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 20,000.00 | Monetary |
| 1005 | BCE Inc | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 10,000.00 | Monetary |
The Top 10 donations bankrolled the party for the 2004 election.
10 biggest contributions received
| No. | Name of contributor | Name of political party | Part number | Class of contribution * | Amount of contribution $ | Type of contribution |
| 1114 | Magna International Inc | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 380,337.43 | Monetary |
| 1155 | PM Capital Inc | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 275,000.00 | Monetary |
| 1067 | Goldcorp Inc | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 250,000.00 | Monetary |
| 1096 | Jetport Inc | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 250,000.00 | Monetary |
| 1165 | Rogers Communications Inc | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 250,000.00 | Monetary |
| 1199 | WITTINGTON INVESTMENTS LIMITED | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 250,000.00 | Monetary |
| 1069 | Grant Forest Products Inc | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 120,000.00 | Monetary |
| 1051 | EnCana Corporation | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 100,000.00 | Monetary |
| 1137 | National Steel Car Ltd | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 100,000.00 | Monetary |
| 1189 | TRANSCANADA PIPELINES | Conservative Party of Canada | 4 | B | 75,000.00 | Monetary |
The Top 10 Liberal Corporate donations included Bell Canada.
10 biggest contributions received
| No. | Name of contributor | Name of political party | Part number | Class of contribution * | Amount of contribution $ | Type of contribution |
| 50 | 55555 Inc. | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | B | 2,974,341.20 | Monetary |
| 371 | Bombardier Inc. | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | B | 139,795.22 | Monetary |
| 501 | Canadian National Railway Company | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | B | 119,579.93 | Monetary |
| 1091 | Grant Forest Products Inc. | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | B | 105,889.00 | Monetary |
| 888 | EnCana Corporation | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | B | 103,473.60 | Monetary |
| 1392 | Kruger Inc. | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | B | 103,000.00 | Monetary |
| 6233 | Donald Meehan | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | A | 100,000.00 | Monetary |
| 2227 | SNC-Lavalin Inc. | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | B | 84,664.99 | Monetary |
| 326 | Bell Canada | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | B | 78,469.94 | Monetary |
| 1962 | Power Corporation of Canada | Liberal Party of Canada | 4 | B | 70,000.00 | Monetary |
So yes the Blogging Tory's are right to identify Bell Canada,now BCE its parent holding company as being big donors tothe Liberals, but so what. Thats just business, if the Conservatives were the government then the corporate donations would roll in to them too. Mind you they won't be getting as much from Magna Corp.
Don't believe me that Capitalist corporations play the winner game in politics and put their money on the party in power. Lets go back a decade to the 1993 election when the Progressive Conservatives were last in power. Here is what BCE donated to them and to the opposition Liberals.
Progressive Conservative Party donations 1993
| BCE Inc. | $50, 000 |
| BCE Inc. | $30, 000 |
| BCE Mobile Comnunications Inc | $5, 000 |
Liberal Party donations 1993
BCE Mobile Communication Inc. $5, 000
Meanwhile the Conservatives coming into this election had already raised $5 million dollars in donations. Because the ceiling on personal donations was set at $5000 as Democracy Watch points out it still allowed corporate donations to be funneled through the staff and employees of a company.
Mr. Conacher said that the $5,000 limit is higher than what an average Canadian can afford in a year and should be lowered to $1,000. He added that the limit, as well as the new law in general, is undemocratic because it "facilitates funnelling of donations by corporations, unions and other organizations through executives and employees." Not all of the donor's information, such as employers or major affiliations, is disclosed, Mr. Conacher said, so voters still don't know who is supporting or "bankrolling" the parties.It's one of the ironies in this election that the Conservatives have benefited from Bill C-24 and its electoral reform, allowing more funds to be laundered into the party without corporate identification, since only members of the Conservative Party of Canada voted against the bill en masse. And yet the new election act has leveled the playing field, as the case of the Power Corporation shows.
Of course the Desmarais family is closely connected by marriage to Liberals such as Jean Chretien. But a certain lonely heart Conservative Deputy Leader has been romancing one of the Desmarais girls. So do you think he is being a bag man for the Tory's as well as a young Lothario? Well of course, if we use the logic of the Blogging Tory's.Conservatives out-fundraised Liberals in first three months
For the first quarter of 2005, the Tories raked in $2.6-million in donations compared to the $2.2-million raised by the Liberals. Critics say the new fundraising rules banning corporations and unions have been a 'bonanza' for parties.
According to the list of contributors published by Elections Canada, many well-heeled Canadians contributed to the Tories and Liberals, including Montreal's powerful Desmarais family, owners of international management and holding company Power Corporation.
Five family members, including Paul Desmarais and his son Paul Guy Desmarais, gave the maximum allowed contribution of $5,000 to the Liberals for a total of $25,000, while four family members gave the maximum amount to the Tories for a total of $20,000.
And yes while BCE is a hornets nest of Liberals, Rogers Communications is a hornets nest of Conservatives. But of course the Blogging Tory's are not talking about Ted Rogers at all.
As for bias in the media, well yes Mike Duffy does literally gush over every Liberal he see's. While Don Newman over at CBC 'this is pooooolllliiiitics,' plays time keeper between disputing talking heads on his program. So again the Blogging Tory's attempt to create a Liberal conspiracy out of personal political peccadilos is a bit much.
They are trying to say that where there is smoke there is fire. Sometimes, to paraphrase Freud, where there is smoke there is just a good cigar.
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Income Trust Scandal
Eugene, my post was about dividends, not income trusts.
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