Copps calls Cops

The Sheila Copps nomination controversy just keeps heating up:

Sheila Copps is accusing Prime Minister Paul Martin of participating in a "massive orchestrated fraud" to end her political career and has called in the RCMP to probe alleged dirty tricks at last Saturday's Liberal nomination meeting in Hamilton.

Copps, the 20-year veteran of the federal Liberal caucus, was defeated by Transport Minister Tony Valeri in a toughly fought contest to be the party's candidate in the new riding of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.

Late yesterday she asked the RCMP to examine the tactics used by her opponents and today Copps is due to make a formal statement detailing all the ways in which the Martin-led Liberal party allegedly plotted to deny her a fair fight.

An RCMP spokesperson said the force may announce as early as today whether Copps' complaint merits a full investigation.

"It was massive, orchestrated fraud," Copps said in a lengthy encounter with reporters yesterday, in which she repeatedly described the Hamilton race as the "Enron election."

She is promising to itemize all the dirty tricks — everything from votes in garbage pails, legitimate voters turned away, and the suppression of as many as 1,000 votes in all. She also planned to appeal her loss.

Copps won't even take any phone calls from Paul Martin now. Not even in our wildest dreams did we Conservatives expect this to blow up so badly for the Liberals, and I think it's going to keep getting worse and worse. (The New Democrats, who have an excellent shot at taking the seat should Copps run as an independent candidiate, must be pretty happy as well.)

Update: Paul Wells says Jack Siegel, a Toronto lawyer who served as returning officer for the nomination meeting, actually worked to prevent Paul Martin's takeover of the Liberal party. In other words, not the kind of person you'd expect to be doing Martin's dirty work.

Update II: looks like she has a future in Canadian television. Fitting, since she was presumably responsible for subsidizing the show at some point.

Posted by damian at March 10, 2004 07:13 AM