Misleading headline

Bureaucrats spent $178,000 in last-ditch effort to stop seal ban

Should say “Harper patronage appointee and mouthpiece porks out on taxpayers’ tab.”

The biggest spender and abuser of public funds listed in this article is Loyola Sullivan, “Ambassador of Fisheries Conservation”.

That would be this fellow:

Now in his latest environmentally unfriendly move we find ourselves paying the tab for Canada’s newly minted “Ambassador of Fisheries Conservation”. A patronage appointment that’s sure to be a win, win for the Conservatives.

...Anyone who saw the press conference last Thursday will no doubt have noticed that it was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter McKay, who made the big announcement about this new “Ambassadorship”, not the Fisheries Minister, which would have been the logical choice. This wasn’t accidental. Foreign Affairs took the lead, with the Fisheries Minister bringing up the rear, because Ottawa wanted to send a clear message to our trading partners around the world that it was business as usual in Canada. It was also meant to ensure that the new Ambassador clearly understood what the Minister of Fisheries already knows. Nothing is done in the fisheries portfolio without the explicit blessing of the Foreign Affairs office.

...We won’t hear anything from Loyola Sullivan again until the proverbial crap hits the fan and Harper, McKay and Hearn need a sacrificial lamb to feed to the masses.

I doubt Harper expected Sullivan  himself would make some of that shit hit the fan.  Sullivan and his senior adviser accounted for all but $30,000 of the expenses, most incurred by Sullivan who stayed in five star hotels and managed to squeeze in the air fare for his personal holiday to Dublin.  Critics are saying that the money was a huge waste considering the powerful opposition to the hunt.  Sullivan wasn’t likely to sway opponents with expensive lunches paid for by us.

And did the nasty bureaucrats decide on their own to defend the seal hunt?

Harper Government Will Defend Canada’s Humane and Sustainable Seal Hunt on the World Stage

The Government of Canada today expressed its deep disappointment, concern, and opposition to the vote by the European Parliament to move towards a ban on products from Canada’s humane and sustainable seal hunt.  "The decision by the European Parliament lacks any basis in facts,” said the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans...I once again caution my European counterparts about the dangers of pursuing politically motivated bans on other countries’ traditional industries. Our government will stand up for the jobs and communities that depend on the seal hunt.”

“If the EU imposes a trade ban on seal products it must contain an exemption for any country, like Canada, that has strict guidelines in place for humane and sustainable sealing practices," said the Honourable Stockwell Day..."If there is no such acceptable exemption, Canada will challenge the ban at the World Trade Organization (WTO).”

Ministers Shea and Day announced that the Government of Canada will continue to aggressively counter the misinformation campaign being waged by professional anti-seal hunt lobby groups in order to ensure that the decision of the Council would be based on accurate information.

Steve the fiscally responsible economist speaks for himself.

When my mother sent me to the store to buy a quart of milk, I was just the delivery person.  She deiced how the money was to be spent. 

You appointed him to this bull-shit office and you give all the orders, so you own this waste, Steve.