"I don't want to be mean to her, but..."

[Vibe Rater]

Pelletier is yet another ignorant liberal fatass hypocrite, sucking hard at the trough. He also happened to be Chretien's Chief of Staff, his right hand man and was awarded this plum patronage job by the Village Idiot Chretien for his years of loyal service to the liberal party in Canada. Jean must be proud. For our American friends who know nothing about this Liberal boondoggle (it has been strangely absent from this board), the 250 million dollar Liberal sponsorship program was set up to pay Quebecers to fly the Canadian flag at events in Quebec. That's right. The Liberal government pays you to fly the flag. BTW, not only is Pelletier stupid and ignorant, he is also misinformed. Myriam Bedard has been happily married for at least two years now, so she does 'have a spouse', not that that has anything to do with anything anyway, unless you're a Chretien/Martin liberal I guess. Pathetic, absolutely pathetic.Via chief under fire over insultsPelletier dismissed Olympic medallist's allegations about sponsorship scandalElizabeth ThompsonCanWest News Service; with files from The Canadian PressOTTAWA - There were calls yesterday for the resignation of the chairman of VIA Rail after he suggested former Olympic gold medallist Myriam Bedard's account of her departure from the Crown corporation wasn't credible because she doesn't have a husband and is under stress because she is a single mother.Jean Pelletier apologized for his comments yesterday, but not before he came in for harsh criticism from government ministers and the opposition for his "sexist" remarks. "These comments are completely unacceptable coming from a public office-holder," said Tony Valeri, the Transport Minister."There is a standard that we need to adhere to. And so I will certainly look into those comments and take whatever appropriate action might be required."Mr. Pelletier made his comment after Ms. Bedard, 34, revealed she had sent a letter to Paul Martin, the Prime Minister, saying she had been asked to resign from her job at VIA Rail in 2002 after she questioned the amount that Groupaction -- one of the Liberal-friendly ad firms involved in the sponsorship scandal -- was charging for work it did for the Crown corporation."I was ordering publicity and I received the bills and the bills were way, way too high for the publicity that was done or the work that was done."When she suggested VIA hire another firm that would charge less, she was told that wasn't possible and she was moved to another area. The final parting of the ways came when the corporation tried to move her over to Groupaction -- a move she didn't want to make, she said.She said she has chosen to come forward now because Mr. Martin launched a plea for anyone with knowledge of the scam to stand up and share their information.Mr. Pelletier was blunt in his dismissal of Ms. Bedard's claim."I don't want to be mean to her, but she is a weak and pitiful girl, a girl who does not have a spouse, as far as I know," he told Montreal's La Presse newspaper. "She has the pressures of being a single mother who has financial responsibilities. Honestly, I find her pitiful."He issued an apology yesterday ."During a media interview yesterday, I made certain comments concerning Ms. Myriam Bedard that I now realize were inappropriate," wrote Mr. Pelletier, who was once chief of staff to Jean Chretien. "I regret making those comments and want to apologize sincerely to Ms. Bedard for any embarrassment or hurt I may have caused her."The apology was not enough appease those who said Mr. Pelletier, 69, should be forced to resign."The comments of Jean Pelletier, whose attacks on Myriam Bedard's personal situation are unspeakable, as much for [her] as for women in general," said Gilles Duceppe, the Bloc Quebecois leader. "His statements are particularly offensive for single mothers."Mr. Duceppe said Ms. Bedard had raised perfectly legitimate questions concerning the way sponsorships were being handled at the Crown corporation."Instead of doing the verifications that were essential, Jean Pelletier preferred to launch a low attack. His reaction is inexcusable and unworthy of the position he occupies."Nor did the apology satisfy Ms. Bedard. "That is a very well known technique in publicity and marketing," she said. "You batter someone, you hit them over the head and then you politely apologize."Ms. Bedard won two gold medals for Canada in the biathlon competition during the 1994 Olympics.Marc LeFrancois, who was suspended from his job as VIA Rail president last week over the sponsorship scandal, was equally as dismissive of Ms. Bedard."I don't understand these people," he said, referring to Ms. Bedard. "Do they dream at night? Do they take pills? I don't know."Paul Martin joined in the criticism of the VIA chairman."If he really said that, that is just completely unacceptable, and I would expect that he will want to withdraw the comments and I would expect that he will want to apologize," the Prime Minister said during a trip to British Columbia.The head of a House of Commons inquiry into the sponsorship scandal said he hoped Ms. Bedard would be called to testify and demanded Mr. Pelletier's resignation."This is outrageous that Canadian icons are to be trashed by ... public servants because they blow the whistle on illegal activities that are going on in their organization," said Conservative MP John Williams, the head of the Commons public-accounts committee."They made disparaging remarks about her that are totally and completely unacceptable. They're sexist and we cannot have that under any circumstances."

[pmh013]

I saw this article on the newstand this weekend. Our goverment is looking like an Enron-clone. (removed), this is terrible. The sad thing is, I think that our business environment is following our government down the tubes. There are a lot of businesses out there that think things like safety, environmental responsibility, and employee well-being are optional. Now before I get blasted, yes, there are a lot of good companies out there, but those are the high-profile, multi-billion dollar ones. There are a lot of small to mid-size businesses that are bad news.

[Raven]

Yes, but does it increase horsepower and does it void the warranty?

[Vibe Rater]

Quote, originally posted by Vib'in Girl »What kind of idiot is that?A Canadian Liberal. BTW, he was FINALLY fired today, 4 days after uttering the words. 4 days is waaaaaay too long to wait for this swine to be fired. He should have been fired immediately, but the Canadian PM (Martin) had to wait and see what the public response was and if there was some way to weasle out of this without firing another Liberal friend. He should live the rest of his life in disgrace. But he won't. The Liberal Governemnet will make sure he is very comfortable.

[bus driver]

So does this mean you won't be voting Liberal?

[Vibe Rater]

Only a complete idiot would vote Liberal. Canada is full of idiots.

[Vibe Rater]

So you would have let him keep his job?

[Vibe Rater]

You are very correct in saying that if the Village Idiot Chretien was still there, Pelltier would still have his job. That is very sad and idicative of how Canada has been governed for the past decade. Poorly. I was giving Martin a little more credit than you are I guess. If he fired Pelltier because he was Chretien's friend, he is no better than the Village Idiot. I was at least giving Martin credit for firing Pelltier on principal, but maybe you're right. Maybe he's just like Chretien.Yes, I'm Canadian, never voted Liberal.