Greg Weston of the Sun is now a member of the “liberal media”.

I half expect that pronouncement from a few conservative-supporting blogsites today after Greg Weston of the Sun chain wrote what he did  in his Sunday column titled “Some Shady Shenanigans?”.  Not so much for the actual in-and-out scheme itself - as I kind of gather he’s taking a wait and see approach as to whether or not the Cons. are found guilty of this - but he condemns Harper and the Conservatives handling of this affair:

When Elections Canada initially ruled the whole manoeuvre was out of order, Harper and his party brain trust could have been contrite, admitting what they had done was perhaps an error in judgement, if not in law, and kissed off the $700,000 in candidate rebates…But contrition is not the Harper way. Instead, the gloves came off and the brawl began amid inane political spinning.

Basically, Weston is stating that Harper and the Conservatives hung this albatross on themselves. I would argue that this is more evidence that Harper supposedly being a master strategist is a tad suspect — it DOES show he is extremely partisan however. More important in this column, and more credit to Weston for pointing this out, is that this fight Harper is having is nothing new and is but a familiar pattern:

Were this an isolated case, it could be dismissed as a strategic blunder. But it’s not. Elections Canada is only one of many independent federal agencies that have stepped into the way of the Harper bullyboys, and got the full brass-knuckle treatment for their efforts. The former information commissioner, the past ethics commissioner, the fired head of the Nuclear Safety Commission - all have left with bloodied noses from Harper and his political street gang. Problem is, while the PM and his party may be winning a few rounds, they’re not gaining many fans.

That’s an extremely good narrative to use in the next election: above and beyond the In and Out scandal, the fact that Harper and his Cons. have compromised the independence of federal agencies and/or gotten rid of people whose job it is to be impartial and make objective rulings - even if it goes against the ruling government’s wishes - is not something that too many people will agree with.

With regards to the tactics of the Cons over the In and Out scandal, as I’ve stated earlier,  I hope they keep throwing Pierre Polievre out there as spokesperson either charging everyone with forming a conspiracy against them or else trying to claim that “everyone else does this” which is easily proved to be false. It gives the Conservatives no credibility on this issue, and I think you’re seeing that with some initial polling done on the public’s reaction to this scandal.