11 Harper appointees donated $7200 to Conservative Party

While you were busy during the holidays, with visions of sugar plums dancing in your heads, you may have missed the appointment bonanza the Conservative government tried to sneak under the radar, which was how they wanted it.

Some of the details have already been discussed in the blogsphere and in the press, such as the stacking of the Assisted Human Reproduction Panel with no fertility experts but lots of so-cons and the judgeship for Harper’s Alberta co-chair. The media has also touched on the Conservative credentials of many of the appointees. Some of the highlights:

*Former Mulroney cabinet minister Barbara McDougall named to the Agreement on Internal Trade panel
*Former Reform MP Ian McCelland named to the board of Edmonton Northlands
*Former Conservative candidate for Ottawa-Vanier Gilles Guenette named to the Immigration and Refugee Board
*Former Nova Scotia Conservative Premier John Hamm will chair the Assisted Human Reproduction Panel
*New Brunswick Conservative bagman Stephen Campbell named a director of the Saint John Port Authority
*The former chair of the nomination committee for the Whitby-Oshawa Conservative Association (Jim Flaherty was their only nominee) named head of the employment insurance board of referees for the Toronto district
*Prominent Vancouver Conservative lawyer Sharon White named a director of Farm Canada
*Prominent Sarnia Conservative James Carpeneto named to the board of employment insurance refugees for the Sarnia district

What you haven’t read in the media though is that 11 of the Conservative appointees donated to the Conservative Party of Canada during the 2004 and 2006 elections, pumping some $7200 into Conservative coffers. Here's what running the list of Conservative appointees against the Elections Canada contributions database for the last two election campaigns revealed:

*I mentioned Sharon White of Vancouver, appointed to a three-year term as a director of the Board of Directors of Farm Credit Canada:

*I also mentioned Gilles Guenette of Ottawa, appointed to a three-year term to the Immigration and Refugee Board:

*There’s also Judith Crockford of Dundas, named to the Immigration Review Tribunal for the region of Hamilton for a term of three years:

*I mentioned Sarnia’s James Carpeneto, named as chairperson of the EI Boards of Referees for the Ontario Regional Division, and particularly for the District of Sarnia, for a term of three years:

*There’s Robert Emigh of Saskatoon, named part-time member of the Transportation Appeal Tribunal:

*I mentioned Stephen Campbell of Rothesay, New Brunswick, named a director of the Saint John Port Authority, to hold office for a term of three years:

*And we all remember Barbara McDougall of Toronto, named to the roster of panellists required by Article 1705 of the Agreement on Internal Trade for a term of five years:

*The media seemed to miss former Mike Harris cabinet minister Bill Saunderson of Toronto on the list. Bill was named a director of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board for a term of three years (the S. Saunderson is at the same address as the others, possible data entry error, so I included it in the graphic but not the $ total):

*Let’s not forget Dallas Miller, appointed a Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta and a member ex officio of the Court of Appeal of Alberta:

*Also in the judges category is Nicoll Scarvelli of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, to be a Judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and a Judge ex officio of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal:

*One more judge is Alex Pazaratz of Hamilton, Ontario, appointed a Judge of the Family Court branch of the Superior Court of Justice in and for the Province of Ontario, and a Judge ex officio of the Court of Appeal for Ontario:

That's an average of $665/appointee. Not a bad return on investment.

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